The Bruins have officially entered the gauntlet, their most grueling stretch of the season or whatever cliché you want to use to paint the picture of just how hectic the month of March figures to be. 

Saturday’s 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Lightning was the Bruins’ first of 17 games in the month of March. For a frame of reference, they had played 17 games all season entering the contest. 

Through the first 17 games of the season, the Bruins stayed healthy for the most part, and they won for the most part – establishing a better winning pace than any other team in the Eastern Conference – but this month will be different. There won’t be as many practices, the action will be more frequent (meaning a higher potential for injuries) and they’ll see more of Anton Khudobin.  

One of the biggest questions this month is how the team will fare with their backup goalie in net, as the four back-to-backs over the course of the months means the B’s will be relying on Khudobin more going forward. With this weekend’s back-to-backs, the Bruins had to go with Khudobin either against the top-scoring team in the NHL (Tampa) or their biggest challenge in the Northeast Division (Canadiens). 

Khudobin got not only the Lightning, but the Lightning on a day in which tons of penalties were called, meaning he had to worry about Steven Stamkos and friends on a total of eight Tampa power-plays throughout the game. Despite allowing a pair of power-play goals in the first period to give Tampa a 2-0 lead, Khudobin was able to close the door and turn in key saves. Brad Marchand scored the game-winning goal on the power play late in the third period, but it was on that very power play that Khudobin stopped Alexander Killorn after the Tampa forward beat Dennis Seidenberg on a shorthanded bid. 

Khudobin, who had last played on Feb. 15, said Saturday that he “felt like [he] hadn’t played in two weeks,” but that it got better as the game went. That shouldn’t be a concern for him this month, as the team’s next back-to-back kicks off on March 11. 

“The more I'm going to play, it's always going to be better for me,” he said. “Good start.”

Perhaps the most encouraging sign as the team prepares to play Khudobin more is that the B’s aren’t giving him the throwback Tuukka treatment (a term just coined for how poorly the B’s would play in front of Rask at times over the last two seasons when Thomas was the No. 1 goaltender). The B’s would often find themselves lamenting their own level of play when Rask, the team’s No. 2 at the time, saying Rask deserved the same play in front of him that Thomas would often get. 

Saturday could have been one of those games. The B’s were down by two in the first period, their backup goalie was in net and they were taking a ton of penalties. That could have been one they chalked up to a loss, but they don’t want to set the precedent that they’re any more beatable with their backup goaltender between the pipes, especially considering that he’ll be there more this month.  

“We definitely felt bad about it because it [shouldn't] matter who's in net,” Lucic said of playing worse in front of the No. 2 in past seasons. “They give it their all to try to give us the best chance to win. I think the biggest part of our game this year compared to last year is there's definitely consistency from start to finish in our game, no matter who's in net.”

Said Marchand: “We definitely did leave Tuukka stranded a little bit at times last year, but it's great for Dobby to know that we can have big games in front of him. He works very hard. He competes every day in practice. To know we play good in front of him, that's big for us and big for him.”

This obviously isn’t the best goaltending tandem the Bruins have had, but the value of having two capable netminders is far greater in the compressed schedule. It makes you wonder just how much better the B’s could be this season if they still had the Thomas-Rask duo, but the Rask-Khudobin tandem has gotten the job done thus far. The Bruins’ 2.06 goals allowed per game is the fourth-lowest total in the NHL. 

“When you get into the heavy schedule, you’re certainly going to need both of those guys playing well for you,” Claude Julien said. “There’s no doubt that in this situation, it’s more magnified just because of the fact that you’re playing every second night.”

As far as the team’s skaters went, Julien elected to make Shawn Thornton a healthy scratch Saturday so he could flip-flop Daniel Paille and Chris Bourque and make a stronger third line that could match up with Tampa’s top six forwards while the fourth line consisted of Jay Pandolfo and Bourque with Gregory Campbell. 

Thornton figures to get back into the lineup, but Pandolfo, who was playing in his second game for the Bruins since signing with the team last month, knows that the hectic month might yield more opportunities for him one way or another. 

“There’s pretty much a game every other day and some back-to-backs, so who knows?” Pandolfo said. “No one can predict what’s going to happen, so I think everyone wants to stay ready. You never know when you’re going to be called upon.”

As the Bruins prepare for their season to intensify dramatically, they’ll take the same approach that’s gotten them to where they are now: know the value of a point in the shortened season and don’t lose sight of it. 

“We definitely need to get as many points as we can early on,” Marchand said. “It's going to be a pretty grueling schedule, and who knows what's going to happen later on? We're going to have to make sure we're prepared every night, take it game by game and hopefully put our best effort on the ice every night.”