The Boston Bruins have the potential to break their streak of missing the postseason. But is it worth burning out their goaltender to do so?
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The Boston Bruins are finding themselves in a serious conundrum. Do they burn out Tuukka Rask in an attempt to make the playoffs? Or will they allow their backup to try and salvage some points for their team.
So far, the Black and Gold have earned 58 points. It’s good enough to keep them in third place in the Atlantic Division. Unfortunately, there are teams closing the gap quickly. If the Bruins fail to defeat Toronto on Saturday night, it might signal the beginning of the end of the B’s 2016-17 season.
At the moment, the B’s have only earned four points when Tuukka Rask is not in net. That’s just 6.9% of all the Bruins points, and it’s the lowest percentage in the league.
The Black and Gold are facing one glaring problem right now. That problem is that the Bruins have no backup goaltender. Sure, the B’s have Zane McIntyre and Anton Khudobin. While the B’s have them on the roster, neither of them are being utilized by the Bruins organization.
There has been no set number two goaltender because no one has risen to the challenge this season. The only thing the Bruins have done is to continue to play Tuukka Rask. Rask is on track for another 70 game season, and that means the B’s will fry Rask in a desperate attempt to make the playoffs.
Rask is already starting to show signs of burnout. Rask had a sub .800 game against the Capitals on Wednesday, letting in five goals. He had an .857 save percentage against the woefully struggling Lightning, letting in three goals in that win. Rask’s save percentage has dropped from a Vezina-worthy .930 to .914 in the last few weeks.
Rask has been battling groin strain for most of the season. He seemed to be injured again in the loss to the Capitals. Does it make sense for the B’s to push Rask to the point where he suffers a season ending injury? If that happens, any chance of the B’s making the playoffs are gone.
So, what can the Bruins do? They’ve got to make a decision soon.
