A pivotal stretch to Bruins' 2021 season might hinge on goalie tandem of future

It's not hyperbole to suggest this week's slate of games could determine the course the Bruins chart for the remainder of the 2021 season.

And while any chances of a sell-off should be remarkably slim for a team currently in playoff positioning (especially when factoring in the challenges of offloading hefty contracts in a flat-cap environment), just how well Boston fares this week against both the Capitals and the Flyers could determine how lofty Boston's deadline dreams are when it comes to equipping this veteran core for potentially one final Cup run.

With two games against the Capitals serving as a telling measuring stick against the top dog in the East Division — coupled with a pair of matchups of Tuesday and Saturday against the team just three points behind the B's in the Flyers — all it takes is a couple of losses strung together to turn a promising season into a fruitless venture for Boston.

And on the opposite end of the spectrum, a hot streak could come at the perfect time for a club looking to further its resolve as it braces itself for the gauntlet that awaits in May and June.

It's far from an ideal situation for the Bruins — who, despite scrapping in the cutthroat Atlantic Division alongside clubs like the Lightning and Maple Leafs in years past, haven't had to fret much over the possibility of not punching their tickets to the playoffs during the last few seasons.

And compounding the problems for Bruce Cassidy and the B's is the harsh reality that, in this most pivotal stretch, the Original Six franchise's hopes very well might fall on a goaltending corps boasting an average age of 22.5 — and just four full games of NHL experience.



Even though injuries both on the blue line (Brandon Carlo and Kevan Miller) and up front (Ondrej Kase) loom large for the B's as they look to both stay afloat in the East and assess the fortitude of this roster — the state of Boston's goaltending corps is another issue entirely.

As of Monday night, the Bruins' tried-and-true duo of Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak remains out of commission. Rask — who has only played seven full periods of hockey since the calendar turned to March — has no timeline set for his much-needed return, even if the club's No.1 goalie is traveling with the team on its current three-goal trek to Philly and D.C.

With Halak, the future is also murky after he tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. And while the best-case scenario for all parties would feature a false positive test, that is no guarantee — and even if it were the case, the NHL's strict testing guidelines could mean that Halak might still miss at least a couple of more games before getting clearance from the league, such as how a false positive result still forced Brad Marchand to miss two games of action last week.

As such, the last men standing between the pipes for Boston are Dan Vladar and Jeremy Swayman — Boston's top netminder prospects that, in a perfect situation, would still be cutting their teeth down in Providence rather than getting thrust into this current baptism by fire.

The optics of turning to a pair of rookies for a steadying presence as Boston navigates this current maelstrom of injuries, COVID setbacks and pivotal matchups might be less than ideal at the current moment, but very few of Boston's recent woes can be traced to Vladar, who has more than held his own since getting pressed into service last month.

Had it not been for Vladar's performance on Monday at home against the Flyers, Boston likely would have skated off the Garden ice with zero points to show for it against an opponent aiming to leapfrog them in the standings.

"I mean, I'm just living my dream," Vladar said following Monday's eventual 3-2 overtime loss to the Flyers. "I'm enjoying every second out there. I'm trying to do my best. That's all I do. I just want to stop everything."

You could certainly make the case that Vladar has been the B's best netminder since his impressive debut back on March 16, with the 23-year-old goalie posting a 2-1-1 record in his four games with a .922 save percentage. During that same stretch, Halak has been struck with hot-and-cold play, going 4-3-2 since Rask's injury with a .908 save percentage.

That's not to say of course that Boston will be able to fully weather this storm by just riding Vladar for the next four games, but the rookie goalie has proven himself worthy of additional reps — rewarding Boston with standout saves such as his back-to-back denials against the Flyers on a productive Philly power play in the second period.

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"Obviously they're big-time saves," Cassidy said of Vladar's top-flight stops. "He's a very athletic guy. He never quits on a puck. I mean, that's what everyone loves about him. He's gonna have to work on his technique, like every other young goalie. Puck play, little details. But he's a battler in there. Great for us. You need those type of saves that give you some juice, especially after a penalty kill. So good for him. I think Vladdy will do that. He'll make some of those acrobatic saves and he certainly did there."

Of course, there stands a chance Halak could get the green light and play Tuesday in the second leg of Boston's back-to-back slate with Philly if negative tests all return in short order. But if such isn't the case, due to either the testing timeline or additional positive tests, there stands a chance Vladar could be tasked with starting for the second straight day — or Boston could opt to start Swayman, making it two NHL debuts for two B's goalies in the span of just three weeks.

Granted, Swayman has elevated his stock in Boston's prospect pool thanks to a sterling debut to his pro career down in Providence (8-1-0, .933 save percentage), proving that the lofty numbers he posted as a Hobey Baker finalist last season at Maine were far from a fluke. Still, it's a tough ask for any goalie that could be going from collegiate competition in March 2020 to facing off against the likes of Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier and the rest of the Flyers just a little over a year later — especially given the stakes involved for a Bruins club that needs to build some breathing room in the East Division.

Still, be it Swayman or Vladar, Boston's next crop of goaltending talent doesn't seem to lack in poise for what awaits them — even if both are still learning on the fly up in the NHL ranks.

"I mean, if he's gonna ask me — obviously, I'm going to give him some advice, which is probably going to be weird for me, because I'm still trying to ask Tuukka and Jaro for advice," Vladar said of any words of encouragement for Swayman if he's handed a start on Tuesday. "So I don't know if I'm going to be the right guy. But he's a great goalie. If he's gonna get the chance, I'm pretty sure he's going to do well and he's gonna leave it all out there. ... I'm pretty sure he has the same mentality like me, he just wants to save every single puck and he wants to win.

"So if he's going to get the chance and he's going to ask me for something. Obviously, I'm going to give him advice. And I think we have a pretty good relationship with the whole goalie (unit) here, even with goalie coaches and staff. That's kind of the strength for our organization, I feel like. Because everybody's just cheering for each other. And I don't think it matters if this goalie is playing or that goalie is playing."

That strength is certainly going to be put to the test in the coming days. Because, fair or not, the play of these two gifted, but green, netminders might determine just how far Boston believes it can go in 2021.

No pressure, guys.