SOMETIMES YOUR PLAYOFFS COULD BE OVER IN 10 DAYS.

In 10 of the last 12 years, the Stanley Cup-winning goalie headed into the playoffs having played less than 60 regular season games. During that span, only two goalies — Jonathan Quick and Martin Jones — have reached the final having played in 65 or more games.

In contrast, Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray had played in just 13 regular season games — he also played in 31 games in the American Hockey League — when the playoffs began last year. The rookie goalie went on to beat Henrik Lundqvist (65 games) in the first round, Holtby (66 games) in the second round, Ben Bishop (61 games) in the third round and Jones (65 games) in the final.

Was Murray mentally and physically fresher than season games with the Los Angeles Kings in 1993 when they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup final. “It’s a balancing act. As a goaltender, if you’re not seeing pucks for two or three days, that’s a real problem.”

This season, Edmonton’s Cam Talbot, Los Angeles’s Peter Budaj and Carolina’s Cam Ward are on pace to play more than 70 games. Another four are on pace for 65 or more. Neither of them is chasing any records. They are simply trying to give their team the best chance to get in the playoffs.

“I think the big thing here is you start from training camp with your goal being to get into the post-season and that goal should never waver,” said former goalie Glenn Healy, who was Mike Richter’s backup with the Rangers when he won the Cup having played in 68 games.

“You can rest for the playoffs, but sometimes your playoffs could be over in 10 days.”

Not everyone is in the same situation as Holtby and the Capitals were in last year. The standings are so tight that the Atlantic Division-leading Canadiens have just a 10-point lead on the 13th-place Sabres in the Eastern Conference. Every game matters. If anything, goalies are probably going to get overworked — not given a night off — as the season winds down.

Toronto’s Frederik Andersen, whose team has been sitting on the playoff bubble for most of the season, understands that better than most. Prior to this year, he had never played more than 54 games in a season. After making his 49th start on Thursday, he is on pace for 65 games or so.

“I just want to play as much as possible,” he said. “Whatever number that is, it’s really none of my business. I mean, I don’t think it’s something you really treat as a milestone. It’s not going to make or break my year if I play 64 or 65 games. It’s whatever the coach feels is best.”

Leafs head coach Mike Babcock probably summed it up best when he said he isn’t worried about burning out his goalie for the playoffs. After all, if you don’t burn him out, you might not get in.

“You get in the playoffs and then you get ready for the playoffs. It’s that simple,” said Babcock. “Maybe when I was winning 58 games in Detroit I could worry about that, but that’s not the real world. You get in and whatever happens, happens.”