You vote: A Thomas start could set up 1-2 goaltender battle
Thomas/By S. Bradley
Although Bruins head coach Claude Julien could give Tuukka Rask a second straight start after his impressive performance in Columbus Tuesday, there are hopes from some quarters that we’ll get to witness a battle of the two best goaltenders in the NHL, statistically, tonight.
It’s all but guaranteed the Nashville Predators, who start play 10th in the Western Conference and one point out of eighth, will go with Pekka Rinne in their crease. Rinne is second in goals-against average (2.09) and save percentage (.929), and, as The Tennessean explains, should be a candidate for both the Vezina and the Hart Trophy.
Of course, standing in Rinne’s way as far as leading the league in the main stats departments or garnering votes for the major awards is Boston’s Tim Thomas, who’s on top of the league with a 2.03 GAA and .938 save percentage.
Rinne told The Tennessean his thoughts on Thomas:
“It’s unreal. To play like that and have those kinds of numbers the whole season, it’s pretty amazing. It tells you he is so consistent and plays at a high level all the time.”
Whether Rinne will get a shot against his statistical rival or his fellow Finn remains to be seen. Yesterday Julien explained that “it’s something I’m spending a lot of time thinking about and trying to make the best decision.”
So I want readers of TheBruinsBlog.net to help Julien out. I ask you:
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I would go with Rask and hope he plays extremely well. Not only for the 2 points, but also to plant that seed of doubt into Thomas’ head that he might not be the No. 1. TT always plays his best when that is the case and the B’s need Thomas at his best come playoff time.
David-
Hahahaha I just noticed that. That’s pretty funny!
GR90,
Funny how your description of the Nashville predators sounds just like last years bruins squad.
I voted for Thomas, though I think Rask might get the nod. The Preds are a difficult team to play against because of their trap style, which is why they are #2 in the league in goals against… however, they’re 26th in goals for, playing in an offense-first conference. Not to mention their transition game doesn’t exactly blow people away. They rely heavily on creating offense from the point after setting up, and I don’t think they’ve faced the collective caliber of defensive forwards that the B’s can roll out. Knock on wood, I dont think they’ll get too many shots through if the B’s are on their game, so this might be a great chance to build Tuukka’s confidence.
That being said, I doubt they rest Thomas. I see this being the outlook for the next week:
NSH: TT
TOR: TR
NJD:TT
MTL:TT
I say Thomas tonight and give Rask the start in Toronto, he always seems to play well against the team that drafted him.
I like the idea of alternating for a little while and as we get closer to the playoffs, give Thomas the last two or three games to get him back in the rhythm of playoff hockey. After all, he will be the go-to goalie come playoff time.
no reason not to alternate here on out.
I’d send out Thomas, then give Tuukka the Toronto start. Then Thomas has until at least Tuesday to get rested. If they don’t play him tonight, then he has to go Saturday.
I’m split.
I WANT Thomas to start tonight, and feel like he is in need of a strong performance. Plus I am in fantasy playoffs and need a strong performance haha.
However, Clode SHOULD start Rask. While Tuukka had a shaky start to the game, he certainly did his part to win the game against Columbus, making several enormous saves to keep the Bruins in it. (Kaberle’s save notwithstanding) Hopefully if Julien decides to go with Rask tonight, Tuukka can focus on becoming more consistent and for gods sake staying in the crease! I feel that a lot of the goals he lets up are on bad rebounds that he gives up and then seems out of place in the crease as a result. Either way, we have to grab 2 points tonight. Lets go!!
I went with TT just becuase Tuukka played last game and I don’t want to see Timmy get too much rest, dulling his senses, so to speak.
With that said, I really don’t care who gets the start as long as there’s a resonable split of the remaining games.
Tukka looked good his last start (-1 easy goal) and it looks like Thomas could use some rest.