CALCULATED RASK BRUINS BEAT Stephen Harris
No. 1 goalie good enough to deserve another shot
The ideal outcome for the Bruins yesterday at the Garden: Tuukka Rask, returning to the nets after a 10-day, four-game stint as Anton Khudobin’s backup, is in grade-A form and they extend a brief win- ning streak against Edmonton.
Presto, goalie controversy over.
But that’s not quite how it turned out.
Rask couldn’t deliver that “one more save” about which coach Bruce Cassidy often speaks, and the Bruins dropped a 4-2 decision to the Oilers.
And the Tuukka-or-Dobie debate ain’t going away. There is bound to be ample speculation that each goalie should get the start on Wednesday, when the B’s host the high-flying Tampa Bay Lightning.
Our two cents for Cassidy: Come back with Rask, who was fine (32 saves) and remains this team’s best chance for future success.
“We generally don’t announce that this far ahead of time,” said Cassidy. “Tuukka is a world-class goaltender. He’s going to get his wins. Hopefully whoever is in there Wednesday gives us a good chance to win. We’ve got a good hockey team coming in. We’ll rest for (today) and get back to work (tomorrow). We’ll have a better idea then.”
As Khudobin played quite well in getting victories in the B’s previous four games — and compiling a 7-0-2 record this season — Rask’s status became prime talk-radio fodder. Opinion ran the gamut from sensible to wacky (“Get rid of Tuukka and give the job to Khudobin”).
But even if Rask was aware of the crazy talk, he paid it no heed. He insisted he did not view his return last evening as anything momentous or special.
“No, not really,” said Rask, who dropped to 3-8-2 with a 2.91 goalsagainst average and .899 save percentage. “When you get a layoff for many days, you want to come back refreshed and try to get the win. I felt I played well enough to win the game. I didn’t get the bounces. That’s hockey.”
Maybe the key bounce in the loss came on a shot from the middle of the blue line by Edmonton defenseman Adam Larsson late in the second period. It hit the leg of Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy in front and caromed in for a brief 2-1 Edmonton lead.
At 2-2, the Oilers netted the winner early in the third period on forward Ryan Strome’s laser from the left circle high to the far side.
Not much Rask could do on either goal. His awkward movement’s on the first Edmonton goal, however, maybe showed a little rust. Overall, he claimed he played OK.
“I felt like I tracked the puck well, the rebound control was pretty good,” he said. “It didn’t feel like I had a layoff at all. That’s part of being around the league for lot of years: You don’t let yourself get down or too high, and that kind of helps when you have a layoff like that. You can just show up and be ready to play. I felt I was ready to play.”
Rask sounds fairly indifferent about being embroiled in a goalie controversy.
“It’s only a matter of what you guys (in the press) write that makes it a controversy,” said Rask. “For us, it’s not a controversy. Obviously people look at salaries — how much I’m making ($7 million) and how much he’s making ($1.2 million) — and make that a big deal. But if he’s playing very, very good and getting the wins, then I can’t complain.
“It’s been different that I haven’t been playing. It can affect you mentally if you let it. I try not to. Doby has played unbelievable. He’s getting the wins and that’s what matters. We need wins. I totally understand. The only thing I can control is to show up, have a good work ethic and a good attitude. And when you play you try to give the team a chance to win. Obviously, it’s something new, but it hasn’t been affecting me a lot.”
If that’s true, good for him. He needs to remain mentally strong, because the goalie talk will continue — at least until Rask is restored as the Bruins’ every-game goalie.