Kalman: Tuukka Rask Does His Job For The Bruins
BOSTON (CBS) -- Prior to the Bruins' 3-1 victory against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, the Bruins took the ice for pregame warmups wearing pom-pom-topped winter hats in New England Patriots' colors with the Pats' motto "Do Your Job" sewn on the front.
During his postgame interview session, goaltender Tuukka Rask again donned that hat.
Although that slogan might belong to the Pats, it could very well be the definition of Rask's play during the month of January. With a 30-save performance against the Kings, Rask improved to 7-1-3 in the first month of 2015 with a .949 save percentage and 1.61 goals-against average – by far the best statistics of NHL goaltender with more than two appearances in January.
It's safe to say no goaltender in the League, and no Bruins players, has done his job better than Rask since 2015 started.
Recently, Rask led the way for the Bruins against the Eastern Conference-leading New York Islanders on Thursday and the defending Stanley Cup champion Kings on Saturday.
"He definitely was our best player in January and last game and here tonight he definitely stepped his game up to the level that he's capable of playing at," Bruins forward Milan Lucic said. "So he's a huge part of our team, probably the most important part of our team. With his ability and his competitiveness and we're grateful to have a guy like that between the pipes. I thought we did a better job today of limiting some scoring chances and giving him a little bit of an easier night than the Islanders game, but you've got to give him all the credit in the world with how he's been able to play this January, and he's starting to get into the groove that we need him to be in."
It was a roller-coaster first three months of the season for Rask, as he had sub-.900 save percentages in October and December but had a .935 save percentage in November. There's no telling if Rask will be able to sustain his solid play beyond January, but it seems like he's finally found the groove that made him a Vezina Trophy-winner last season. His track record says he's closer to the goaltender he was in January than during those terrible months of the latter part of 2014.
Everything has come together for the Bruins during their 9-1-2 stretch that has thrust them not only into the Eastern Conference playoff picture, but within range of escaping the conference's wild card spots. The Bruins have gotten healthy on their back end – most notably with Zdeno Chara and Adam McQuaid playing regularly – so Rask has been able to play with more confidence and face lesser quality scoring chances most nights. But there have also been nights when Rask has had to be the Bruins' best player and he's bailed out the healthy Bruins when they were playing poorly. I like to think that everything, though, starts with Rask's play.
Against the Kings, only Jordan Nolan's shot from the left half wall that ticked off Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton's stick beat Rask. He stopped a Nick Shore breakaway and a handful of other scoring chances in a game that featured little room for the best offensive players to maneuver.
Rask even had to deal with the physicality of the game. With 12:07 elapsed in the second period, Rask made a save and Los Angeles center Jeff Carter swiped at Rask's mask with his stick. While Rask recovered, a couple Bruins teammates let Carter know that was uncalled for. Rask showed his hockey/football-player mentality when he got right back into the crease and continued his dominant play.
"Yeah, I was just worried about that rebound there," Rask said. "Trying to hold onto that. Then all of a sudden I felt a hard hit to my head. You know, I was seeing stars there for a second. But I'm tough, so ..."
The Bruins flaunted their newfound resilience in the third period when they bounced back from Nolan's tying goal and went back ahead on a Chris Kelly goal 96 seconds later. Brad Marchand's empty-net goal put the victory away.
Rask is on pace to play 66 games. That's not likely to stay that way, but the way he's playing the Bruins might want to see if he can at least exceed 60 games for the first time in his career.
"We've talked about it for a long time and you know this last month he's been on fire. I said that this morning – you know, you ride a goaltender that's hot as much as you can without you know doing some damage," Bruins coach Claude Julien said.
If Rask keeps up his January play the next few months, the Patriots and other Boston teams will have to wear gear in tribute to the Bruins come June.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.