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And then there were two.
In a camp that began with six goaltenders, the Boston Bruins camp roster is down to three in net.
One of whom is Tuukka Rask, a former Vezina winner and uncontested No. 1 netminder in Boston. But the job behind Rask as the B’s backup seems very much open, but is down to its two finalists in Jeremy Smith and camp invite Jonas Gustavsson with the Sunday demotion of Zane McIntyre and Malcolm Subban down to Providence.
In two games this preseason, Smith, signed to a one-year deal worth $600,000, has stopped 34-of-37 shots against (a .919 save percentage) and part of a combined shutout in his first outing. In a platoon role with the P-Bruins last year, Smith was sharp and was in the top-five in both save percentage and goals against average among AHL goaltenders last season, and seems like the favorite for the job.
But it’s tough to discount the veteran experience of Gustavsson, who would have played in more games this preseason for Claude Julien and the B’s had it not been for a personal leave of absence for the birth of his daughter. And you can’t knock his performance, an 18-of-18 showing against the Devils.
With three preseason tilts to go -- and with Rask expected to play in the full 60 tonight, too -- Julien knows it’s going to be hard to get these two minutes and make a decision by next week.
“It’s too bad because when you look at a goaltender and you look at another guy that plays up front, you know, whether it’s a defenseman or that he has a tough game and you know you write it off and when a goalie has a couple of tough goals against him right away we write them off,… Julien said this morning. “He’s entitled to have a bounce back or he’s entitled to be evaluated properly as well. So you know we’re talking about Smith. And then Gustavsson he’s got some experience we need to look at him too. The possibility is you’ll probably see him in New York. Tuukka is playing tonight so we’re going to try and evaluate the best we can here but we have to make some decisions here. And just because you make a decision at the beginning of the year doesn’t mean you’re going to stick with it either so.
“It’s a matter of making the right decision and making the right moves moving forward here.…
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com