With Tuukka Rask now back from his leave of absence, Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy has a bit more flexibility when approaching his goaltending situation.
When Rask was gone, Jaroslav Halak played both games of a weekend back-to-back at TD Garden, turning away 77 of the 79 shots he faced in the pair of wins. Even when Rask has been available this season, Halak has been playing far better and effectively became the starter. But with the Bruins about to embark on a four-game road trip that will include a back-to-back in the middle of the trip, Rask is sure to get some starts.
So how will Cassidy approach it?
Save for Wednesday’s tilt with the Colorado Avalanche, things remain somewhat tentative. Halak will be the starter against the Avs, then Rask either will go Friday versus the Dallas Stars or Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes.
Whatever the move ends up being, it will be contingent on how hot Halak’s hand stays heading into the road swing.
“And then we’ll go from there,” Cassidy said, after listing his plan, via The Boston Globe. “Again, probably look at getting him a certain amount of starts. But we have to balance that with how well Jaro is playing. So I couldn’t tell you what’s going to happen. I just know we have a lot of hockey after that.”
Regardless of who is in net, the Bruins are in an enviable position in that they have two adept goalies they can lean on.
