Svedberg Struggles Might Mean Backup Goaltender A Bruins Need
BOSTON (CBS) - Maybe the Bruins should give Martin Brodeur a call before he settles into his new desk chair as a senior adviser to St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong.
I'm mostly kidding, but the Bruins' backup goaltender position has now become a source of panic after being a place of calm the past several seasons. And the Bruins could do worse than lure the all-time leader in wins out of retirement.
Even back in the days of Alex Auld spelling Tim Thomas the Bruins didn't have as much to worry about when their No. 1 goaltender took the night off as they have now. Niklas Svedberg did nothing to calm their fears that Tuukka Rask might have to play every game for the rest of the season on Tuesday.
Svedberg lasted just one period and allowed three goals on 10 shots faced in the Bruins' 4-3 loss to the Dallas Stars at TD Garden. Vernon Fiddler's shorthanded goal came on a breakaway, so you could forgive Svedberg for that. Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton took the blame for a poor gap on Jamie Benn's rush to the Boston net, but Svedberg clearly misplayed the shot by going down when the puck was on its way up.
And coach Claude Julien tried to take the heat off Svedberg by blaming the players in front of the goaltender for poor play on a rebound of a Jordie Benn shot. Defenseman Adam McQuaid and others clearly bungled the play in front of Svedberg. However, Svedberg had to react better to Jamie Benn's shot. With so much on the line, the Bruins needed Svedberg to make one big save and he failed.
The only one not deflecting blame from Svedberg was Svedberg, who because of a miscommunication stretched out in the crease before Rask came out to replace him just before the start of the second period.
"I wouldn't go in if I didn't think I was going to keep playing. But that doesn't really matter right now. What matters is that I played like shit and we lost the game," said Svedberg, who didn't get a decision but had his save percentage drop to .915 and his goals-against average increase to 2.43 after the loss to Dallas. "So I think I should take the blame for this loss and I think I played a poor game. Obviously Tuukka's played a lot of games lately, so he needed a night off. So this was a time when I need to step up despite not playing much, up here at least, and this was an important game for our team and for me to step up. And I failed. So it's pretty simple."
Svedberg's adjustment to being a No. 2 after many years as a No. 1 in the American Hockey League and overseas started out well. He allowed two or fewer goals in four of his first five starts. There were some shaky moments in those games, but the Bruins had his back. They cleared some of his juiciest rebounds. It looked like the torch that passed from Anton Khudobin to Chad Johnson to Svedberg the past couple years was secure in the Swede's hands. Then things went off the rails. Svedberg allowed three goals on 15 shots on Dec. 23 in Columbus. He was pulled and did not play in the Bruins' next five games.
He pitched a 14-save shutout against the New Jersey Devils, who are one of the worst offensive teams in the NHL. Then the Bruins didn't trust Svedberg enough to give him a start for the next seven games before they shipped him to Providence of the AHL for a conditioning assignment. Svedberg's statistics weren't great, but at least he got the rust off. He had a .911 save percentage 2.76 GAA in four games. He got better as the stint went on and he had a .937 save percentage in his final two games with the P-Bruins.
With Rask in need of a rest after 11 straight starts, Svedberg was summoned. And Rask's rest lasted one period Tuesday. Julien, clearly fuming over the Bruins' inability to prevent two shorthanded goals or cash in on any of their four power plays, didn't want to heap blame on Svedberg. Instead the coach used the old "I wanted to spark the team" explanation for Svedberg's early exit.
"Well I think first of all that this guy comes back and plays his first game and we didn't give him much support at all. I felt bad for him," Julien said. "You know, he could have used a lot more support to get his confidence back and I think some of the goals coming in from the side obviously you'd like him to have those, but rebounds and our guys aren't there to clear the rebounds they score another goal. And it was important for me to give our team some life and make that change, but certainly we didn't give him a lot of help."
If the Bruins were worried Svedberg didn't get enough work before his conditioning assignment, they're going to be extra concerned with the upcoming schedule that doesn't feature a back-to-back until the last weekend of the month. The Bruins' upcoming road trip features at least one game off between games every time.
Svedberg will probably get at least one if not two of those games, but will it be enough? At this point, can the Bruins trust Svedberg?
We all know that the games Svedberg's starts are important for the points the Bruins need in the standings to at least maintain their position among the Eastern Conference playoff standings. But just as important is the rest for Rask, who has now played in 45 games and is on pace to surpass 60 games played for the first time in his career. There's no telling what that type of workload will do to Rask once the playoffs start. He likes to talk macho and say he can play better the more he plays, but this is the real world and the strains of the NHL season, especially if Rask is playing in playoff-caliber games just to get the Bruins to the postseason, can be debilitating. The Bruins need a No. 2 they can count on.
Svedberg doesn't look like he can handle the job. Everything we need to know about Malcolm Subban we learned when the Bruins didn't start him in any of the four games he was up from Providence. Subban is still just an AHL goaltender with NHL potential. His focus issues and technical deficiencies would leave the Bruins vulnerable at a time when they can't afford to squander many points.
General manager Peter Chiarelli probably has to write veteran backup goaltender on his shopping list for the next 2 ½ weeks before the trade deadline. That might cost Chiarelli an asset he doesn't want to part with, but the peace of mind – not to mention the rest for Rask – would be well worth it come the end of the regular season.
