Boston Bruins: Just how good is our goaltending tandem?

No team has split the goaltending as evenly as the Boston Bruins with as strong results thus far this season.

The Boston Bruins are six games in and have shared the starts right down the middle between Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak. Both goalies have been more than up for the challenge, with only the only loss between them and a shut-out each.

Comparing this duo to all others across the league thus far, perhaps the only comparison anywhere close is that of Petr Mrazek and James Reimer in Carolina. Their numbers match up a little differently though on the strength of their teams’ defense, as a whole.

Among the other duos sharing time rather evenly are the likes of Jonathan Quick and Jack Campbell in Los Angeles, Jonathan Bernier and Jimmy Howard in Detroit and Mackenzie Blackwood and Cory Schneider in New Jersey.

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You only need look at the current NHL standings to see that regardless of the shared workload, it’s not exactly working for any of those teams.

The Boston Bruins’ pair stand out as the only two goalies (aside from Carter Hart and Ilya Samsanov) with three games (or more) to concede less than 5 goals. In Tuukka Rask’s case, he is there with Samsanov on just four goals against.

This all adds up to some pretty insane goals against averages for both guys, albeit very early on in the year. Rask is rocking a 1.33, while Halak is rocking a 1.69. Combined that’s an other-worldly 1.51 goals against per game.

Now obviously, there’s no guarantee they maintain that form and you always run the risk of one blow-out result this early in the season skewing your statistics, but regardless of how you swing it, that is mighty, might impressive.

Their save percentages are even more jaw-dropping, albeit they do create a little concern as they point to a Boston Bruins side that is presently giving up a few too many shots on net. Either way, to have both goalies above 0.95% is incredible, especially as the workload is being split evenly.

Tuukka Rask is sitting at 0.957%, with only Darcy Kuemper in the Arizona net at 0.955%, seperating him from his Boston Bruins’ partner, Jaroslav Halak, who clocks a 0.951 save percentage.

You could argue that maybe the statistics are skewed by easier fixtures, but that isn’t the case in the slightest. The Boston Bruins started on the road with four straight games out West against the Stars, Coyotes, Golden Knights and Avalanche, none of whom are push-overs.

Heading back to Boston, maybe the New Jersey Devils and Anaheim Ducks represent easier challenges, but Rask and Halak have already shown consistency that pretty much invalidates any opinion about easier opposition making them look good.

The next week will be the true test as to the pair’s credentials. Should Boston Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy continue his rotation between the two, we should expect the Toronto Maple Leafs to face both goalies and it’s anyone’s guess who gets the start versus Tampa – a betting man would probably say Rask though.

Gone are the days of a bonafide number one, it would seem. Now we have the luxury of a pairing that can interchange every night and the team not notice a difference.

If these two keep this up, the Boston Bruins could well stake a claim for the Atlantic Division top spot come the start of April next year, but of course, the campaign is still very young and a hot start could simmer down.