Goaltender controversy may be brewing in Boston.

Bruins may look to shake up the order of things.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Goaltender controversy may be brewing in Boston.
Dom GagneCSM/Zuma

The Boston Bruins have had a bit of a goaltender controversy brewing for some time now and for the first time it looks like head coach Bruce Cassidy may be acknowledging the reality of his current situation as well.

Boston Bruins star goaltender Tuukka Rask has gotten off to a relatively slow start this season, something that is not all that uncommon for him, and that has left the Bruins with some tough calls to make. Though 6 games played Rask has posted a 3.15 goals against average and a .902 save percentage and although it's been over a small sample size you expect a bit more from your number one goaltender. In the past Rask has veteran backup goaltender Anton Khudobin to compete with but this season the challenger to his thrown has arguably stepped up in quality. 

Backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak has been performing admirably for the Bruins this season, so much so in fact that it's becoming rather difficult to argue that he shouldn't be seeing more action than Rask at this point in the season. Through 6 games of his own in the 2018 - 2019 NHL regular season Halak has recorded a 1.43 goals against average and an equally impressive .945 save percentage. Now like Rask the sample size is rather small but those are not simply good numbers, those are outstanding numbers from Jaroslav Halak and in the NHL the coach's job is not to play favorites, but to pick up as many wins as he can. 

As I stated before there is now a hint that head coach Bruce Cassidy is starting to seriously weigh his options, for example according to Bruins insider Joe Haggerty it will be Jaroslav Halak that will get the start on Tuesday night when the Bruins take on the Carolina Hurricanes. What is particularly noteworthy however is that when Haggerty pressed Cassidy regarding who would get the start against the Nashville Predators, Cassidy would not commit to one goalie or the other. Rask could certainly get the start on Saturday but the fact that Cassidy is leaving his options open appears to indicate that if Halak continues to play the way he has been, he may get a run as the starter from the Bruins head coach.

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