I’m slowly beginning to think that the Bruins have good goaltending. 

Now, now – don’t write off this absurd notion just yet. Hear me out.

I haven’t looked at the stats, but I can remember two shutouts from the B’s this week. The first came Tuesday when Tuukka Rask blanked the Kings at TD Garden. The second one came Saturday at Wells Fargo, when Tim Thomas shutout a Flyers team that had scored at least four goals in six of their previous seven games (they scored three in the other – OK, I have looked at some stats).

Thomas’ shutout, the 30th of his career, couldn’t help but lead me to that crazy conclusion about the Bruins having very strong goaltending. To some, this is a case of peddling old news – perhaps even two-year-old news – but I don’t think it is. 

Since the Bruins first began primarily going with the tandem of Thomas and Rask in the 2009-10 season, anyone could tell you that the Bruins had two very good – perhaps even great – goaltenders. The former was coming off a Vezina-winning season, and the latter was the up-and-coming wunderkind, a former first-round pick who figured to be the man when that other guy would eventually get out of the way. Rask even went on to lead the NHL in both goals against average and save percentage that season, just like Thomas had done a year before.

Yet back then, the Bruins didn’t have what they have right now. In reality, they had an aging guy with a hip problem and a kid who could shine down the stretch in the regular season, but couldn’t take over games in the second round of the playoffs.

Last season, it was Thomas who took over and proved that he was not only the No. 1 goalie on the team, but the top netminder in the league. Rask didn’t get enough consecutive starts to show whether he was progressing in his development, but still, the team had Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask. As Claude Julien put it, they had two No. 1 goalies. 

Well, no they didn’t. Rask was not No. 1 goalie good, and maybe that wasn't his fault. If he had started as many games early on as Thomas did, perhaps he would have reclaimed the job of starter and put together a Vezina-type season. That didn’t happen, and Rask, getting scattered starts, posted a mediocre 11-14-2 record with a mediocre 2.67 GAA and a mediocre .918 save percentage. Given the circumstances, all maybe all he could be was mediocre. 

Yet this season, Julien can say whatever he wants about his goaltending, and as long as it’s positive, it will probably right. The coach can scream “We have two No. 1 goalies!” from the top of the Prudential Center, and he’d be accurate. These goaltenders have taken turns being great in the past, but right now, they’re both outstanding at the same time. That’s scary for any team to face. 

Take a look at the statistical leaders among goaltenders this season. After Saturday’s win, Rask and Thomas are second and third, respectively, in GAA. Rask, who trails only St. Louis’ Brian Elliot, has a 1.82 GAA, while Thomas is allowing 1.83 per 60 minutes this season. 

Now take a look at save percentage. Thomas’ .943 mark – which is better than his record-setting .938 clip from last season – is second to Elliot. Rask is in third with a .939 save percentage. 

You spent the last two paragraphs reading it, but read it again: From a statistical standpoint, the Bruins have both the second and third-best goalie in the league. That’s what having two No. 1 goalies is, and it’s a departure from last year, when when Thomas led both categories and Rask was 14th and 30th in save percentage and GAA, respectively.

Some have wondered what the Bruins might be able to get for Rask if they were to to dangle the 24-year-old restricted free-agent to-be to other teams. He’s young he’s good, and given the fact that he’s technically been a backup the last two seasons, he wouldn’t cost a team Bryzgalov money. It’s hard to imagine the B’s trading such an important piece of the future away given that Thomas plans on retiring at the end of his contract next season, but that’s not the only reason trading him right now would be foolish. 

Rask is legitimately one of the best goaltenders in the league right now, and if they were to get equal value – which would be one of the best players in the league – that would likely mean having to pay someone huge money for this season and beyond. Given the guys the B’s have coming up for new contracts in the next couple of seasons – Tyler Seguin, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton, among others – that wouldn’t make much sense. 

Instead, the Bruins will likely continue to play out the rest of the season with two of the best goaltenders in the league – two actual No. 1 goalies, if you will. 

It’s only 31 games into the season, but if the Bruins continue to get this type of stellar play out of their netminders by the time the playoffs roll around, it will make for quite the interesting scenario. Last season, Cam Neely said late in the season that either goaltender could step up and become the No. 1 for the playoffs, and Rask jokingly quipped that you didn’t need to be a “[expletive] rocket scientist” to know that Thomas would be the starter. 

But what if these two are still playing this way at the end of the season? Thomas obviously has the better track record and a Conn Smythe to his name, but you don’t think that if he allows three goals in Game 2 and the B’s find themselves in an 0-2 hole in the first round, fans will be calling sports radio saying that it’s Tuukka time? Past goaltending tandems in the playoffs, such as Garth Snow and Ron Hextall in Philadelphia and Dwyane Roloson and Manny Fernandez in Minnesota, haven’t been able to deliver and win the Cup, but if Rask finishes as a top-three goaltender in the league, would he really not get any starts in the playoffs? 

Such are the fun questions you can ask when the local team has two legitimate No. 1 goaltenders. There’s no two ways about it now.