The Boston Bruins are slated to get back to game action for the first time since Dec. 15 on Jan. 1 when they welcome the Buffalo Sabres to TD Garden.
With it being so long since their last game, it's fair to wonder how head coach Bruce Cassidy will handle the goalie tandem of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. Boston plays back-to-back games this weekend, and Cassidy knows there will be no shortage of work.
Of course, there's the ever-present question of Tuukka Rask and his potential return to the Bruins. As of now, Rask remains unsigned, but Cassidy did reveal a "game plan" for the veteran if and when a deal is done.
So, what's the plan between the pipes, coach?
"Certainly not in regard to when Tuukka is going to play. Until he's medically cleared and signed, we'll deal with that then," Cassidy said over Zoom on Wednesday when asked if there was a plan in place for the next few games. "It won't take us long to sort through that, we have a lot of hockey games coming up. Whoever's here will get plenty of work.
"We've talked about this weekend. Ullmark most likely will get the Buffalo game and Swayman will go in Detroit. Let's see how we look on Friday with those guys and go from there. From there, we've got a stretch of games ... I think there could be an opportunity to get a guy going. ..."
The next few days of practice certainly will be worth keeping our eyes on, as well as how each goalie performs coming out of the layoff.
Puck drop for Bruins-Sabres is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
