Boston Bruins: 3 exciting takeaways from first round win over Capitals
No. 2: Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask had a great series
For as much as Bruins fans love to hate on Tuukka Rask, he had a fantastic series. He started off slow, although it seemed like every goal from Washington came off of a tipped shot, but he rounded right into form with the rest of the team, and saved his best performance of the series for last.
As mentioned, pretty much every goal scored by Washington over the first two games was a tip shot, which often left Rask with little to no chance of preventing it from finding the back of the net. It wasn’t a great look for Rask though, as he let up three goals in both of the first two contests. As always, fans were calling for Rask’s head, despite the fact he was basically defenseless for most of these goals.
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Rask really turned things up in Game 3, as the Bruins struggled to score, but finally tied things up off of a power play goal from Marchand. The Caps pressed for a goal for the rest of the third period, but were thwarted by Rask, sending the game to overtime. From there on out Rask didn’t have much work to do, but his clutch performance in the third saved the Bruins, and probably shifted the momentum of the series.
Rask didn’t have a ton to do in Game 4, as the defense did a great job of limiting Washington’s chances for most of the game. The Capitals came out guns blazing in Game 5, firing 41 shots on goal, but Rask saved 40 of them.
Washington pelted Rask with pucks in the second period, but didn’t really convert any of them into scoring chances. Those chances came in the third period, and when they arose, Rask was there to stop them. There were multiple close calls that forced Rask into action, but he kept the Bruins on life support up until Bergeron scored the dagger with eight and a half minutes left.
Rask saved this team in Game 5, and the Bruins will need him to keep up his high level play as the postseason pushes forward. If Rask can keep pucks out of the net, the Bruins will be in good position to win the majority of their games.