Jaroslav Halak committed an absolutely brutal turnover on the Hurricanes’ only goal Saturday. He also stopped all 29 other shots he faced, including several tough ones, to make sure that would be their only goal, and to make sure the Bruins won Game 3, 3-1, to take a 2-1 series lead.
It’s that one mistake, one he probably won’t be making again any time soon, that will forever live on the blunder reel. It’s the rest of the game that should have the Bruins feeling pretty good about their chances going forward despite seeing their No. 1 goalie, Tuukka Rask, opt out of the rest of the playoffs Saturday morning.
With Rask now gone, Halak becomes arguably the most important player on the team this postseason with only two unproven young goalies behind him on the depth chart.
Fortunately for the Bruins, Halak is not some young goalie getting thrown into his first playoff action, nor some mediocre backup who only plays 15-20 games per season.
This is a 35-year-old veteran who owns a .922 save percentage in 35 career playoff games, good for 16th all time. Who 10 years ago led the Montreal Canadiens on an improbable run to the Eastern Conference finals that actually had people debating whether he or Carey Price was the team’s goalie of the future. And whose .921 save percentage since joining the Bruins two years ago ranks sixth in the NHL among goalies who have made at least 50 starts during that time.
The Bruins believe they can still win with Halak, and they should. If anyone thought Rask’s departure would be the end of this playoff run, think again.
"We always had high confidence in both of our goalies and that hasn't changed," captain Zdeno Chara said after the game. "I think that we all know the experiences Jaro has from playoffs. You know he's a proven goalie and he's done a number of times and shown a number of times that he can handle these situations. Like I said, we always rely on our goalies throughout our seasons and that hasn't changed."
The Bruins needed Halak to be on his game right from the get-go Saturday. The refs called Brad Marchand for a penalty that quite clearly was not a penalty just 12 seconds into the game, and the Hurricanes peppered Halak with shots on the ensuing power play.
The 35-year-old veteran stood tall, though, and was clearly seeing the puck well as he made a few saves on shots through traffic without giving up any juicy rebounds, including two on Andrei Svechnikov (who suffered what could be a series-changing injury later in the game) and another on Dougie Hamilton.
Late in the first period, Carolina came very close to taking a 1-0 lead. Jaccob Slavin took a shot from the left point with traffic in front that got deflected on its way through. Halak managed to just get the tip of his glove on it, then reached behind him to pull the puck off the goal line as it was trickling in. The play was reviewed, and it looked like there was a chance the puck may have crossed the goal line while it was under Halak’s glove, but there was inconclusive evidence, so the no-goal call stood.
The Bruins also needed Halak to respond after his blunder 6:30 into the third allowed Nino Niederreiter to cut Boston’s lead to 2-1. The Hurricanes kept the pressure on, and just a few minutes later Brady Skjei had a golden chance stepping into the slot from the point, but Halak flashed the glove to keep the Bruins ahead.
In the second period, it was the Bruins’ offense that came to life after a sluggish first period. They scored on the power play just 14 seconds into the period when Charlie Coyle batted a rebound from a Brad Marchand shot out of mid-air past Petr Mrazek.
They kept the pressure on for the rest of the period and outshot Carolina 20-8 in the frame while playing some of their best hockey since the restart. They couldn’t find the back of the net again in that period, but they would just 1:16 into the third when Sean Kuraly tipped in a Coyle pass on a shorthanded 2-on-1.
That would prove to be some critical insurance for the Bruins, given Halak’s turnover a few minutes later. The Bruins and Halak showed resiliency after Carolina's goal, just like they showed resiliency all day by going out and winning a crucial Game 3 after news like Rask’s opt-out that easily could’ve deflated a team.
The Bruins weren’t deflated, though, and they’re not giving up. Instead, they’re carrying a 2-1 series lead into Monday night’s Game 4 and rallying around a veteran goalie they believe in.
"Jaro is a popular guy and they know his abilities," coach Bruce Cassidy said. "You know, now it could be his turn to have a nice run. I think it's in the back of everyone's mind, if we want to reach our goals we're going to need a goaltender in there to help us get there. No team gets there without solid goaltending. So maybe this is Jaro’s year. Tuukka had a great run last year. So that's certainly something we can rally around, but by the same token it wasn't going to be the end of the world to have Jaro in there."
Presented by:
Related
