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Tuukka Rask will be the Boston Bruins' starting goalie when they open the regular season next month. That much is set in stone.
But behind the 2014 Vezina Trophy winner, the Bruins' goaltending situation gets a whole lot murkier.
Four players are fighting for opportunity to be Rask's No. 2 this season -- Jonas Gustavsson, Jeremy Smith, Malcolm Subban and Zane McIntyre -- and all four put forth solid efforts in their respective preseason debuts. In fact, with each playing roughly a period-and-a-half over Boston's first two exhibitions, the Bruins have allowed a total of one goal.
"I think it's kind of normal that the timing and all that stuff, as far as scoring, may not all be there," head coach Claude Julien said after Tuesday's 2-1 overtime win over the Washington Capitals. "But at the same time, when it is there the goaltenders are making some pretty big saves. I think the goaltenders in every game from New Jersey to this game here, on both sides, have been pretty good."
It's too early to predict who will begin the season as the B's backup netminder, but here's a look at how each contestant has fared thus far:
Jonas Gustavsson: 18 saves, zero goals allowed
Gustavsson has seen plenty of action in recent years with the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs, but injuries limited him to seven games last season and ended his tenure in Detroit. He signed with the Bruins on a professional tryout offer and started Boston's preseason opener, stopping 11 first-period shots to limit the damage in a frame that featured three New Jersey Devils power plays. The Devils had one goal disallowed and hit the post once with Gustavsson on the ice.
Jeremy Smith: 12 saves, zero goals allowed
Smith faced the least pressure of any Bruins goaltender thus far, hardly being tested as he finished off a shutout in Sunday's 2-0 win. The 26-year-old has yet to appear in an NHL game and has spent the last five seasons in the American Hockey League, posting career bests in goals against average (2.05) and save percentage (.933) for the Providence Bruins in 2014-15.
Malcolm Subban: 17 saves, zero goals allowed
Subban got off to a shaky start Tuesday against the Capitals but quickly settled down to keep the Capitals off the board. He was especially stout on the power play, helping kill off both man-advantage situations he faced. The 21-year-old was saved by the post once and made a sprawling save to rob Nate Schmidt in the closing seconds of a Washington power play.
"With the exception of the shot that hit the post, I felt like I was seeing the puck pretty well through traffic," Subban said. "And I think the biggest thing this game was my rebound control. I felt I had pretty good rebound control. One squirted out in the first, but other than that, I was putting them into the mesh or into the corner or smothering them."
Zane McIntyre: 10 saves, one goal allowed
McIntyre had the unfortunate distinction of being the lone Bruins goalie victimized during the first two games. The North Dakota product was sound for much of the night -- and made a nice stop to foil a Capitals breakaway -- but allowed a softie midway through the third period when Schmidt slid a shot from the point underneath his right pad.
"I had a tough time picking it up from the point," McIntyre said. "There were a lot of moving screens and stuff, I think two, three bodies there. It's just part of learning, and getting that experience. I think that will actually help out in the long run, just being able to learn from that and kind of moving forward."
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