Halak could be the odd goalie out.
Over the past six weeks, No. 1 goalie Tuukka Rask has been sidelined with an upper-body injury. Thursday night in a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders, Rask returned to the lineup and played well, making 22 saves to collect his 300th career victory.
Rask looked calm, cool, and collective as usual in the net. He controlled his rebounds and the goal he gave up was not his fault as a Brad Marchand turnover set up the Islanders on their lamplighter.
Jaroslav Halak has spent the two weeks on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols list and in both his and Rask’s absence, the Black and Gold’s two rookie goalies have done a great job manning the net. The most impressive rookie has been Jeremy Swayman and his recent play might be putting Halak’s roster spot when he’s ready to come back in jeopardy.
In five starts, Swayman is 4-1 with a 1.78 goals-against average (GAA) and a .938 save percentage (SV%). Friday night, he stopped all 25 shots he faced from the Islanders to record his first NHL shutout in the Bruins 3-0 victory.
The hope for the Bruins is that Rask can remain healthy the rest of the regular season and be ready for the playoffs. We saw what happened last summer when Rask left the Toronto playoff bubble and the goaltending duties were left to Halak and Dan Vladar. After finishing off the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round, the duo struggled against the Tampa Bay Lightning, which eliminated Boston in five games.
Could Halak get his backup role back when he returns? Yes, but with the way Swayman is playing, it’s going to be difficult to keep the youngster out of uniform.