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Bruins will go as far as Tuukka Rask takes them |
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With Tuukka Rask missing 17 games in a stretch of 18, rookie goalies Daniel Vladar and Jeremy Swayman stepped up to the plate in Rask’s absence, providing the Bruins with stability in net alongside Jaroslav Halak until he landed on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list.
While Vlader’s efforts in net were certainly respectable, it was Swayman—who at the time had nine games of professional hockey under his belt—that was the better of the two, performing extremely well with his first taste of the National Hockey League.
With the 22-year old Swayman’s play with Rask out of the lineup, you’ll never guess what came next…
People calling for Swayman to be the team’s number one goalie when Rask returned.
C’mon man.
Since returning from a back injury, Rask has not lost, going 3-0 in the process.
He defeated the New York Islanders and Washington Capitals before shutting out the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday night.
He’s stopped 84 of 88 shots he’s seen, a .955 save percentage. The most interesting part of all this you ask?
It doesn’t sound like Rask is playing at 100%
Yes, at this point in the season, who is? But for those of you in the Tuukka Rask finger pointing crowd, one of your knocks on Tuukka is how he’s always injured and can’t play through the pain.
Seems like you’re wrong here.
“Good enough to play,” Rask said about how he is feeling. “It’s maintaining the strength and everything else, the health, as much as possible. Kind of give it a rest when need be and not pushing it too much. Hopefully I’ll be able to play many, many more months ahead. But I’m feeling good, it doesn’t bother me playing. So that’s a plus.”
As encouraging as Swayman’s play has been, and believe me, I’ve been a huge fan of him since his days at Maine, if the Bruins are going to bring one more Stanley Cup back to Boston before this window closes, it will be with Rask in net.
In the three starts Rask has made since his return, he’s allowed four goals with an expected goals against of 6.50. In 21 high-danger scoring chances against, he’s allowed one goal, a .952 save percentage.
In other words, Rask is at the top of his game.
“There were some point shots there that he’s able to fight his way through and find them. I think he was our best player — it goes without saying,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said of Rask’s night Tuesday. "I think we put him in some spots there in the third where we could have been a lot better in front of him and made his life a lot easier. We expect him to shut the door when need be.”
The Bruins have 12 games left and with the standings in the East among the top-four becoming much tighter with the Bruins winners of five straight, Rask’s best play of the season is coming at the right time.
As we’ve seen since Halak’s arrival in Boston, the more rested Rask is, the better he’s played. In Rask’s absence, the Bruins played well, you got a look at what you have in the pipeline between the pipes, and Rask got some must needed rest.
Wouldn’t this be a win/win/win?
“Rest is a weapon, at least in this age, never hurts if you take it the right way,” said Rask. “But I don’t think my workload this season has been too big at any point, so I’ve felt good all along. And then you get injured, so you get some rest, which doesn’t hurt.”
Swayman will make the start Thursday against Buffalo with Rask returning Friday for the final of three straight against the Sabres.
That will leave the Bruins with 10 games left after that. Ideally, Rask starts say six of those? Swayman and/or Halak start the other four?
In my opinion, that gives Rask a little rest down the stretch, keeps him fresh for the playoffs, and sets Rask and the Bruins up for what hopefully is a lengthy playoff run.
One that hopefully finally ends with Rask holding the Stanley Cup over his head for the first time as the Bruins' starter.
And if that does happen, is that enough for you to realize how valuable Rask really is to the Bruins success?
I sure hope so.
Boston Bruins Blogger • 
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