A weekend back-to-back against the Flyers and Capitals will begin with the third straight start for Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed following Friday’s practice in Philadelphia.
“Swayman’s going in tomorrow, and [Daniel] Vladar’s tentatively set for Sunday,” Cassidy said.
Sticking with the 22-year-old Swayman seems to make all the sense in the world really, as the true first-year pro has done nothing to warrant a night off out of the gate, with stops on all but four of the first 75 NHL shots he’s faced. Swayman also shined in his head-to-head with the Flyers earlier this week, with 40 saves (just a few off from matching the league record for most saves in an NHL debut), and followed that up with a 31-save victory over Washington on Thursday night.
Apr 6, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) stops Philadelphia Flyers left wing Scott Laughton (21) on a breakaway during the first period at Wells Fargo Center. (Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports)
And in the case of Sunday, the only reason Vladar’s name is written in pencil and not ink comes back to the potential of the Bruins getting Tuukka Rask back in action for what would be his first game since an early exit on Mar. 25.
“[Sunday] will all depend on Tuukka,” Cassidy noted.”He’s on the ice today, is feeling better. But we’re putting Swayman back in tomorrow and we’ll decide on Sunday. But it’ll be between Vladar and Tuukka depending on Tuukka’s health.”
Dealing with what appears to be a bad back, the 34-year-old Rask has played just 20 minutes since suffering an upper-body injury in a Mar. 7 loss to the Devils, and has an 8-4-2 record and .907 save percentage in 2021.
Vladar, meanwhile, has compiled a 2-1-1 record and .922 save percentage in four starts this season.
Mar 16, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Daniel Vladar (80) wipes his face during a time-out in the third period against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Boston won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
It also means that Jaroslav Halak, who was placed on the COVID list earlier this week (and remained there as of Friday), is the only goaltender the Bruins have outright ruled out for this weekend’s two-in-two.
The Bruins also have seen enough to not sweat the potential of another two games without Halak and Rask available.
“Both guys have gone in there and played well, given us a chance to win,” Cassidy said of his young tandem. “I’m pleased with both. The identity of our team is to be hard to play against [and] play good team defense, and you need stops to do that. We’ve never relied on our goalie to flatout win games for us. But stretches of the game, you just got to be better than the other guy at times when your team’s not executing well enough or what have you. And they’ve been able to do that.”
The Bruins enter this weekend with wins in two straight, and points in four straight by way of a 3-0-1 record.