Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
If there was one player that you could describe as a major snub for an individual award this summer, that player is probably Tuukka Rask. The Boston Bruins netminder, coming off of a brilliant season, absolutely deserved Vezina Trophy consideration.
He didn’t get it. That hasn’t slowed him down at all, though. In fact, he seems to have gotten better as these Stanley Cup Playoffs have wore on. With the Bruins standing on the cusp of advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals, the play of Rask is a tremendous reason as to why.
Rask spent the regular season, his first back as the starter after giving way to Tim Thomas for a couple of years, putting up fantastic numbers. He finished the season with five shutouts, tied for the league lead, with a 2.00 goals-against average and .929 save percentage. Virtually ever number he put up was among the league’s best.
That play has carried over into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, particularly in these Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Rangers. Not that Rask wasn’t strong against the Toronto Maple Leafs, because he was. He held the Leafs to two or less goals in four of those games, coming up big in the waning moments of that Game 7 comeback.
Against the Rangers, though, Rask has had to elevate his game. Up against a world class goaltender like Henrik Lundqvist, Rask has managed to outplay him, leading the Bruins to a 3-0 lead. In a series that has been relatively low-scoring, albeit through just three games, Rask has been outstanding.
He made 33 saves in a game that went deep into overtime in Game 1. He made 35 stops in Game 2, not that he had to work too hard with the Bruins putting up a five-spot on the Blueshirts. Game 3, he came up big again. With Lundqvist playing out of his mind, Rask allowed just one goal as the Bruins went up 3-0 in the series.
There are other factors contributing to the Bruins’ playoff success to this point, there’s no doubt about that. But it’s impossible to overlook just how terrific he’s been for the Bruins. We’ve seen this team win a championship with a hot goaltender. Could they be on their way to doing it again this postseason?
