By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
With Tuukka Rask away from the team on a leave of absence for personal reasons, and with Daniel Vladar (zero games of NHL experience to his name) in town as Boston’s de facto No. 2 goaltender, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy is likely to go back to Jaroslav Halak for the second time in 24 hours when the Vegas Golden Knights come to town Sunday night.
“Right now, no,” Cassidy said when asked if he’s hesitant to go back to Halak on the second night of a back-to-back. “I don’t believe there will be an issue. It’s a 7:00 game [Sunday]. We won’t skate in the morning, just get up and go and have a few meetings. If not, Vladar’s here, played great on Friday, but I would suspect Jaro will be ready to go.”
Absolutely peppered in the first period (the Bruins began the night outshot 15-2, and Halak’s first period ultimately ended with 20 saves in 20 minutes), the 33-year-old Halak finished the night 40-of-41 in the Boston crease, and feels well enough to go.
And he knows that the Golden Knights will be in similar shape coming into Boston.
“Just get a good sleep tonight, same routine, get some rest tomorrow probably no [morning skate], get a good pregame meal and play a game,” Halak said of his Sunday’s plans and preparations for a potential two starts in two days stretch. “I will see, [Golden Knights] are traveling from Montreal their guys need to get some sleep tonight, too.”
Halak made three appearances on no days rest last season for the Islanders, going 2-1-0 with an .864 save percentage.
“It’s going to be a tough night, they got a good team it’s going to be a difficult challenge and we need to be ready,” said Halak.
Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. He has also been a voting member of the Boston Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association since 2013. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter @_TyAnderson.