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A red-hot Rask creates new dilemma for Bruins

October 14, 2013, 11:11 AM ET [23 Comments]
Ty Anderson
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Goaltender Tuukka Rask hasn’t been perfect in 2013, but he’s been damn close.

Through four games, Rask’s stopped all but four of the 115 shots that have been thrown his way.

Over this stretch, he’s failed to surrender more than one goal in a contest, and boasts a downright filthy .979 even-strength save percentage, good for seventh in the entire league (all the goaltenders above him have posted a 1.000 at even-strength through a week and a half). Filthy, I tell ‘ya.

Allowing four goals in four games, it’s tough to find major flaws in the Finnish netminder’s game thus far. He was beat on a 2-on-1 that began with a Bruin giveaway in the home opener, failed to stop a laser from Henrik Zetterberg in Game 2, was beaten by a Ryan O’Reilly tip in Game 3, and simply couldn’t see the Jack Johnson slapper that beat him this past Saturday.

Not much you can do there, right?

Above all else, Rask has been in command when in the crease. He’s rarely looked flustered, strike that-- he hasn’t looked flustered at all. His defensemen (for the most part) have given him the best chance to make the stop, and he’s turned pucks away with the confidence that’s become commonplace since seizing the job of No. 1 goaltender with authority last year.

For the Bruins, Rask’s start has been more than ideal, especially given their rather thin goaltending situation this year, and in all likelihood the long term future.

Signed to a monstrous $56 million extension this summer, one that keeps him in town for the next eight years with a $7 million cap hit, the pressure’s undoubtedly on the 26-year-old Rask to perform at a level similar to last year’s absolute dynamite postseason run that fell just short. And so far, so good for No. 40. And so far, so good for a B’s club that hasn’t needed to give Chad Johnson a rough introduction to the Black-and-Gold given a mixture of Rask’s aforementioned dominance in net and the club’s fortuitous October schedule.

(Hell, at this rate, you’ll never need to see Johnson in net.)

Finishing the weekend with just four of their 82 games played thus far -- tied with Columbus for the lowest figure in the entire Eastern Conference (everybody else has played at least five games) -- the Bruins’ big break throughout the month of October has been and will continue to be in their spacing between contests. Beginning the year with two games in three nights, the Bruins then had four days off before this past Thursday’s game against the Avalanche, and rounded out the weekend with a 2 p.m. contest against the Blue Jackets on Saturday. That’s called being well rested, and then some.

And it’s not going to become unmanageable anytime soon, really.

Later this afternoon, the Bruins will skate against the Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden for the second time in nine days, and it shouldn’t shock anybody to see Rask get the nod against the high-octane Wings once again given the value of a head-to-head matchup with one of the division’s better clubs.

Then the Bruins find themselves out of game action ‘til Thursday night, when they skate against the Florida Panthers, a team that Rask’s won seven of eight career matchups with by way of a superhuman .972 save percentage and 0.82 goals against average. And once again, with the division being the focus of the B’s, it’s hard to deny Rask that (essential) ‘freebie’ of a game in favor of simply giving Johnson a spot start to keep him loose. It’s too early for that kind of stuff, at least in my book.

So just where does Johnson’s playing time fit into all of this? Through a week plus -- which admittedly is still way too early to make an accurate judgement -- it’s anybody’s guess. Throughout his tenure behind the Boston bench, coach Claude Julien’s been a guy that’s gone with the hot goaltender. Always has, and probably always will. That’s why you saw Manny Fernandez get the bulk of the starts during his two-month run from Nov. to Dec. 2008, where he posted a 10-1-0 record with a .942 save percentage, over eventual Vezina winner Tim Thomas.

But 2013-14 is a different animal for Julien.

Rask is the most expensive goaltender the Bruins have had during his stint at bench boss, his age doesn’t create a considerable ‘wear and tear’ issue like a Thomas or Fernandez, and the talent-gap between starter and backup has never been as vast as it is right now.

This entire situation, head to toe, is all new to Julien and the Bruins.

Under Julien, no B’s netminder has started more than Thomas’ 55 games, accomplished three times (2007-08, 2010-11, and 2011-12), while Thomas’ 59 games played in ‘11-12 remains the highest total number of games any Bruins goaltender has skated in during a regular season. While those tandems -- Thomas/Fernandez (though Alex Auld replaced Fernandez following a season-ending knee injury) and Thomas/Rask -- had the talent to distribute starts a bit more evenly, it’s going to be more than difficult for Julien to stray from a starting goaltending season pattern that’s brought about so much playoff success, even if Rask’s playing lights out, and even if Chad Johnson’s a question mark.

In a perfect world, you’ll see Johnson get the nod for anywhere between 20 to 25 games, giving Rask anywhere from 55 to 60 starts, a number he would’ve paced had last year been an 82-game season. And given the Bruins' long term plans for this year -- i.e. another deep run towards Lord Stanley -- there are going to be times where Rask rides the pine in order to get a breather to stay fresh and not burn out a la Miikka Kiprusoff did with the Calgary Flames in (insert literally any year from 2005-06 on here).

But an idea as to what the exact figure will be for Johnson in terms of games played -- who just finished up a new B’s paintjob on his mask -- is something that’s not going to be known until he starts a game (or five) for the club.

Whenever that may be.

Or perhaps better yet, whenever Rask and his .965 save percentage through four allows him, 'cause right now No. 40 is simply too good to sit.
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