‘He’s a No. 1 goalie in this league’: Jaroslav Halak continues to shine as Don Sweeney’s best move

"Might as well get it with a shutout, right?" Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy quipped after Halak's performance, good for the B's eighth straight victory and 12th in 16 home dates this year. "Good for him. He battles hard in there.

"In my opinion, he’s a number one goalie in this league. He’s proven that."

He's also proven -- even with just under a year and a half of experience in Boston -- to be Bruins general manager Don Sweeney's best move since taking over as the team's general manager in 2015. I mean, there's not a move in Sweeney's free agency swims that even compares to the value of Halak, and it's hard to find a trade that's given the Bruins as much as Halak has since 2018 (Charlie Coyle is the closest, by my estimations).

And this wasn't always a slam dunk move.

If you'll recall, the Bruins were really satisfied with Anton Khudobin -- the lovable backup thrived in Boston upon Cassidy's promotion and Claude Julien's firing, with a 22-7-7 record and .915 save percentage, which was good 23rd-best in the NHL, from Feb. 2017 through April 2018 -- and wanted to keep him around. But Khudobin's play ultimately priced him out of Boston's desired range, and the Bruins instead spent an extra $250,000 per year to sign Halak on July 1. And this was after Halak had posted a 20-26-6 record and .908 save percentage (his worst in any full NHL season since a .906 as a rookie with the Canadiens in 2006-07), mind you, so the Bruins were essentially paying more for less. It was a calculated risk -- the Bruins tried trading for Halak at the 2017 trade deadline after the Isles waived him down to Bridgeport -- but a risk nonetheless.

But Halak started his Boston run with a bang, and has rarely shown signs of slowing down.

In 48 starts with the Bruins, Halak has totaled 29 wins and posted a .925 save percentage, while the Bruins have seized 65 of a possible 98 points. This year alone, Halak has managed to grab 15 of a possible 20 points behind a 6-1-3 record, and is currently paced for a career-best .934 save percentage. But this is really all just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Halak's Boston success. Over the course of his Boston run, Halak has proven to be a five-on-five god, with a .935 save percentage (third-best among NHL goalies with at least 2,000 minutes), .879 high-danger save percentage (only Nashville's Pekka Rinne has been better in this stat), and 19.08 goals saved about average, which ranks as the 7th-most in hockey since 2018.

"[Halak] plays great for us, gives us a chance to win every night," said Cassidy. "So for us -- for a coach, for players out there -- knowing it doesn’t matter who goes in the net, you’re going to get quality goaltending."

That second part has been ridiculously crucial to the Bruins, as Halak's consistently excellent performances have allowed the Bruins to keep Tuukka Rask fresh as can be, with Rask no longer having to start close to 60 games in the regular season.

This was something the Bruins quickly identified as a no-go for them if they were going to be anything close to a legitimate playoff threat (rolling with Niklas Svedberg and Jonas Gustavsson in back-to-back years was downright painful and wasted critical years of this core's prime), and something Cassidy has repeatedly stressed since taking over as the team's head coach over two and a half years ago.

It's worked, too, as Rask has posted a 51-20-7 record and .925 save percentage between the regular season and postseason since returning from his personal leave of absence early last season. Rask has been especially devastating this year, with a 13-2-2 record and .933 save percentage (third-best in the NHL). And like Halak, Rask has been especially good when it comes to limiting high-danger chances, with a league-best .892 high-danger save percentage at all-situation play.

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For the first time since the Bruins rocked a Rask-Tim Thomas duo in net, the Bruins are truly confident no matter who's in net.

And they're playing like it, too.

"I think the guys are real happy for Jaro, he’s a guy that battles in practice too for the guys as he takes those extra shots when he needs to be," Cassidy noted. "I thought he was real good [Tuesday]."

But it's been way more than Tuesday, and the B's record and status as a team with two No. 1 goalies, confirms just that.