Gustavsson Will Get Start As Backup Battle With Smith Resumes
WILMINGTON – The Bruins' potential backup goaltenders are in the stretch run of their race to be Tuukka Rask's understudy.
Veteran Jonas Gustavsson, who's in training camp on a PTO, will get his first chance to play a full preseason game Wednesday against the New York Rangers, coach Claude Julien revealed Tuesday after practice at Ristuccia Arena.
Gustavsson, who stopped all 18 shots he faced in 30 minutes of action in his only other preseason appearance, had bigger fish to fry than the goalie competition earlier this week. Over the weekend his significant other had their first child and Gustavsson left the team to be with her for a couple days. Two days after the birth of his daughter, Gustavsson survived a major round of cuts that featured Malcolm Subban and Zack McIntyre both assigned to Providence of the American Hockey League.
Now it's down to Gustavsson and Jeremy Smith, who has a .919 save percentage (34-for-37) and 1.91 goals-against average in two games, including one full start against the Rangers last week. Riding high on the joy of his family's new addition and psyched up by the opportunity granted him by the Bruins, the 30-year-old Gustavsson isn't looking at the final days of camp as some sort of showdown between him and Smith.
"I don't really think about that. I mean so far you're just trying to make the most of every opportunity – practice, game, whatever it is," said Gustavsson, who has played six seasons in the NHL with Toronto and Detroit. "So I'm used to trying to go out there and have fun and try to become a better goalie. When I get a chance to play, help the team win a game. And everything else will sort itself out. So you can't really worry about what will happen if I do this or if I do that. My part of this is just, as always, to try and go out there and be the best goalie I can be and try to push myself to the next level. And then good things will happen."
Gustavsson only played in seven games last season because of various injuries. So in addition to trying to make a team without a guaranteed contract, he's trying to shake off some rust. Getting a chance to start, and probably finish, against the Rangers will be a great measure of how ready he is to be in the NHL full-time again.
"Games are always good for you," he said. "You always get some experience. Always the more you play, the more confident you're going to be out there. But again I think if you practice hard and really approach practice as it would be a game, that's going to help you be prepared for the games. But again, obviously, every time you're in the game situation, you're just kind of going to get you come experience and you're going to be feel better being out there."
The 26-year-old Smith has never played in a NHL regular-season game. A second-round pick of Nashville in 2007, he turned pro in the 2009-10 season. Last season, his first with the Bruins, he had a career year for Providence with a 2.05 GAA and .933 save percentage. Based on his experience with the Bruins' organization and his contract status, Smith seemingly would be the best option for Boston – at least to start the season. Smith, though, doesn't feel that he has anything wrapped up. He also doesn't feel like there's more intensity to the battle now that it's down to two goalies.
"I don't think so," he said. "For me, every time I get in the net I'm just trying to stop the puck. I just focus on what I can control and that's getting in there, feeling good in the net and stopping the puck."
Julien said that after Gustavsson plays Wednesday the goalie situation for the final preseason game Friday against Washington will be decided. Rask might need a little more work. One or both of the backups could get one last shot to impress.
Regardless, the Bruins are looking for more than someone that can put up above-average stats when spelling Rask. The backup goaltender has to do a better job than Niklas Svedberg did last season of convincing the other players and the coaching staff that he can handle all the rigors of the job.
"I think it's a matter right now of seeing where that confidence is and having that goaltender giving you the confidence," Julien said. "I think last year for some reason, even though the numbers weren't that bad, we found a lot of scrambling in the net, and I think it made everybody nervous at times. So that was one of the things. But had we been in a better position last year than we were, we obviously would've used him a little bit more. He probably would've been better as well. But we had to go with Tuukka. So those are just circumstances. This year you want to have a goaltender you can hopefully put in there a decent amount of times so that Tuukka gets his rest."
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.