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  • The Bruins have a goalie conundrum

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    The Bruins have a goalie conundrum

    Tim Rosenthal October 24, 2016
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    Monday’s practice started with Anton Khudobin and Malcolm Subban (recalled from Providence on an emergency basis) manning the nets. The Bruins goaltending situation went down to one after Khudobin left the ice at Warrior Ice Arena with an apparent wrist issue. Replacing Khudobin on the other end of the ice was a blue-colored shooter tutor.

    That is not an indication of a case of the Mondays. Instead, it symbolizes a new issue facing the Bruins entering the third week of the 2016-17 season.

    These latest events came 24 hours after the Bruins returned Zane McIntyre back to Providence. At this rate, he may have to be recalled back to Boston sooner rather than later.

    With Tuukka Rask missing another practice, still day to day with “general soreness”, head coach Claude Julien and company are looking at a goaltending conundrum heading into a pair of games in as many nights beginning Tuesday against the Wild at TD Garden and concluding on Wednesday in New York against the Rangers.

    Julien did not give an update on Khudobin, who is a couple days removed from replacing Rask in the Bruins’ 4-2 loss to the Canadiens in which his teammates let him out to dry for the most part.

    “This is hockey. We deal with it on a day-to-day basis,” Julien told reporters following Monday’s practice. “If we have to make adjustments and we have to have different personnel, we’ll deal with it when we have more of an update.”

    Assuming Khudobin and Rask aren’t available against the Wild, the Bruins will likely turn to Subban, whose 2015-16 season ended after suffering a fractured larynx. The 2012 first rounder is just 0-3-1 with a .878 save percentage during the start of the P-Bruins season.

    Subban came to Boston less than 24 hours after the Baby B’s overtime loss to the Albany Devils where he stopped 30 of 34 shots.

    “Not the way you want to start the season,” Subban said to reporters. “But to be honest, last game I felt a lot better. That game [against Albany] didn’t go to the way I wanted to, but we were playing a hot team and I thought I played pretty well.

    “I feel pretty good. I feel like I’m battling,” Subban added. “I feel like the biggest thing right now is just to battle. It’s not the first time I’ve faced adversity, and it’s not gonna be the last time, so I don’t feel to down on myself right now, to be honest.”

    By the time Tuesday comes around, Subban could very well be making his second career NHL start. His first career start came in February of 2015 where he was pulled in the first period during a loss in St. Louis.

    Whether it’s Subban, Rask, Khudobin or McIntyre, the Bruins are going to need their goaltenders to be on top of their game. Following their back-to-back against the Wild and Rangers, the Bruins will go on the road three more times against the Red Wings, Lightning and Panthers as part of a four-game road trip over the next week and a half.

    “As a coach, there’s one thing that worries me: stop the puck, I don’t care how you do it, just stop it,” Julien stated. “I’m not a goalie coach, so as a coach I’m demanding on [the goalie] making the saves, and the goalie coach [Bob Essenssa] can work on the techniques.”

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    Tim Rosenthal

    Tim Rosenthal serves as the Managing Editor of Bruins Daily. He started contributing videos to the site in 2010 before fully coming on board during the Bruins' Stanley Cup run in 2011. His bylines over the last decade have been featured on Boston.com, FoxSports.com, College Hockey News, Patch and Inside Hockey. You can follow Tim on Twitter @_TimRosenthal.

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