Tonight's game between the Providence Bruins and Boston Bruins didn't mean anything.
In fact, they had to call it the "Black & Gold Intersquad Scrimmage" to avoid it breaking some sort of NHL-AHL rule. It was a pointless contest meant to shake the rust of a three-month plus lockout off the skates, but it instead raised some questions regarding the strength of the Bruins' crease. Yes, it was a scrimmage. Yes, it was some of these guys' first steps on an NHL rink in months. And yes, goaltenders
Anton Khudobin and
Tuukka Rask let up a combined 11 goals on just 57 shots faced.
Calling it a throwback for Khudobin, who switched sides and donned the jersey of a team he spent part of 2010-11 and all of last season with in the P-Bruins, the goaltenders faced off in what would be a test of Boston's No. 1 of No. 2 netminders.
Beginning with a Providence power-play goal scored by camp invitee
Jay Pandolfo, the sides would trade goals when
Chris Bourque's second period tally evened things up before
Max Sauve and
Brad Marchand tallies brought a "sold-out" Garden crowd a two-two stalemate after two periods of play.
Then the doors blew off.
Striking with three goals in the first six minutes and 40 seconds of the third period, the P-Bruins' attack, which gave them a 5-2 lead, simply left the big league B's without an answer. For about 14 seconds. Responding with a
David Krejci takeaway and score, the Bruins brought it back to a 5-5 draw, connecting on three of their 12 shots for the period. But their charge wouldn't be enough to stop a Providence offense that added a sixth goal off a 40 MPH re-direct off
Lane MacDermid's stick, and a seventh when
Kyle MacKinnon put in an empty cage.
There was even a fight (a real one, too!), as
Bobby Robins dropped the Bruins'
Adam McQuaid with a few haymakers.
A real fight in a fake game. Real concerns in a fake game. Real -- problems?
We can sit here and scream "It's a scrimmage, you idiot!" at one another 'til we're blue in the face, but I don't have the time, and I don't think you do, either.
But for Rask, who allowed six goals on 24 shots thrown his way by American Hockey League talent, there are concerns. This was the 25-year-old's only contest before the season starts. Oh, and he's slated to begin his year against the
Rick Nash-infused New York Rangers, whose starting five resemble something out of an NHL05-esque Hero Line. "I was slipping there the last period for sure, four or five goals," Rask admitted after the loss, attempting to silence any alarms and fears B's fans have heading into the weekend. "I think it was just a good wake up call for Saturday. And I don’t want to be too down on ourselves, but [we] still got to wake up and raise our battle meter for sure."
Looking beyond Rask, it was a night to forget for his backup and projected stabilizer, Anton Khudobin, who surrendered five goals on 33 shots. Of course, it's not Khudobin's fault that he had an AHL caliber defense in front of him, nor should that be held against him, but the simple fact of the matter is that the Bruins are going to need to have a strong goaltending core in this lockout-shortened season. It's honestly as easy as that.
In a year where the B's skate in seven back-to-game contests, there's little time for screw-ups, and even less time to create a goaltending controversy that simply won't be solved by No. 30 coming back through that door.
'Cause spoiler alert, he's not.
Follow me on Twitter, shoot me an email at [email protected], or become Facebook friends with the HockeyBuzz Bruins profile for links, interactions, and updates.
*********
KINDLE USERS: Please subscribe to Bruins Buzz; a one-stop feed for all things Bruins related on HockeyBuzz. For more information,
click here.
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
Join the Discussion:
»