After all, incumbent starter Tim Thomas was coming off one of the greatest goaltending campaigns in NHL history. He won his second Vezina after leading the league with a 2.00 goals-against average and set a new NHL record with a .938 save percentage. He then proceeded to improve both numbers in the postseason, becoming just the second player ever to win the Vezina, Conn Smythe and Stanley Cup all in the same year when he posted a 1.98 GAA and .940 save percentage in the playoffs.
Not surprisingly, Thomas is back among the league leaders again this year. His save percentage is actually higher than where he finished last year at .943, but he currently ranks just second in that category. The guy in front of him? That would be teammate Tuukka Rask.
Rask posted his second straight shutout with 30 saves in Friday’s 8-0 blowout of Florida, which raised his save percentage to .944. Rask also ranks second in the league with a 1.66 GAA, with Thomas close behind in fourth at 1.84.
Together they have Boston first in the NHL with a team GAA of 1.88, having surrendered a league-low 63 goals in 33 games. And it’s together that they are doing something truly special this season.
It’s a tandem that no other team can match. Few can even come close.
“It’s a big time luxury, I’m not going to hide that fact,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said after Friday’s game. “It doesn’t matter who you put in net right now, you know you’re going to get good goaltending as we speak. Both guys have been at the top of their game, which allows you to put one or the other and the other guy gets a rest and the other guy stays sharp. They’re both very supportive of that approach and they’re OK with it. That just makes us such a better team by having that situation right now. We’re extremely fortunate because most teams in this league don’t have that approach or luxury.”
The only teams even worthy of being in the discussion with the Bruins duo are Minnesota, St. Louis, the New York Rangers and Vancouver. The Wild have a potent 1-2 punch in Niklas Backstrom (11-8-4, 2.23 GAA, .927 save percentage) and Josh Harding (7-3-1, 2.13 GAA, .932 save percentage), but both trail Boston’s netminding duo in all major categories.
The Blues’ Brian Elliott (14-3-0, 1.55 GAA, .943 save percentage) is the one guy with better numbers than Rask and Thomas, but Jaroslav Halak, who came into the season as the St. Louis No. 1, hasn’t measured up with a losing record (6-7-4) and a GAA that ranks him just 15th (2.37) and a save percentage that’s 32nd (.903).
The Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist is having his usual strong season (14-7-4, 2.03 GAA, .934 save percentage). Backup Martin Biron actually has even better numbers (7-1-0, 1.84 GAA, .933 save percentage), but hasn’t played enough to qualify for the league leaderboard.
Vancouver’s claim to even be in the argument is more tenuous. Roberto Luongo has righted himself after a shaky start and is now 14-7-2 with a 2.44 GAA and a .914 save percentage, while Cory Schneider is 7-5-0 with a 2.17 GAA and a .931 save percentage. Nice numbers, but not in the same class as Boston’s netminders. And as deflating as it may be for Luongo to hear, his inability to rise to the occasion in the clutch only seems to pump up his opponents.
Thomas and Rask have no such problems. And while neither needs any ego-boosting tire pumping, they have formed a genuine friendship and support system that brings the best out of both as they push each other for playing time.
Dividing that playing time is vital for the Bruins, who can’t afford to overtax Thomas after the long postseason run and short offseason the 37-year-old just went through. But to keep him rested, the Bruins needed Rask to return to the form he flashed two years ago when he led the NHL in GAA (1.97) and save percentage (.931) himself.
He’s done exactly that, and for the first time in their three years together, both goalies are performing at their best at the same time. Rask took over the starting role in 2009-10 when Thomas, hobbled by a hip injury that required surgery after the season, struggled. Last year, Rask’s play regressed as Thomas enjoyed his amazing bounce-back campaign.
Now both are going strong, allowing each netminder to stay fresh without the Bruins sacrificing anything with whichever one starts on any given night.
When asked if this was the best the two have ever played at the same time, Rask took a minute to think about it, but eventually couldn’t deny the obvious.
“I don’t know,” Rask said. “I’ve felt pretty good the whole time. I try to feel good, try to get that good feeling from practice every time but it’s tough to judge that. But we’re definitely both playing really well and the whole team’s playing well in front of us so it could be one of the best times, yeah.”
Yes, when it comes to goaltending, this truly is the best of times for the Bruins. There’s no debating that Boston currently possesses the top tandem in the NHL. The only question is whether both Rask and Thomas can sustain this level of play all season. And if they do, the ultimate question won’t be whether they’re the best duo right now. It’ll instead be whether they’re the best duo of all time.
