No matter how well Jeremy Swayman has played, there’s one thing Jaroslav Halak has more of than his Boston Bruins teammate: Experience.
How much that factors into Bruce Cassidy and goalie coach Bob Essensa’s looming decision is to be determined.
Tuukka Rask is the Bruins’ obvious No. 1 in net when the postseason begins. But with Rask hurt and Halak dealing with COVID-19 last month, Swayman took the opportunity he was given and ran with it, and now Halak being Boston’s No. 2 in the playoffs is not a foregone conclusion.
Cassidy admitted Saturday that experience does factor into the decision, but it won’t be the ultimate deciding factor.
“It matters, experience always matters. I think Swayman’s the one that said it, his coach, Red (Gendron), used to tell him you can’t buy it at Target, you’ve got to play. So there’s some of that that goes into it. But we’ll make that decision next week. Obviously, Swayman’s played really well, unfortunately, one door closes — Jaro goes on COVID– another one opens in terms of that position for Swayman, and he’s kicked it down. So, we have to be mindful of that, do what’s best for the team.
“(Swayman’s) played more games than Jaro has recently, so probably a little bit more prepared in terms of game action — obviously Jaro’s been there and done it, played playoff hockey, as recently as last year for us in the Tampa series. So, that’s something we’ll weigh, but at the end of the day, it’s Tuukka first, we know that, and we’ll deal with whatever the fallout is if he’s not able to get it done or the schedule forces us to play two guys and whatnot, so that’s something down the road.
“But like I’ve said, Swayman right now has done everything we’ve asked, so certainly a good problem to have when you have three capable goaltenders.”
If everything goes according to plan, the impact of the Bruins’ backup goalie decision ultimately will be moot, because Rask will have played so well. But, the possibility of a back-to-back on the schedule exists, and for a variety of reasons, goalies can get pulled. Thus, the decision remains an important, and perhaps even more so fascinating, one.
