Generally, if a goalie gives up three goals in the third period, it would be hard to argue he had a great game. But in the Bruins' 4-3 Game 5 win over the Blue Jackets Saturday night, Tuukka Rask gave up three goals in the third period and still had a great game, continuing his terrific stretch of play in this series and his very good postseason overall.
Some of Rask's best moments came in the second period, a period which has been an issue for the Bruins throughout this postseason. With the Bruins leading 1-0 and with Sergei Bobrovsky just making a couple big saves at the other end of the ice, the Blue Jackets turned up the pressure and it felt like they might be on the verge of a breakthrough.
But Rask had other ideas. First came two big saves on Cam Atkinson from in close, as Rask took away the whole bottom of the net and Atkinson was unable to lift the puck over his pad.
Wennberg creates a chance for Atkinson, but Rask is so locked in #CBJ pic.twitter.com/h7eeTnvZYt
— Alison (@AlisonL) May 5, 2019Then the Blue Jackets went to the power play, and Nick Foligno found himself with a golden chance coming right down the slot after dancing around Zdeno Chara. He tried to get Rask sliding one way before tucking the puck past his trailing leg, but Rask held his position enough to keep his left leg in perfect position to make a great save.
TUUUUUUK #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/VAs0LQL305
— Boston Bruins on CLNS (@BruinsCLNS) May 5, 2019Rask may have given up three goals in the third period, but there wasn't a whole lot he could've done to stop that. The first was a Seth Jones shot that deflected off Matt Grzelcyk's stick and barely squeaked past Rask -- even after a video review, it was hard to see clear evidence the puck went in, but league officials apparently saw enough to overturn the no-goal call on the ice and rule it a goal.
The second one was a snipe from Ryan Dzingel, as he roofed a shot over Rask's shoulder while Rask was sliding across his crease. You could maybe argue Rask should've been able to take up a little more space, but it still would've been a tough save given Dzingel's shot placement. The third was just an absolute rocket into the top corner from Dean Kukan that no goalie was going to stop.
Just in case there was any doubt about Rask finishing the game strong, he made a nice save on a Josh Anderson chance when it was 3-3, then made a huge save on Atkinson while sprawled out in the crease with 15 seconds to go to preserve the 4-3 victory.
Chara sloppy turnover but Rask saves him and the #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/aSEXkTTCNB
— Boston Bruins on CLNS (@BruinsCLNS) May 5, 2019Rask now has a .932 save percentage this postseason, the third-best mark among goalies who have played at least five games and his best mark in a single postseason since going .940 in the Bruins' run to the 2013 Stanley Cup Final.
He has been especially good on high-danger chances like the ones outlined above, as he has an .867 save percentage on high-danger chances in all situations and an .899 mark at 5-on-5. To put that in perspective, only two goalies were better than .867 in all situations this regular season, and none matched .899 at 5-on-5.
In two very close series, the Bruins have needed Rask to be at his best, and he has been. He's making the saves he's supposed to make, and he's bailing out his teammates on the high-danger chances as much as anyone could reasonably expect.
We know the goodwill will disappear if Rask has a bad game, or certainly a bad series. Boston fans are fickle like that. Many won't be satisfied until or unless Rask plays like this all the way through a Stanley Cup victory.
But for now everyone's riding high, and on Saturday night Rask was even showered with a "Tuukka! Tuukka!" chant from the Garden crowd. He's the biggest reason they're one win away from the Eastern Conference finals, and the haters are being drowned out.
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