Bruins prep for grueling schedule stretch

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BRIGHTON, Mass. -- One should expect that the Bruins are going to get some work out of young rookie netminder Zane McIntyre this week, and that there could be some very clear signs of fatigue all-around for a Bruins team about to go through the NHL schedule ringer.

With Tuukka Rask looking solid for a Monday night start against the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden on the front end of a back-to-back, the University of North Dakota alum could be in line for a cameo in the Bruins/Habs rivalry with a start against the Canadiens at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night. McIntyre may also get another look again this weekend with back-to-back road games out West against the Arizona Coyotes and Colorado Avalanche that will close out a harrowing Black and Gold stretch of five games in seven including time zone changes.

Given that Tuukka Rask tweaked his lower body injury ever-so-slightly in the Saturday night loss to the Rangers and that backup Anton Khudobin still isn’t able to hold a stick with his right hand while skating with his fellow injured teammates prior to practice, the Bruins will need McIntyre to step up and give Rask some relief.

“I have to think that we can’t over-utilize our No. 1 goaltender, so definitely at some point [McIntyre] is going to have to play,” said Claude Julien, who could make 2-for-2 times that his No. 1 goalie has missed the Canadiens this season after experiencing plenty of trouble against Boston’s arch-rivals over the last few years.

The scheduling quirk of having a pair of back-to-back games within the same week certainly isn’t much of a surprise for the Bruins, who knew coming into this season that the World Cup of Hockey and this season’s “bye weeks” would create a compacted schedule. The Black and Gold are going to feel that crunch this week, and will need to find a way to continue producing results despite fatigue catching up to them.

It’s the reason the Bruins skipped a Sunday practice that might have been automatic in past year, and may be lean more toward preserving the team’s legs rather than slogging through long on-ice sessions for the team.

So how do the Bruins hope to do during this grueling stretch?

“The best we can,” said Julien, who noted that it’s six games in nine days counting last weekend’s loss to the Rangers. “Obviously it’s not an easy schedule, and we need to manage it the best we can. Obviously yesterday was another day off the ice. We’ve got to conserve our energy for the games right now, and that’s unfortunate because we can choose to practice, but playing that many games it might take away from what we need in the games.  

“So I’m trying to manage it the best we can, and hopefully the better we play, the easier it’s going to be because we can utilize everybody. If we have some guys that aren’t going well then we shorten up the bench, and that’s when eventually it catches up to you. Its 6-of-9 nights [with games]. That’s a tough schedule. We need to manage it as best we can.”

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