Boston Bruins to start Rask tonight, Khudobin tomorrow

Both Boston Bruins goaltenders have been playing well the last month.  There’s nothing better than a team having two goalies they can depend upon to get wins when needed.

Early this season, Tuukka Rask struggled mightily, and it seemed like Anton Khudobin was primed to take over the starting role in Boston.  The “Trade Tuukka” talk that comes about every season came earlier than ever.  However, after a four game losing streak in early November, the Boston Bruins have turned things around, and are 8-2-0 in their last ten games, at least somewhat in part to a resurgence by Rask.

Both goalies have been getting into the win column with consistent play recently.  In the last ten games, Tuukka Rask is 4-1-0 with a 1.45 GAA and a .941 save percentage.  Anton Khudobin is likewise 4-1-0, albeit with a 2.45 GAA and a .890 save percentage.  Rask’s play during this stretch has been improving, while Khudobin’s play has been declining.  The talks of Khudobin taking over the starting gig have subsided for now.

The team announced that in this set of back-to-back games, Rask would be starting tonight against the Detroit Red Wings, and Khduobin would be starting tomorrow night against the Washington Capitals.

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The numbers game

At first glance, this decision would seem somewhat odd.  Detroit has struggled this season and sits at 11-13-6, 28 points, and have only won one out of their last ten games (1-5-4).  Washington has been their typical solid team, at 19-12-1, 39 points, and like the Bruins, they are also 8-2-0 in their last ten games.

But, when you look at the numbers, it seems like head coach Bruce Cassidy finds past performance and historical data to be an important factor in decision making.  In his career, Rask is 9-5-2 with a 2.74 GAA and .894 save percentage against the Red Wings.  Not exactly great numbers.  But when compared to his history with the Capitals, 1-10-5 with a 3.07 GAA and .889 save percentage, Rask has clearly been much more successful against Detroit.

Khudobin also has had more success in his career against Washington, despite it being a smaller sample size.  He has a career 4-3-1 record against the Caps, with a 2.59 GAA and .919 save percentage.  He only has one career start against Detroit, and has a 0-1-0 record with a 3.10 GAA and .880 save percentage.

So, when it comes to the numbers, starting Rask tonight in Detroit and Khudobin tomorrow in Washington makes sense.  Also, when it comes to standings, divisional games are usually more important to win and take points from your direct competition.  So, in this back-to-back situation, it also is smart of Cassidy to start the hotter goalie in Rask against divisional opponent Detroit.

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I’ll hand it to Cassidy, he has been everything Bruins fans could have hoped for, and more, when he replaced Claude Julien last season.  He ended last year on a hot streak and brought the team to the playoffs, and he has made the most of things with a consistently injured lineup this season.  Keep your eye on him for Jack Adams consideration.