Much to the chagrin of a small —but very vocal — faction of Bruins fans, no, Jeremy Swayman will not be the starter in net for Monday’s Game 2 rematch between the Bruins and Capitals.
While Boston has reaped the benefits over the past few seasons when it comes to fostering a competitive environment in net by pairing Tuukka Rask with either established veterans or blue-chip prospects like Anton Khudobin, Jaroslav Halak and Swayman — the playoffs tend to be a bit of a different animal when it comes to sorting out a starter between the pipes.
Of course, circumstances changed last season when Rask exited the Toronto bubble due to a family emergency, but barring any unforeseen circumstances — Bruce Cassidy is more than ready to stick with Rask over the course of a grueling playoff slate.
Ultimately, Boston is in a pretty enviable situation as far as their goaltending is concerned, with a No. 1 option penciled in but a promising youngster waiting in the wings in Swayman that could get pressed into service if Rask completely bottoms out.
Of course, Boston is hoping such a DEFCON-5 scenario doesn’t play out — in which Rask strings together a number of poor starts against Washington. But, as we noted over the weekend, a rough OT goal isn’t nearly enough to warrant a legitimate case for Swayman leapfrogging Rask on the depth chart.
“We don’t want to go to Tuukka and say, ‘Hey, if you have a bad outing, you’re out.’ I don’t think that helps anybody right now,” Cassidy said on Monday morning. “But I think internally, we know that we have other options if, for whatever reason. Injuries happen. Look at Washington last night. If Swayman went in, I think our guys would be confident with him in there.
“So it’s his (Rask’s) net right now. Only he can answer how he feels about the competition. I think once you’re in the NHL, there’s always competition. There’s always another guy who should be ready or close to ready. That’s what makes good teams function, and I think our backups around here the last three or four years have shown that. Now we have a new one in Swayman. A little bit of uncertainty, but obviously a guy, like I said, in a short sample size played well.”
Having Swayman lurking over his shoulder should only help fuel Rask when it comes to holding onto his No. 1 spot, but it’s not worth the mental strain to think that just a so-so outing is going to knock Rask out of a starting gig.
Look no further than the start of the 2019 Cup run, in which Rask was decidedly average (29 saves on 32 shots) and the rest of the club was largely a no-show in a 4-1 Game 1 loss to the Maple Leafs.
Of course, Cassidy went right back to Rask in Game 2 — where he stopped 30 of 31 shots against the Leafs in a win and went on to post a .935 save percentage for the rest of that postseason.
Having Swayman ready in case of emergency is a major plus for the Bruins given how unpredictable a playoff slate can be, but an OT loss shouldn't sound the alarms when it comes to a goaltending controversy at this juncture.
Lauzon out, Clifton in
Rask will be in net and Boston’s forward corps will be unchanged on Monday night, but the B’s D corps will look a little different — as Connor Clifton will slot in for Jeremy Lauzon.
Lauzon is currently dealing with an injury after a puck struck him on the glove during Saturday’s Game 1 loss — prompting Clifton’s addition to the lineup, where he will skate on the left side next to Kevan Miller.
For Cassidy, the key for Clifton is to not overcommit on the defensive side of things, given how quickly a roster like Washington can make you pay on the scoresheet.
"The last game he played, I thought he had good and bad stretches, which we're trying to eliminate from Cliffy. More consistency. Less is more at times,” Cassidy said of Clifton’s game. “When the opportunity arises a couple times a period, yeah, make your play. … We want to play the percentages with Cliffy and like I said, if there's something that develops and you see an opportunity to get up the ice and get your shot off? Great.
But what we're looking for is more of the physical presence. ... Be hard on people in our end, be hard on people below the goal line and make safe plays and move your feet when you have an opportunity to do a little bit more. So that's where we saw his game. He was in and out for a reason. ... We went with Cliffy because he's played there before this year, had good stretches early in the year with Carlo and Kevan Miller both on the left side when we had some guys banged up when Grizz was out I believe and he went in there. So that's the decision. He's been in our lineup in the playoffs before. We'll see how it works out. Hopefully he just plays a good solid game for us.”
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Washington Capitals coach Peter Laviolette didn’t announce a starting goalie on Monday morning, but Craig Anderson was the first goalie off the ice at practice for Washington, per Samantha Pell of the Washington Post.