Jaroslav Halak’s new mask for the Bruins this season has sparked a question, will Halak be a brick wall in net for the B’s?
Take a look at his new mask below.
A post shared by NHL (@nhl) on Sep 25, 2018 at 9:04am PDT
The Bruins signed the veteran goaltender after losing Anton Khudobin to the Dallas Stars in free agency. Although many fans weren’t happy with the departure of Khudobin, Halak is ready to step in and do anything he can to help the team win.
Last season with the Islanders, the 33-year-old didn’t have a great season. In 54 games he posted a record of 20-26-6 with a 3.19 GAA and a .908 save percentage , not great but there is reasoning behind his poor play.
The team in front of the Slovak native wasn’t the strongest. The defense was mediocre at best and the offense didn’t provide enough scoring to help out Halak. He was going through somewhat of a rough patch in his career, but it seems that he is back on track. Halak will thrive as the back-up to Tuukka Rask.
The Bruins defense is much stronger than the Islanders. The B’s defense will easily be able to bail Halak out of some sticky situations. In fact, it seemed as though the Bruins played harder and better in front of their back-up goaltender last season. Expect them to play just as strong in front of Halak this season.
Halak’s worst seasons came when he had to play 40-plus games, with Rask taking much of the workload, Halak will thrive in Boston. During seasons where he played less than 40 games, Halak proved himself to be a solid goaltender.
Being the back-up to Rask, you never know how many games Halak will actually have to play. If Rask happens to go into a slump like he did last season, Halak could take on more of the workload. You can bet though that he will play between 30-35 games, as Khudobin played 31 (29 starts) last season with Boston.
Could Halak be a brick wall in Boston and cause goalie controversy? Absolutely. Halak is a very focused goaltender who can read plays very well. He is able to take on a good workload and can be very aggressive in goal. His rebound control is somewhat iffy but overall he is a solid No. 2 goaltender. Fans should not be worried about him.