Boston Bruins: Tuukka Rask’s Renaissance
The Boston Bruins have really brought their ‘A’ game in the last few weeks. While the B’s still have the occasional bad game, they’ve gotten consistently better throughout the season. A few months ago, many fans (and a LOT of the Boston media) had written off the Black and Gold to miss the playoffs. Thankfully, Tuukka Rask and company have surpassed people’s expectations. The Bruins are now top in the Atlantic and second in the East behind the Washington Capitals.
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While I still believe that Ryan Spooner is the Bruins most improved player from the start of this season, Tuukka Rask is a close second in my book. Rask had a very rough start of the season, but has rebounded nicely. In his last six games, the 29-year old Finnish netminder is 4-0-2, with a solid .930 save percentage. His 5-on-5 save percentage is even better (.940). While the B’s still have the occasional breakdown in defense, their goaltender has kept the Bruins competitive during the B’s weaker games.
“[Rask] keeps us in there and then we are able to create a lead there, and that was probably important for our team. Tuukka was solid when he had to be,” said Claude Julien. “We did a good job in the first of minimizing their shots. In the second period again we got a little loose and gave them some good chances, but Tuukka was up to the task there and did a good job.”
Rask’s overall numbers have certainly improved as well. At the first part of the season, Rask’s numbers were beer league bad. Now, they’ve returned to NHL level. Rask now has a .919 save percentage which puts him back in the top twenty. He’s in the top five for saves, and in the top ten in wins.
Rask for all his recent work is still very thankful for his team’s improvement on the blue line. Torey Krug and Adam McQuaid have certainly made life less difficult for Rask as the season has gone on. The young defensemen really made a point to step up and learn on the fly, and the recent acquisition of John-Michael Liles certainly helped as well.
“There was an odd man rush, and I think whoever the D was there did a very good job of keeping the man on the outside. It was a pretty good shot for a rebound and luckily the rebound was right in front of me, I was able to scramble in front of the second puck and then we cleared it,” said Rask about his most recent win, a 3-1 victory over Johnny Boychuk and the New York Islanders. “It was just one of those you never really want to get scored on in the last minute, and we have in the past. It’s a good example when you don’t you might get another opportunity, and we did.”
Rask has regained the confidence of many of the Bruins faithful. Now, it’s up to him and the rest of the Bruins to finish out their last twelve games of the regular season, and put the Black in Gold in the best possible spot for the playoffs.