What is Jaroslav Halak’s track record in the NHL playoffs?

By Jim Clark Globe Correspondent,Updated August 15, 2020, 6:04 p.m.

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Jaroslav Halak made the first of what the Bruins surely hope is a long line of playoff starts in a Black and Gold jersey over the next couple of months in the Stanley Cup playoff bubble.

But Saturday’s Game 3 — in which he made 29 saves to backstop the Bruins to a 3-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes — was not Halak’s first shot at the postseason overall. Not counting the loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Aug. 2 in the opening game of round-robin play, Halak entered Saturday with 30 games of Stanley Cup playoff experience under his belt — going 13-15 with a 2.38 goals against average and .924 save percentage.

Overall, Halak has played 520 regular-season games over his 14-year career with five teams, going 272-167-58 with a 2.48 GAA and .916 save percentage.

The 35-year-old Halak, a ninth-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2003, has been a regular playoff starter twice previously in his career, most recently with the New York Islanders in 2015. The Isles lost their opening-round series that year to the Washington Capitals in seven games as Halak posted a 2.30 goals-against average and .926 save percentage.

Five years earlier, a young Carey Price waited his turn on the bench as Halak started all but one playoff game for the Canadiens, who made a run to the 2010 Eastern Conference finals before falling to the Flyers. Halak was 9-9 in his 18 starts with a 2.55 GAA and .923 save percentage, including a 53-save effort in an opening-round elimination Game 6 against the Capitals. He also had 45 saves in a Game 1 overtime victory, and 41 saves in the clinching Game 7.

Price took over as the Canadiens starter the following season, and Halak spent the next 3½ years in St. Louis, appearing in only two playoff games in 2012 as backup to Brian Elliott.

Following a brief stint with the Washington Capitals and his four-year run on the Island, Halak joined the Bruins as a free agent in 2018-19 and played 71 games over the past two regular seasons, going a combined 40-17-10 with a 2.36 GAA and .921 save percentage. He teamed with Rask to win the William M. Jennings Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltending tandem in 2019-20, an award he also shared with Elliott for the Blues in 2011-12.

While Rask played every minute of last year’s run to the Cup Final, as well as Games 1 and 2 vs. Carolina, the Bruins became Halak’s team Saturday and — barring injury — for however long their 2020 postseason run lasts.