BOSTON – All proper credit was going to the right places for the Bruins pulling out a victory against the Buffalo Sabres when they clearly hadn’t been at their best.
The Bruins produced an excruciatingly slow start Thursday night and hung for dear life at the end while getting outshot 31-13 in the first and third periods, but it was Tuukka Rask more than anything else that played a big factor in the 3-2 win over their divisional rival.
Rask was strong throughout with 36 saves, but it was the rare, highlight-reel save he executed in the third period on Evan Rodrigues that made everybody stand up and take notice. Marc-Andre Fleury had a similar flying save late in a game for the Vegas Golden Knights earlier this week, but the talk of the Bruins dressing room following the win was all about Rask’s big stop.
The Bruins were holding a 3-1 lead, but the Sabres mounted a desperate attack in the third period and it appeared they were going to get within a goal little more than halfway through the final 20 minutes. Rodrigues stepped into a loose puck in the face-off circle and got a good forehand bid at a vacant net as Rask attempted to extricate himself from a pileup at the far post.
Out of desperation, Rask dropped his stick and made a leaping glove save with his blocker at what looked like a sure-fire goal and saved the game for the Bruins after the Sabres eventually did make it a one-goal game a few minutes later.
The Bruins were that close to having another third-period meltdown a week after the embarrassing loss to the Florida Panthers, but instead, they now have wins in three of their past four games along with a lot of compliments for their No. 1 goaltender.
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“Save of the year. That’s why he’s making the big bucks. We’ve got him back there to save our butts, so we’re lucky to have him” proclaimed Brad Marchand, who helped power the offense with a pair of goals. “Sometimes has to do that a few times a game. He had to do that the whole first period and a couple more times during the game. But again, that’s what he’s paid for, so he better keep doing it.”
Some were reminded of the Superman saves that Tim Thomas used to make semi-regularly when he was between the pipes for the Black and Gold. It certainly wasn’t vintage Rask because he’s normally an efficient, economical position goaltender that’s always in the right spot to stop the puck rather than scrambling to make a spectacular save. Rask admitted as much after the game while
“I don’t make the highlights too often like that because I always try to be in good position to make the saves,” said Rask, who has come back from a dreadful start to November to improve to a 4-2-1 record with a 2.69 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage this month after back-to-back wins against the Devils and Sabres. “It’s fun to make a save like that, but it’s one of those instinct-type saves. Whenever the goalie makes the highlights like that it’s great, you know? So keep it coming.”
Still, the biggest part of the save wasn’t somehow getting a piece of it with the palm of his blocker, though. It was instead about the timing given the situation in the game. David Pastrnak had scored his 20th of the season early in the third o give the Bruins some breathing room, so a goal allowed at that time could have had dire consequences for Rask and the Bruins.
Instead, Rask throws a gut punch at the Sabres by robbing them of a sure goal and buys a few more minutes for the Bruins to operate with a two-goal cushion.
Given the timeliness of the save and the sprawling nature of the stop from a battling goaltender unwilling to give in, the save actually reminded B’s coach Bruce Cassidy of a goalie a little further back in the way-back machine.
“That was a Dominik Hasek save. For you guys, young people out there, he was an old goalie in the league, very acrobatic. That’s what it was. I think everyone does get up and realize that we should have been scored on, really, I mean, we should have. It does give you a boost. Big plays give you a boost, right? Saves are a part of that, and it sure did for us,” said Cassidy. “[Rask was] superb. He was our best player, we needed every save, obviously. Not much else to say other than we didn’t do a very good job right in front of him.
“You can dissect the game, you can go back and look at it and some things stick out more than others. But to me, I’m sure that it’ll back it up that we were not hard enough in front of our net.”
Don’t expect Rask to all of a sudden turn into some high-flying, acrobatic goaltender based on one desperate, last-ditch save that memorably helped the B’s pull out a win. That's just not the kind of goaltender he’s ever been. But be certain to file away this show-stopping save the next time anybody tells you that the B’s No. 1 goaltender never steals any games.
It was grand-theft larceny of a certain goal and, without it, the Bruins would have been answering a lot tougher questions afterward.
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