The Boston Bruins are heading into a week featuring four games, including a set of back-to-back showdowns on Jan. 28 and 29. With an arduous schedule like that on the docket, it's time that the team gave starting goaltender Tuukka Rask a little break.
Enter backup Anton Khudobin, who will see his first start of the 2013 NHL season tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes. This decision was made clear at practice, when he left the ice first.
Khudobin has only one other Boston game under his belt: a 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on April 5, 2012. Before that, he played a handful of NHL games with his former team, the Minnesota Wild, in two consecutive seasons. He chalked up a 2-0-0 record one season and a 2-1-0 record the next. The bulk of his experience has come at the AHL level, plus time spent in the KHL during the lockout.
But he was impressive in that Bruins debut, making 44 saves and, on occasion, even doing the splits to deny a shooter. In a new calendar year, he's ready to make waves again. He said that he feels fresh, ready and excited, thanks in part to always competing with Rask during team practices.
Just remember, Bruins fans, that he likes to pronounce his last name like 'who-dough-bin.'
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