At 17:53 of overtime, Tuukka Rask made a stop on a Jordan Eberle attempt, a second later another stop, this time on Mathew Barzal—who earlier in the game scored his first of the playoffs.
A pair of game-saving saves.
88 seconds later, Brad Marchand called game, sending an odd-angled long distance shot over the should of Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov.
“When you have Tuukka making the saves that he did in overtime, it gives us that confidence to make the play when the time comes,” said Marchand.
“They had a couple of really good looks and the D really beared down in our zone to get the puck out when the time came, but [Rask] kept us in it, gave us that extra couple of minutes that we needed to get the job done.”
Game 3 was a goalie dual from start to finish. The difference being Rask making his final save, Varlamov did not.
The Bruins threw everything but the kitchen sink at Varlamov, Craig Smith’s first period tally the lone shot to beat him in regulation.
Late in the third the Islanders tied things at one, taking the momentum from the goal and running with it. Dominating play from Barzal’s goal all the way up to Marchand’s game winner.
“I miscalculated the bounce from the boards. I talked to Cliffy [Connor Clifton] and he did too. We both made mistakes there,” Rask said of Barzal’s third period goal.
“Barzal is a nifty player, he got the puck and started jamming and I couldn’t get my weight on the post. Tough read on my part. I should be covering those mistakes but it didn’t cost us.”
It didn’t cost them thanks to Marchand’s tally, but it was Rask’s effort from the drop of the puck that even allowed the Bruins an opportunity to take the 2-1 series lead.
It was arguably his best performance of the postseason, an eight-game stretch that has seen Rask playing outstanding hockey.
Rask saved 2.00 goals over expected in Game 3, and has stopped 3.49 goals above average at all-strength play during the playoffs according to Natural Stat Trick. Only Andrei Vasilevskiy (4.55) and Philipp Grubauer (3.92) have stopped more above average shots.
“He was rock solid. Looked really good in overtime, square to the shooters. Any rebounds, he was resetting,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said of Rask’s game. “I thought on the PK he held his ice when he had to, so a lot of good things. I thought it was a great goaltender game by their guy and our guy and that's why you get a 1-1 into overtime.”
There’s a bit of mystique surrounding Rask and his overall health. Both Cassidy and Rask have admitted Rask is battling through injures. But at this stage of the season, and three games into the second-round, who isn’t?
"It's always good to have a little extra rest between the games, I guess, no matter if you're injured or not. I think the season has been very hectic overall,” said Rask. “But as far as my health goes I guess as long as I'm out there, it's good enough. That's, I guess, the only thing I could say.”
Not the most encouraging statement from Rask, but nonetheless, his performance in Game 3, and the playoffs to date has shown a guy who is completely dialed in and playing as well as he can.
Questions about Rask’s health, his mental state, and whether or not he should be the one in net leading the Bruins to a hopeful lengthy playoff run were too often thrown around entering the postseason.
Rask has answered all those. Funny how you haven’t heard the name “Jeremy Swayman” in a while now.
The Bruins defensive effort in Game 3 was outstanding. They had just enough layers to their game to make things difficult for the Islanders. But when the Islanders were able to crack through the Bruins stout defense, Rask was there, standing tall, making several key game-saving stops.
"I try to play that style, be patient and calm in there," said Rask. "It doesn't matter what the situation is. Just trying to make that save and give the team a chance to win. Lucky we capitalized."
Should the Bruins go on to win their series with the Islanders and advance to round three, we very well may look back at Game 3 and Rask’s effort as the turning point of the series.
So far through eight playoff games, Rask has done all the things many say he can’t. Hopefully, there’s more boxes to check ahead.
Boston Bruins Blogger • 
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