UPDATE: Julien said that Rask will start today's game in goal against the Jets.
Logic would dictate that Monday afternoon will be the day when the goaltending rotation officially gets started. After Tuukka Rask got things off to a solid start with a 20-save effort in Saturday nights 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers in Bostons home opener, the stage could be set for Anton Khudobin to follow suit with his debut in a Martin Luther King Day matinee against the Winnipeg Jets.
It would make sense for Claude Julien to get the Kazakhstan native into an NHL game sooner rather than later, and the Bruins play seven games in the 13 days on the January schedule during a busy opening. Khudobin was okay in the KHL while playing for a bad team, but did show off his potential in a 44-save effort against the Ottawa Senators at the end of last season.
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The expectation is that Rask will play somewhere between 30-35 games in the shortened 48-game schedule and that would leave anywhere from 13-18 games for Khudobin as the backup. But that will be dictated by performance and whether Khudobin thrives while proving to everybody hes a bona fide NHL goaltender after proving himself at the AHL level.
But the Bruins arent ready to map anything out more than on a week-to-week basis.
We have to feel our way through this as we move along here. We know well see both goalies, said Claude Julien. Im trying to in constant communication because weve been put in such an unpredictable situation, and that goes for the team and for the individuals.
You never knowa plan can go out the window as soon as theres an injury. You can spend a lot of time planning that stuff. Im more of a week-to-week situation when it comes to looking at the schedule and planning ahead. It also depends on the goaltenders play as well. Its a lot of wasted energy to say out of 48 games that Tuukka will play 30 and the other goalie will play 18 games. What if it doesnt happen that way?
So nobody will know the starting goaltender until the team takes the ice at 12:30 pm unless Julien goes the unconventionalfor him anywayroute of naming his goaltender prior to pregame skate.