Bruins Notebook: Jaroslav Halak to start Game 3 vs. Lightning, Boston could roll with 7 defensemen

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but the Bruins are going to stick with their No. 1 option in net for Wednesday’s Game 3 matchup against the Lightning. 

Speaking Wednesday afternoon, Bruce Cassidy announced that Jaroslav Halak will indeed get the start against Tampa Bay once again — less than 24 hours after stopping 36 shots in Boston’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Bolts in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal. 

"Halak is scheduled to start," Cassidy said. "He did not skate on the ice today so he’s recovered well. That’s the plan."

Even if a back-to-back slate for Games 2 and 3 is far from ideal for Boston's veteran netminder, a fatigued Halak still gives Boston a better shot at holding off the Lightning than backup Dan Vladar — who has yet to make an appearance in an NHL game in his young career.

Still, with Tuukka Rask out of the bubble, Vladar still stands as the next man up in Boston's goalie corps and will be ready to act if Halak doesn't have it — be it Wednesday or at any point this postseason.

“I don’t know, honestly,” Cassidy said of his expectations if Vladar is called upon to play. “I’ve never seen him play an NHL game, so that’s a question that he would answer himself. We’re not nervous of putting him in there, were not afraid of putting him in there. Is it necessary, first of all? A, that has to do with what we said before with Jaro and B, because of the situation, he’s never played, that’s a big ask. That’s where we’re at. If we have to, we will, and we’ll play well in front of him and hopefully he’ll be up to the task."

Boston adding bodies on blue line

Halak might be back in net, but the rest of Boston's lineup could be turned on its head for Game 3. While Cassidy noted that one forward could be tabbed as a game-time decision for Wednesday night, the most sizable change might be on the blue line — as Boston might opt for seven defensemen in the matchup.

As a whole, Boston's D corps wasn't truly overexerted in Tuesday's loss — with Boston aided by the fact that the overtime period ended in under five minutes. Torey Krug led the Bruins in ice time at 25:04, while 43-year-old Zdeno Chara, the one most prone to fatigue in this compressed schedule, logged 17:27 of ice time. However, adding another option such as Jeremy Lauzon should give Boston the ability to keep these reps at a manageable level — both in Game 3 and for however long this fast-moving series lasts.

"Back-to-back game, for some guys it’s a heavier workload," Cassidy said of the decision to add another defenseman to the mix. "You’re playing (Charlie) McAvoy upward of 25 minutes. Just go give – we have some smaller guys that it’s been a physical series for them. So, save a little wear and tear, put some fresh legs in there. The disadvantage of seven D is finding your rhythm as a defenseman. The second part of that is obviously up front, what if we get an injury to a forward?

"Now you’re really down to 10, so there can be some risk involved in the playoffs, especially considering the tight games we’ve been in like overtimes. That’s where we have to be careful. At the end of the day, one thing that has happened in the past is Connor Clifton has played forward. If he’s in the lineup he’s not unfamiliar with that. It’s not ideal obviously but it is a situation – an emergency situation that, he played some forward in Providence so he could pinch-hit up there if something were to happen."

Tampa Bay found plenty of success with seven defensemen in their lineup on Tuesday night, with both Braydon Coburn and Luke Schenn playing key roles in the Lightning's efforts at keeping Boston to the outside and limiting quality looks — with Tampa holding a commanding 15-5 edge in high-danger scoring chances during 5v5 play on Tuesday.



With Tampa tightening things up around Andrei Vasilevskiy and Grade-A ice, Boston might need to augment their approach in the attacking zone in order to pile up its chances against the Lightning's netminder. As such, look for a beefed-up Bruins blue line to fire in more shots from the point — a strategy that has worked well down the other end of the ice for Victor Hedman and Tampa's D corps.

In total, Boston's defensemen accounted for seven total shots on goal in Tuesday's loss, three of which came off the stick of Clifton. Whether it be a higher shot volume from someone like Charlie McAvoy (just one shot attempt) or more quality looks from someone like Krug (one shot on goal in five total attempts), Boston needs to pile up shots against a goalie like Vasilevskiy, especially if guys like Hedman and Erik Cernak are hunkering down low.

"I think our whole D corps has a lot more to give on the offensive side of things," Cassidy said. "We’re not asking to lead the rush, but we need plays from them when they're there at the o-zone blue line, Tampa is collapsing, we need point shots that are tippable or create rebound situations. I think we're capable of more absolutely if you look at our whole playoffs we have one goal from Clifton, real nice play from behind the net against Carolina. Now we need more.

Cassidy added: "We got to get them to where they’re contributing every night in that regard. I mean it's defense first for us. We’re one of the better defensive teams in the League for a reason. Those guys are very accountable, they eat pucks, good sticks, physical, take hits, whatever they need to do, but on the offensive side of things, like I said, I think the whole group is capable of more. And that bleeds into some of the rest of the lineup."