Vladar gets first NHL start
While many Bruins’ fans and observers had been clamoring to see goalie Jeremy
Swayman in the Bruins’ return match against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the B’s decided to go with the more experienced
Daniel Vladar, who nonetheless was making his first NHL start on Tuesday.
It was presumably a difficult decision — there was no need to bring Swayman on the trip if it was an obvious one — and, whether it was the right one or not, it was a choice not made lightly.
A 2015 third-round draft pick, the 23-year-old Vladar is in his fifth pro season. He was a little slow to turn the corner at the AHL level, but has indeed done that. He posted a 14-7-1 record, a .936 save percentage and a 1.79 GAA last year in Providence and is 2-2-1 this season in Providence (or Marlboro, if you will), with a .923 save percentage and a 2.01 GAA.
But Swayman, a fourthrounder in 2017, is the B’s shiny new toy. After winning the Mike Richter Award as the NCAA’s best goalie last year, the University of Maine product is 7-0 with a .942 save percentage and 1.57 GAA in his first pro season with Providence.
With the position being the most specialized in hockey and teams investing more and more resources in it, coach
Bruce Cassidy left the decision mostly to the experts. “When we found out that
Tuukka (Rask) may not be ready to play on Tuesday, the discussion was we’re not going to play Jaro (Halak) back-to-back. That’s the first discussion under these circumstances. He’s played four in a row. We play Thursday (in Buffalo),” said Cassidy. “So who is the best fit to go in? Is it Vladar, is it Swayman? And those decisions go to (goalie coach Bob Essensa), it’s his area, Mike Dunham, who’s down in Providence, (GM Don
Sweeney) and I don’t know if (Providence coach) Jay Leach would get that involved because the goalie coach would have a better feel for it. It’s essentially the goaltenders department and they make the recommendation. I can’t weigh in too much on that because both those goaltenders have not played in the NHL other than Vladdy getting some mop-up duty, which we all know was a tough spot for him against a really good team in the playoffs. We’re not going to judge him on that. We’re going to judge him on the resume. And the resume for both are very good. They’ve got to pick one. And they’re comfortable with both. I think either one would have been a good call. Vladdy does have more experience. He’s been around longer. There’s that part of it. He’s earned the right to get in there. And then there’s the argument of who gives us the best chance to win? And it might very well be going back to Jaro, but we don’t want to do that because in the long run, we don’t think it’s beneficial to ride a goalie that hard.”
It was hard to argue with the result. Vladar made 34 saves for his first NHL win.
In the relatively good news department, Cassidy said that Rask was on the ice for the second day in a row and, though the goalie was skating as the coach spoke to reporters in the morning, there had been no adverse effects from his first day on the ice on Monday. Rask hasn’t played since suffering an apparent back injury on March 7.
Steen makes debut
Also set to make his NHL debut on Tuesday in Pittsburgh
was center/right wing
Oskar Steen. The 5-foot-9, 188pound Swede — a sixthround draft pick in 2016 — had 3-5-8 totals in 12 games with Providence. He was set to play right wing on the Charlie Coyle–Nick Ritchie line “He’s played center and wing. He’s got a good shot, so we’ll insert him in there and see how it goes,” said Cassidy. “If it doesn’t look like the wing’s working for him then we’ll slide him into the middle and move someone over to the right side. But that’s been a challenge on the right side all year. The ask is to go in and play that spot, play well and do what you do best. He does shoot the puck well and hopefully we can keep everyone else in place.”
To make room for Steen,
Anders Bjork (one goal in 24 games) had to take a seat.
Cassidy stresses process
On Monday after the frustrating loss in which the B’s fired 43 shots on net, Brad
Marchand seemed to make it a point to remain upbeat. It was appreciated by his coach.
“Listen, we don’t want to start pointing fingers. I think we’re aware that right now we’re clearly struggling to score and finish plays. (Monday) I thought we generated much better and just didn’t finish. Other nights, obviously against New York (on Saturday), we didn’t generate a lot, or anything really. So that’s unacceptable,” said Cassidy. “It’s a little hit or miss right now and we’d like to become more consistent. There’s no denying that. Am I pleased to see Brad say that? Yes. When things aren’t going well, leadership has to lead. And usually you lead by, for the most part, being positive. You can point out negatives. We did that Sunday after Saturday’s game, then started talking about what positives we have done in the past that will get us our game back. I thought against Pittsburgh we did that. We didn’t get the result. And listen, it’s pro sports. It’s wins and losses. But you do have to look at the process over time if you do continue to play the right way and build on that and you have a good team, you’re going to end up in the win column more than the loss column. I think that’s the case with our team and I think that’s what Brad was trying to say. Let’s stay positive, build on the good stuff, learn from the mistakes and go forward.”
Injures, etc.
Brandon Carlo, out since taking
a head shot from the Capitals’ Tom Wilson on March 5, has not yet skated since suffering the head injury, though Cassidy said he is at Warrior Ice Arena every day for testing and off-ice activity. After the Caps’ Tuesday tilt with the Islanders, Wilson has just one more game left on his sevengame sentence before he’s unleashed on the league once again.
Kevan Miller continues to skate in Boston and Cassidy did not rule him out for joining the team on the road, but did not think he’d be able to play on Thursday. John Moore, meanwhile, remained home with a lower body injury, said Cassidy.
The B’s lost Jarred Tinordi when he hit his head on the boards on Brandon Tanev hit that got Tanev a five-minute major and the gate. Tinordi did not return.
“Upper body, not great. But we’ll probably have a better diagnosis (Wednesday),” said Cassidy.
Cassidy did not yet rule out Tinordi for Thursday’s game in Buffalo, though that would seem unlikely with how he looked leaving the ice. The coach also suggested that Jack
Ahcan, called from Providence for the trip, could see his first NHL action if Tinordi cannot play.