BOSTON – The Bruins are one step closer to a situation with their goaltending after another stellar outing from Jaroslav Halak.
The B’s backup goaltender made 26 saves in Thursday night’s 3-0 shutout win over the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden, and was excellent behind a defense that did a good job of clearing away the front of the net. Halak now has a .945 save percentage, a 1.43 goals against average and no losses in regulation with a 3-0-2 record this season, and for the first time it sounds like Bruce Cassidy may be nearing the point of feeding him more playing time.
The Bruins will stick with the script of having Tuukka Rask play on Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens, but Cassidy insisted after Thursday’s win that Halak could conceivably wrest the No. 1 gig from Rask if he keeps playing well.
“It could, absolutely,” said Bruce Cassidy, when asked if the B’s could get to a point where one of Halak or Rask starts taking up the bulk of the playing time. “We [script goalie starts] at the start of the year for -- we’ve done it here for years and just to work Tuukka’s [Rask] starts in because he’s been the number one.
“But if Jaro’s [Jaroslav Halak] able to push him and eventually take the job, if and when that happens, then we’ll look at that. We’re going to try to keep it as balanced as possible early on, and then like we said if one separates himself from the other like every other position here then we’ll allow that to evolve.”
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That’s the sound of a hockey coach that’s not quite ready to hand Halak the No. 1 gig less than a month into the regular season, but it’s also a clear signal to Rask that the slack in the rope is running out. The Finnish netminder played well in Tuesday night’s win in Ottawa and will get a chance to answer again Saturday against Montreal. He’ll need to keep up with a goalie in Halak that shows no signs of slowing down, and that’s exactly the kind of internal push the Bruins were hoping for when they signed Halak to a two-year deal on July 1.
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The Bruins are paying out nearly $10 million for their goaltending between Halak and Rask, so both goalies at their top level is exactly what the Black and Gold are already paying for.
“It’s something you need every night to have a chance to win, so for us it’s a tremendous luxury. We went back and forth but this was originally scheduled as Jaro’s [Jaroslav Halak] game. He got an extra one in Vancouver, which wasn’t originally, but this was, so we stuck with that. Tuukka’s
[Rask] going to go Saturday, and I guess Tuesday, as well, so that’s the end of the month,” said Cassidy. “That was the original plan. We told Jaro, ‘listen if you come in and play we’re not going to limit your starts. We’ll allow the competition to evolve.’
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“He’s done a real good job. Real clean first period, not with the puck, but in terms of not allowing chances. In the second [Halak] had some big saves for us when we needed them, timely, and here we are with the win. To answer your question again, yeah, it’s a luxury to have it, but we’re paying for it, right. That’s one of the things we knew going in. We should have good goaltending. It’s kind of pared out that way.”
To his credit, Halak continues to say and do all the right things while exerting all kinds of pressure on Rask for that No. 1 spot.
“I don’t make those decisions. I just take it day by day,” said Halak, when asked about playing time moving forward. “I was happy to get a call tonight and play a game, and obviously getting the win, it’s always great. But, we’re going to enjoy it, and then Saturday is a new challenge.
“Every time you start a game or play a game, you’re hoping to get a win. Obviously, if you can get a shutout then that’s always more special. But, I always say, it’s a team effort. Everybody was on the same page and great work tonight.”
So Halak keeps playing consistently great between the pipes, and has served as the perfect antidote to a slow-starting Rask. While it’s true that Halak has been a No. 1 goalie throughout his long NHL career, it’s also true that he’s bounced around while serving as a top goalie. It remains to be seen if he truly has the juice to be able to take the No. 1 Bruins job away from Rask on a long term basis, but there’s one thing that can’t be debated right now: Halak has outplayed Rask to this point in the season, and deserves to get the bulk of the playing time until the trends for both goalies go in a different direction.
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