With no first-round series going to a Game 7 and the second round starting a couple days earlier than expected, you would have thought that would allow for more of a normal every-other-night schedule, especially since it would mean playing just one game a day in each bubble arena.
The NHL clearly had other ideas. Not only does every second-round series still have a scheduled back-to-back, but the two Eastern Conference series actually have TWO scheduled back-to-back.
The Bruins and Lightning will play Games 2 and 3 on back-to-back nights this Tuesday and Wednesday, and if the series were to go the distance, Games 6 and 7 would also be on back-to-back nights next Tuesday and Wednesday.
As a result, there will be a doubleheader at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto this Wednesday -- with Flyers-Islanders at 3 p.m. followed by Bruins-Lightning at 8 -- and there could be one next Wednesday as well. The possibility exists for a Bruins-Lightning Game 7 to potentially be delayed by a Flyers-Islanders Game 6 that goes into overtime(s), which just seems like a scenario the league would've wanted to avoid.
As it turns out, coaches and players were just as surprised by and seemingly not thrilled about the schedule as everyone else.
"Very," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said when asked how challenging the schedule would be. "A little surprised it came out that way, that we wouldn't alternate nights and play at seven or eight o'clock. I'm not part of that decision-making but it sure would be easier for us. I'm sure Tampa would say the same. But, at the end of the day, you play the games where they tell you to play and what time."
The biggest effect the compressed schedule could have is on goaltending. Cassidy and the Bruins generally don't like to play goalies on back-to-back nights anyways, never mind potentially twice in a week. With Tuukka Rask gone, the situation is even less ideal.
It would've been one thing if Rask needed a rest at some point in this series and the Bruins were turning to Jaroslav Halak, a veteran goalie who has played well for them for two years and who has playoff experience. That might've even given them an advantage against a Tampa team that would prefer to ride Andrei Vasilevskiy every game and not have to turn to backup Curtis McElhinney.
But now with Halak as the No. 1, and with him not having handled a workload like this at any point in the last several years, it would be 23-year-old Dan Vladar that Boston would turn to if Halak gets fatigued.
Vladar has never even played in an NHL game, never mind an NHL playoff game. There is definitely talent there -- his .936 save percentage for the Providence Bruins this season was tops in the AHL -- but the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, against a team as good as the Lightning, isn't exactly the ideal time to be getting a young goalie his first taste of NHL action.
"For us, obviously the biggest challenge is the advantage we lost in March with two healthy goalies," Cassidy said. "Now Tuukka is not here, so do we play Vladar as a backup? Or do we have to ride Halak? And that's a lot to ask for Jaro. So that's going to be a decision we make down the road. That'll be the biggest challenge."
Cassidy said he does feel better equipped to handle the compressed schedule in other parts of his lineup, but noted that nagging injuries could be an issue with less recovery time between games.
"I think for our players, we have eight defenseman we feel can play," he said. "So, the depth part of it, three in four nights with a back-to-back, we can move different pieces in and we don't feel that our game drops off significantly or at all when we move pieces around. We have the same luxury up front. But, if a guy gets a nagging injury and we start to get those back-to-backs, he doesn't have a chance to recover, that can work against any team. Those are the intangibles of it and the unknowns a little bit. Again, our guys will be ready to play and hopefully we don't run into those scenarios where guys do need extra time to recover."
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