Bruce Cassidy Leaves Door Open On Anton Khudobin Starting Over Tuukka Rask On Saturday

BOSTON (CBS) -- Thus far on their West Coast trip, the Bruins are 1-1-0.

They opened the trip with a loss, when Tuukka Rask was in net and allowed four goals on 27 shots on Tuesday night in Anaheim.

The next night they won, with Anton Khudobin between the pipes and stopping 27 of the 28 shots he faced in a 2-1 Bruins victory.

As a result, B's coach Bruce Cassidy is at least considering giving Khudobin a second straight start when the Bruins close out their West Coast swing on Saturday in San Jose.

"We're going to look at it," Cassidy said, according to the Boston Herald. "He played very well against San Jose last time. They're a heavy team. He seems to do well in these kinds of games with a lot of traffic around the net. But we'll look at that decision [Friday]."

While the hierarchy with Rask and Khudobin is clearly established, it's at the very least a noteworthy development.

The 30-year-old Rask has started 12 games, compiling a 2-7-2 record, an .897 save percentage and a 2.89 goals-against average.

In more limited action, the 31-year-old Khudobin has started four games, compiling a 4-0-2 record, a .928 save percentage and a 2.35 GAA.

Considering Khudobin is in the second season of a two-year contract that pays him $1.2 million annually, he's unlikely to unseat Rask, who's in year five of an eight-year deal that pays him an average annual value of $7 million.

But with the Bruins currently sitting outside of the playoff picture with the all-important U.S. Thanksgiving benchmark on the horizon, Cassidy may be recognizing a bit of urgency with regard to his injury-ravaged team. They'll need to win games any way possible, and if it means sitting Rask down for a certain period of time while Khudobin is on a hot streak, the coach is at least considering the option.

UPDATE: The Bruins will start Khudobin on Saturday.

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• Boston Bruins
• NHL
• Tuukka Rask