Feb 2, 2013; Toronto, ON, Canada; Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) guards the net against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. The Bruins beat the Maple Leafs 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Bruins were attempting to bounce back from their disappointing performance against the Buffalo Sabres. The Bruins came out playing to their strengths: Agressive on the fore-check, tight two way hockey, and playing hard along the boards. Coach Claude Julien made a point to Bruins Nation. He chose to keep our number one goalie Tuukka Rask in the net. The coach needed to let Rask know that he believed in him. Tuukka Rask took that faith and repaid it three fold. Tuukka was impeccable stopping everything that came at him.
February 2, 2013 – Boston Bruins vs Toronto Maple Leafs (Bruins @ Toronto)
Final Score: Boston Bruins 1 , Toronto Maple Leafs 0
Three Stars of the Game: 3rd – Chris Bourque , 2nd – Tuukka Rask , 1st – James Reimer (TOR)
Causeway Crowd’s Three Stars of the Game:
Third Star: Gregory Campbell. (From Aidan)” It seems like who ever dawns the number 11 on this team seems to always be able to hold down the penalty kill. First it was Axelsson and now Soupy has taken up the mantel. He held his own on the PK tonight and were was able to gel and grind well with his two AHL call ups Tardiff and MacDermid. ” (From Matt) “Campbell had to be the leader of the fourth line tonight with the absence of Thornton and Paille. This meant two different line mates for him who he had never played with before. Campbell did a good job of helping the youngsters out and keeping them in check. As always, he was solid on the penalty kill.” Campbell had to be the leader of the fourth line tonight with the absence of Thornton and Paille. This meant two different line mates for him who he had never played with before. Campbell did a good job of helping the youngsters out and keeping them in check. As always, he was solid on the penalty kill. (Got to love it when everyone agreed on the third star.)
Second Star: Chris Bourque. (From Matt) “Borque scored his first goal of the year tonight after being scratched from the lineup against Buffalo. Chris seemed to take that day off to his advantage. Scoring that goal hopefully lit a fire in his game and hopefully he continues to put up more goals this year. (From Aidan) “Relaxed and refreshed from his scratch and the pressure is off as he made a sneak play behind the Leafs defence to make the game 1-0 and would be the only goal scorer. He played much better than he has so far this season and he definitely will improve upon this now with 1 goal under his belt in Boston.” He only scored one goal, but in a 1-0 game that one goal is all you need. That healthy scratch helped Bourque to relax a little bit and not worry so much about the famous legacy he’s trying to live down. He made fewer mistakes, was far more patient with the puck, and helped make good transitions and gave the third line three points total to add to their stat sheet.
First Star: Tuukka Rask. (Aidan)”Played a phenomenal game tonight, stopping 21/21 shots and backing up the defence when they slipped. He got his first shut out of the season, 12th of his career and definitely made up for the play against Buffalo. (Matt)” I am sure that he was much more comfortable in net with the much better defensive effort tonight then the previous game against the Sabres.” A lot of people in FB and Twitter was telling the B’s to sit him for Khudobin. Rask needed a game to settle himself and the fan base and he did that in spectacular fashion. He got us a shutout and the added bonus of shaming Kessel in his backyard. (Thank you Kessel!) Doesn’t get much better for that.