When the Boston Bruins signed Jonas Gustavsson to a professional tryout, it set tongues waging. Why would the B’s be willing to take a chance on him? Maybe the Bruins didn’t have enough confidence in either Malcolm Subban or Jeremy Smith. Perhaps they wanted to see what the 30-year old Swede could bring to the table. Well last night, the veteran goaltender showed his stripes while wearing number eighty-nine for the Black and Gold.
Gustavsson wearing 89. pic.twitter.com/6nYOjHAKhn
— Andrew E Thompson (@Godwentwhoops) September 20, 2015
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Gustavsson was solid in his half-game against the Devils. He stopped all eighteen shots on goal for the Bruins team while he sat in net. He covered the early holes in the Bruins defense and made it look rather easy. Gustavsson was awarded the win for night, and his style of play has changed my mind. He has likely impressed the Bruins front office as well.
Jeremy Smith replaces Jonas Gustavsson midway thru 2nd period to approving applause from PBruins crowd. Smith was really good here last year
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) September 21, 2015
Jeremy Smith covered the net for the other half of the evening. Smith had worked hard last season in Providence. He had started the season as the back up to Malcolm Subban, but played his way into sharing full-time goaltender duty with him. While his workload wasn’t as demanding as Gustavsson’s, he stopped everything that came at him, making twelve saves on the night.
Puck Prose
Going into the preseason, Jeremy Smith was the front-runner for the number two job in Boston. Gustavsson has certainly put himself in contention for that job after last night’s performance. The pressure will now be on Zane McIntyre and Malcolm Subban as they get their chance in net. While letting in a goal certainly won’t damn them, they’ll have to avoid simple errors in their play.
Here is how I see the current goaltender strength chart in Boston:
1.) Tuukka Rask 2.) Jeremy Smith 3.) Jonas Gustavsson 4.)Malcolm Subban 5.)Zane McIntyre
I’d love to hear your opinion on the Bruins current strength in net. Let me know if you agree, disagree, or think I’m a candidate for a mental asylum. You can send me a yell at @Godwentwhoops on Twitter or at www. causewaycrowd.com