The Bruins have benefitted from splitting time in net between Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak the last two regular seasons, but when it got to crunch time last postseason, it was all Rask.
The 33-year-old netminder, who was just named a Vezina Trophy finalist for the second time, played every minute of all 24 playoff games and looked great doing it, posting a .934 save percentage to help lead the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final.
This postseason might be different, though. While Rask has obviously had plenty of rest with the four-month layoff, there are questions about how quickly a goalie can build up to the point of being able to play every game.
Playing every game when you're already in game shape and in the flow of a full season is one thing. Doing it when you're coming in cold and have just a couple weeks of practices, a few scrimmages and one exhibition game to get ready is another. The fact that the Bruins are likely to have a back-to-back or two after their round-robin games doesn't help either.
Speaking on a Zoom call with fellow Vezina finalists Connor Hellebuyck and Andrei Vasilevskiy on Friday, Rask acknowledged he would "surprised" if he or any goalie played every minute of every game this postseason.
"We've had the luxury of me sharing the net with Jaro the last couple of years and it's worked out great for us," Rask said. "As far as the playoffs are concerned, you never know. You lay off for four months and then you go right into playoff hockey, there might be some injuries and some nagging injuries that might happen, your groin or hips.
"I'd be surprised if you see goalies play every minute of every game during these playoffs because the situation is so different. But I'm looking forward to it. You never know but I guess we'll see what happens. We've had the luxury of having two very good goalies the last few seasons, so I think we're in a good spot."
Rask is right about that. Few teams, if any, would be more comfortable turning to their backup if they need to than the Bruins. While Halak hasn't played a playoff game since 2015, he has provided the Bruins with a .921 save percentage over the last two seasons while going 40-17-10.
At the very least, Halak will almost certainly see some time in the Bruins' exhibition game against the Blue Jackets and/or at least one of their three round-robin games, if for no other reason than to make sure he wouldn't be going in completely cold if he does have to play when the real games start.
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy has said that third and fourth goalies Max Lagace and Dan Vladar are in more of a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency situation and that he doesn't envision getting them into either the exhibition game or the round-robin games since Rask and Halak are going to need those reps.
"The round-robin games are meaningful," Cassidy said Friday. "We've always said we want to have our team playing the best hockey going into the playoffs. We want to win and get the highest seed. We also said we'd build in maintenance if that's what the players required and that's to be determined.
"They may not need an exhibition and three league games, so we'll determine that. But I've got to believe with only four games that we can't get all four in there unless there's an injury of some sort. That's just my thinking. Obviously if Tuukka is ready to go then he'd be our guy on opening night of the playoffs, but if something unforeseen happens then we'd need a number three ready to go whether that's Max or Vladar. A guy like Jaro may not see the net a lot in the playoffs if Tuukka is the starter like we anticipate he will be, so (the round-robin games) is where he will have to get his live work."
Perhaps Rask will wind up being ready to handle the full workload in the end, but if he can't or if he struggles, the Bruins should still feel good about their chances with Halak in net.
Presented by:
