Jaroslav Halak records 49th career NHL shutout

NHL: Boston Bruins at Montreal Canadiens

Jaroslav Halak of Bratislava, Slovakia recorded his 49th career National Hockey League shutout on Tuesday. Halak made 24 saves as the Boston Bruins blanked the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0 at the Toronto Dominion Garden in Boston, MA.

Halak made 10 saves in the first period, eight saves in the second period and six saves in the third period. Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton of Toronto, Ontario led the Hurricanes with four shots on goal.

Both of the Bruins goals came in the last five minutes of the third period. Charlie Coyle of Weymouth, MA scored from Brad Marchand and Danton Heinen at 15:55 and then David Krejci scored a key insurance marker from Charlie McAvoy of Long Beach, NY and David Pastrnak with only 2:57 left in the game.

Halak is now in his second season as the Bruins’ backup goaltender behind Tuukka Rask. It is safe to say that Halak is one of the most reliable second options when it comes to backstoppers in the entire National Hockey League. In 11 games, Halak has an excellent record of seven wins, one regulation loss and three losses in extra time. He has a goals against average of 2.14, save percentage of .934 and two shutouts.

Halak’s other shutout this season came on October 5, when he made 35 saves in a 1-0 Bruins win over the Arizona Coyotes. In his career, 20 of Halak’s shutouts have come with the St. Louis Blues, 12 shutouts have been with the New York Islanders, nine shutouts with the Montreal Canadiens, seven shutouts with the Bruins and one with the Washington Capitals.

In another interesting statistic, Halak recorded his 11th career assist this season. It came on a goal by Krejci at the 1:40 mark of overtime in a 3-2 Bruins win over the New York Rangers on November 29.

The Bruins currently lead the Atlantic Division with 45 points. They have a record of 20 wins, three regulation losses and five losses in extra time. Boston is also tied for the NHL lead in points with the Capitals.

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