Need to Know: Bruins at Penguins

PITTSBURGH -Goalie Daniel Vladar will make his first career start when the Bruins close out a two-game set with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.
With Tuukka Rask still making his way back from injury, the B's were hesitant to have Jaroslav Halak start both ends of the back-to-back against the Pens after starting four consecutive games. As such, Boston was forced to decide between Vladar and first-year pro Jeremy Swayman, both of whom have impressed with Providence so far this season.
Swayman was named the AHL's Player of the Week on Monday after positing his first career shutout to go along with a 2-0-0 record, 1.00 goals against average, and .962 save percentage. On the season, the 22-year-old Alaska native is 7-0-0 with a 1.57 GAA and .942 save percentage.

Vladar, meanwhile, is 2-2-1 with a 2.01 GAA and .923 save percentage in his fifth season with the P-Bruins. The 23-year-old was drafted in the third round (75th overall) in 2015 and made his NHL debut during last summer's Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Czech Republic native came in to relieve Halak during Game 3 of the second round against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
That edge in experience played into the decision to give Vladar the nod, though it was just part of an intensive discussion between goalie coach Bob Essensa, goaltender development coach Mike Dunham, general manager Don Sweeney, and the B's coaching staff.
"We're not gonna play Jaro on the back-to-back - that's the first discussion - under these circumstances. He just played four in a row. We play Thursday," Cassidy explained. "So, who is the best fit to go in. Is it Vladar? Is it Swayman?...they make the recommendation. I can't weigh in too much on that because both those goaltenders have not played in the NHL other than Vladdy getting some mop up duty which we all know was a tough spot for him against a really good team in the playoffs. We're not gonna judge him on that, we're gonna judge him on the resume.
"Their resumes are both very good. Then they've got to pick one. They're comfortable with both. I think either one would have been a good call. Vladdy does have more experience since he's been around longer. That part of it. He's earned the right to get in there.
"Then there's the argument of who gives us the best chance to win - and it might very well be going back to Jaro but we don't want to do that. In the long run, we don't think it's beneficial to ride a goalie that hard."

Regardless of who starts in goal, Cassidy said that it will be incumbent upon the Bruins to play better in front of their netminder. Following a 4-1 setback to the Penguins on Monday night, Boston has now dropped nine of its last 12 games, while struggling to overcome injuries and a lack of even strength and secondary scoring.
"We need to play well in front of him, no matter who it was," said Cassidy. "It's a young goalie getting essentially his first start. The mindset of our team has to be we've got to protect him early on, play well. He's got to make the saves he's supposed to…can't be breaking down in front of him all night and force him to win a game for us. That's the mentality that we have."
Rask skated for the second straight day and is "trending well" after not suffering any setbacks following his return to the ice on Monday morning. The netminder could be back at some point this weekend in Buffalo with Cassidy saying that it "sounds positive for him."

Steen to Debut

Vladar will not be the only new face in the lineup on Tuesday night, as forward Oskar Steen is set to make his NHL debut as Boston's third-line right wing alongside Nick Ritchie and Charlie Coyle. The 23-year-old is in the midst of his second professional campaign and had three goals and eight points through 12 games for Providence so far this season.
Steen, a sixth-round pick of the B's in 2016, posted 23 points (7 goals, 16 assists) in 60 games for the P-Bruins last season.
"Steen is gonna go in with Coyle and Ritchie for [Anders] Bjork," said Cassidy. "He's been a center and right wing - a little more center this year but has played right wing. Got a good shot. We're gonna insert him in there for now and see how it goes.
"Obviously if it doesn't look like the wing is working out for him then we might slide him into the middle and move someone over to the right side. That's been a challenge, the right side, all year…he does shoot the puck well. Hopefully we keep everyone else in place."

On the Injury Front

Cassidy also provided a number of updates on Boston's lengthy list of injured players:
- Brandon Carlo (upper-body): The defenseman is not back on the ice, but has been doing some off-ice training at Warrior Ice Arena. "Carlo's been in [COVID] testing every day, feeling better," said Cassidy. "He is not in that area where he can't leave [his room] or anything. He's been active in coming in, doing some off-ice, getting tested for the COVID protocols. That's a positive. Got to get him on the ice." - Kevan Miller (knee): The blue liner is skating back in Boston but is unlikely to join the team this week. - Jeremy Lauzon (fractured hand): "Lauzy was four to six weeks," said Cassidy. "I think the four-week mark is coming up for him this weekend. We won't see him. Hopefully his recovery is going quicker, closer to four than six." - Ondrej Kase (upper-body): Skating on his own "periodically," per Cassidy. - John Moore (lower-body): Is not with the team on the road trip.

By the Numbers

• David Krejci is 1 point shy of 700 for his career. He would be the eighth player in Bruins history to reach that mark.
• The Bruins visit the Penguins today in the fourth of eight games between these teams this season and the first of two at PPG Paints Arena. Boston won the first two games of this season's series with a 3-2 overtime win in Boston on Jan. 26 and a 4-1 home victory on Jan. 28, before dropping Monday's road trip opener, 4-1.
• The Bruins play eight sets of back-to-back games this season. Thus far, they are 1-1-0 in the first game of those sets and 0-1-0 in the second game.
• The Bruins and Penguins are meeting for the 214th time in their histories with the Bruins having a 118-66-21-8 record and 810-654 scoring advantage in those games.
• Boston is 12-5-3 in its last 20 games overall vs. the Penguins but are 0-5-2 in their last seven on the road with their last win in Pittsburgh a 6-2 victory on Dec. 18, 2015.

Monday's Projected Lineup

FORWARDS
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk - David Krejci - Craig Smith
Nick Ritchie - Charlie Coyle - Oskar Steen
Trent Frederic - Sean Kuraly - Karson Kuhlman
DEFENSEMEN
Matt Grzelcyk - Charlie McAvoy
Jakub Zboril - Connor Clifton
Jarred Tinordi - Steven Kampfer
GOALIES
Daniel Vladar
Jaroslav Halak