An unprecedented rescheduling could alter Bruins' gameplan against Carolina

Well, it wouldn’t be 2020 if something didn’t go off the rails at some point in these Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

As a result of Game 1 of the Lightning/Blue Jackets series dragging into an absurd, five-overtime bout, both the Bruins and Hurricanes are going to have to wait a bit longer to open their best-of-seven series — as the league announced that Boston’s postseason opener would be moved to Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. 

Here’s a look at the Bruins and Canes’ modified schedule for this first round of playoff action: 

Game 1: Wednesday, Aug. 12 (11 a.m.)
Game 2: Thursday, Aug. 13 (8 p.m.)
Game 3: Saturday, Aug. 15 (12 p.m.)
Game 4: Monday, Aug. 17 (8 p.m.)
Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, Aug. 19 (time TBD)
Game 6 (if necessary): Thursday, Aug. 20 (time TBD)
Game 7 (if necessary): Sunday, Aug. 23 (time TBD)

The writing was on the wall that both Boston and Carolina were going to have to adjust their schedules in short order, given that it didn’t appear as though both the Bolts and Blue Jackets weren’t budging at all in their matchup — which began at 3 p.m. at Scotiabank Arena. 

Just minutes after Tampa Bay and Columbus returned to their locker rooms following a fourth overtime period, the league announced that the Boston/Carolina series opener was going to be pushed back. 

All things considered, Bruce Cassidy didn’t have too many concerns with the decision, given that both Boston and Carolina wouldn’t have been able to start their matchup until over an hour after the Tampa/Columbus game finally wrapped up. 

Had Boston and Carolina waited things out to play after Tampa’s Brayden Point finally scored the game-winning tally at 10:27 in the fifth overtime — closing out a 3-2 win for the Lightning — Game 1 likely wouldn’t have gotten underway until at least 11 p.m.

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“The first is the ice conditions,” Cassidy said of the concerns about starting Game 1 tonight. “Which, after seven periods of hockey, whatever it is, seven and a half – I don’t care how good you are at maintaining ice, there’s going to be some deterioration. And then, a little bit of the fatigue. You’re waiting around, what if our game goes into overtime? Now all of a sudden, players are playing at, could be one o’clock in the morning. Is that right?

“Is that appropriate for just a one overtime game, especially being at the rink since 5 o’clock? I think there is a little bit of that. I guess the flip side, hey, it’s unique all around this year. Play a game at 11 o’clock – I just think they made the right call, personally, for the players' safety. We’ll get the game in tomorrow. We’ll have to deal with the back-to-back situation so there’s always a little adversity somewhere but we’re just, like I said, ready to go tomorrow. I think honestly, the players can best answer that question about what their concerns would be.”

Now, granted — "adversity" is a hurdle that all teams face this time of year during their match toward the Stanley Cup. But this unprecedented postponement does make the road even harder for this Bruins team upon glancing over this revamped schedule.



As a result of Tuesday night's contest getting pushed back to Wednesday morning, the Bruins and Hurricanes will now open their playoff series with a back-to-back slate — with another back-to-back scheduled next week in potential Games 5 and 6 on August 19th and 20th.

So, if this series (one already expected to be much more competitive) goes to at least six games, the Bruins and Hurricanes could open postseason play with six games in nine days.

That's brutal — and not the kind of accelerated scheduled that a veteran team like the Bruins should be too happy about jumping headfirst into, especially against a quick-skating club like the Hurricanes.

While the legs of Boston's forwards and defensemen should be able to handle these back-to-back marathons, Cassidy might have to take a long look at his netminders and weigh the potential consequences of rolling with Tuukka Rask for consecutive days during this series.

Given the strong production Boston has benefitted from over the last two years with Jaroslav Halak in tow, the Bruins usually haven't had to subject Rask to back-to-back outings in net. It's a move designed to keep their No. 1 goalie fresh, but it's also a prudent decision — especially when looking at the club's fortunes under those circumstances when Rask is asked to log plenty of reps in a short amount of time.

In fact, Rask has only appeared in back-to-back games once since Halak arrived back in the summer of 2018, with the B's netminder tagged with the loss on the second leg of that slate — allowing two goals on 19 shots in a loss to the Red Wings back on Feb. 9th, 2020.

The last time Rask was asked to take on back-to-back workloads more than once in a single campaign was during the 2016-17 season. In those three instances, Rask posted a record of 1-2-0 with an .877 save percentage during the second leg of those sequences. Not all too encouraging. 

Given that Boston has the luxury of a top backup in Halak ready for service, there could be a scenario in which the Bruins roll with Halak for at least one of these playoff matchups against Carolina. However, Cassidy wasn't ready to commit to such a move on Wednesday night.

"We’re going to let the game play out first tomorrow. The good news about the back to back, there is a day and a half, not quite — there’s a 11 o’clock game and an 8 o’clock game, little more rest, there’s no travel involved so it may depend on the workload of Tuukka. Obviously we’ll discuss it with him. We’re very comfortable with both goaltenders. I’ve heard Rod (Brind'Amour) say on the other side, he proved it, he used both goaltenders against the Rangers. So I don’t think it’ll be an issue for him either. It’s two teams that typically use both goaltenders so that’s a bit of a fortunate break for both teams. "

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For now, the Bruins aren't dwelling too much on the complications that will arise from Tuesday's switcheroo. Yes, having to wait around at the rink for hours on end might have been a bore, but Cassidy doesn't expect his club — already motivated going into this season and further fueled by their round-robin showing — to be sleepwalking on the ice when the puck is dropped Wednesday morning.

"It’s tough, because we want to play," Cassidy said of the message to his players. "Coming out of the round robin, we feel that this is what we were getting ready for all season, to be honest with you. This didn’t just happen last week. This was starting back in October, that we were preparing for building our game towards having a playoff run. That was our – I think we put that out there openly that we called it unfinished business. Now we’ve done the prep work the last 10 days, plus the two weeks at Warrior. Now we’re ready to get going.

"It’s 16 teams left, it’s best of seven. It’s your traditional playoffs. Disappointing we didn’t get to play tonight, but once the night drags on, players start – are we going to play? Is this really happening? So 11 o’clock to me will have the same emotion there tomorrow. I really believe that. I think Carolina will be the same to be honest with you. Both teams will get a good night's sleep and we’ll be back to work tomorrow."