Ryan: Jaroslav Halak playing like a No. 1 goalie at just the right time for Bruins

Even before Jaroslav Halak posted yet another sublime showing between the pipes in Tuesday’s win over the Hurricanes, Bruce Cassidy heaped more praise on the B’s backup netminder during the morning skate at PNC Arena.

And for good reason.

Through his first five starts with the Black and Gold, Halak posted a pair of shutouts — turning aside 122 of the 128 shots that came his way for a .953 save percentage.

Signed as a free agent this summer after an up-and-down tenure in front of a porous Islanders defense (2.69 GAA over four yers), Halak quickly turned heads during the preseason and hasn’t looked back, giving Boston a steady presence as the last line of defense.

“He’s very efficient in the net, pretty squared to all shots,” Cassidy said of Halak.  "Never looks like he’s really in trouble. Not scrambling to get back on rebound situations. There are some, because he plays a little deeper. But I think he’s very efficient in his game. He’s really shown us, and it’s early, not a lot of weaknesses.

“He had one, I guess you’d call it, goal that he’d like to have back in Vancouver. He’s been very steady. Puck play is good as well. I think it’s a little underrated, I didn’t know he played as well as he did. So we’re happy to have him.”

Facing off against an up-tempo Hurricanes team that leads all NHL teams with 41.7 shots per game, Halak withstood salvo after salvo from Carolina on Tuesday, finishing with a season-high 42 saves in what was a 3-2 win for the Black and Gold.

Boston has opted to maintain a rotation in net between Halak and the regular starter in Tuukka Rask to open the 2018-19 season, but the results have squarely been tilted in the B’s favor whenever Halak has earned the nod.



While Halak (4-0-2) ranks second among starting NHL goalies (minimum of five games played) in save percentage at .947, Rask ranks 28th with a save percentage .902.

Granted, the team in front of him has played some of its worst hockey in games where Rask has received the call (namely a 7-0 debacle against Washington and a 5-2 loss to Calgary), but there’s no doubting that Rask is fighting through another slow start to the season.

Even though Rask closed out last season with a 31-6-3 mark and a .923 save percentage, he found himself on the outside looking in at the starting role in mid-November, with Anton Khudobin getting the nod after Rask started the year with a 3-8-2 record and a .899 save percentage.

Aside from a fantastic start in the 2016-17 season (.958 save percentage through four games), Rask has usually started slow over the last couple of years, posting a sub-.900 save percentage in three of the past five seasons in the month of October. (This season isn’t much better at .902).

More so than just the regular stat line, it’s been the manner in which Rask has let strong outings slip through his fingers that have put Boston behind the eight ball.

Of the 17 goals that Rask has allowed this season, seven have come in the first period, including five within the first 11 minutes of play. Along with slow starts, Rask has often let a game get away from him in short order — surrendering consecutive goals within two minutes of each other five times so far this season.

While Patrice Bergeron noted that the Black and Gold are comfortable playing in front of both Rask and Halak, he did add that Halak has often bailed out of the Black and Gold at key moments in a tilt — the latest being a pair of 2-on-1 saves during a B’s power play against Carolina.

“It’s great to have two amazing goalies like that,” Bergeron said. “Jaro came in and has been lights out, basically, from the beginning. Some key saves, but also some amazing saves also. It obviously gives you momentum when you see those plays unfold and happen in front of you. You try to make it up for it.”

In a perfect world, both Halak and Rask would be firing on all cylinders for the Black and Gold, giving Boston a dominant tandem in net and allowing Boston to pile on points during what has been a relatively light start to the season.

So far, that hasn’t been the case. And while Rask has the potential to right the ship as he did last year, there’s no question that Halak is giving this club the best chance to win right now.

With a primetime matchup against the top NHL team, points-wise, in the Predators set for Saturday, Boston needs to ride the hot hand to give itself the best chance for two points on the road.

“He’s been good for us every night,” Cassidy said of Halak’s showing on Tuesday. “No complaints there. He’s been a real rock for us back there.”