It’s still Tuukka Time
Rask clearly B’s No. 1 goalie
Recall all that consternation and panic not that many weeks ago about the Bruins goaltending? The speculation from hockey “experts” that Tuukka Rask was in decline and should be replaced by Anton Khudobin?
When Khudobin started four successive games in mid-November, some concluded that he was the team’s new No. 1 — or at least, should be.
Well, the B’s have climbed to third in the NHL with a 2.45 team goals-against average. Rask, not quite ready for the scrap heap, has gone 10-0-1 in his last 11 starts and as of yesterday ranked fourth in the NHL with a 2.13 GAA and ninth with a .923 save percentage.
At least for public consumption, Rask has consistently tried to minimize the significance of the goalie situation, insisting it wasn’t that big a deal.
“There’s always competition,” said Rask. “This year (Khudobin has) played great, too. It’s always good to have two good goalies. We’re always pushing — no matter who is the other guy you always try to push yourself and have that competition. This year our team has played such good team defense it’s helped us as goalies to be successful.”
Coach Bruce Cassidy yesterday got onto the subject of the November goalie controversy, and emphasized that he never regarded Rask as anything but the team’s No. 1.
“Because in my estimation, he was,” Cassidy said. “Sitting down with Anton, he knew what his role was. His job was to push the No.1 and give us good strong starts. He did that and more. But we just always felt that Tuukka was our guy. I mean, I think you need a bigger body of work than a few games or a couple of off weeks for Tuukka before you say, ‘Hey, we’ve got to make a wholesale change here.’ That’s just the way I felt.
“I think we communicated that well with the goalies internally. (Assistant coach) Goalie Bob (Essensa) talked to them every day about it. It was just something we decided to do at the time, and it’s worked out well for both of them. I don’t think Anton has lost a lot of his edge, and Tuukka has clearly benefited from being pushed, or not playing, of whatever you want to call it. Because he’s dead-on right now.”
Rask registered a 25-save shutout in Saturday’s 5-0 road rout of the Ottawa Senators. The win pushed the Bruins to 9-1-2 in their last dozen games and 15-3-2 in the past 20, ahead of tonight’s match in New York against the Islanders.
Looking back, Cassidy believes sitting and watching Khudobin play — and win — four straight games was not easy for Rask.
“You could see it a little bit in his demeanor after games,” Cassidy said. “You’d see him get a little more ornery. I don’t know if that’s the word, but you could see that the passion was there and he wanted the net back. I think he understood why he wasn’t getting it. Anton was playing well. That’s what I like about our team a lot. Guys want more responsibility, but they are genuinely happy when other people have success. I think that makes us a good character team.
“That’s good, that’s what we want, without having a guy get so upset that he lets it affect his game. It’s more like, ‘OK, I’ve got to reset here; I’ve got competition. If I want the net, I’ve got to be sharp.’ We want that at every position.”
Cassidy said the decision to keep coming back with Khudobin, and to keep sitting Rask, was hard.
“It wasn’t easy,” Cassidy said. “It just felt like the right thing to do at the time. I go with my gut at certain times; sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. We had a lot of faith in Anton at the time . ... Tuukka is a good character guy. I believe deep down he understood. He knew he’d get his opportunity again.”