Bruce Cassidy won’t name Game 3 starter just yet
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
When it comes to his Game 3 starter, and after a series-tying overtime loss to the Lightning on Tuesday night, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy will sleep on it.
“If you ask me who my starting goalie is tomorrow night I don’t really know,” Cassidy admitted after Game 2. “I’ll let you know tomorrow.”
Cassidy’s choice is a simple one: The veteran Jaroslav Halak or the 23-year-old Daniel Vladar. Halak has started all five games since Tuukka Rask opted out, while Daniel Vladar still has donuts next to his name in the NHL. So, in more ways than one, Cassidy’s choice seems simple. Even on zero days rest.
‘I didn’t think it was a taxing night [for Halak] in terms of high danger chances by any means,” Cassidy offered. “Obviously the last goal got scrambly in front of the net, there’s a breakaway, but we were pretty good otherwise. We only took two penalties I believe, so our penalty kill was solid again, so we’ll see how that it is tomorrow.”
Halak, meanwhile, feels relatively fine after a 36-of-40 night in the Boston crease.
“I feel fine,” the 35-year-old Halak offered. “Obviously, we just need to get a good night’s sleep and see how it’s going to go tomorrow. No one said it was going to be an easy series. We are tied now and basically starting from zero now. Just like I said, we have to forget about this one and move on and we have another game tomorrow.”
This seems similar to the approach the Bruins took with Rask with back-to-back games to begin the team’s first-round series with the Hurricanes.
And that approach begins with the B’s team mentality no matter who gets the call in net.
‘Sometimes it’s good to get right back at it when you lose a hockey game,” Cassidy said. “You know we’ll see tomorrow if that’s good for us. You saw their energy early on, they had good push, usually after a loss you have that, you know they may be riding high and going to build off that because they want to even the series. So that’s a tough one sometimes to answer.
“I don’t think anybody had to go, no injuries so we didn’t really have to double-shift anybody, so that part of our recovery should be OK.”
Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. 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.
