Rask shuts door on Flyers in return
Netminder makes 25 saves in first action since June 9
In case you were wondering, yes, Tuukka Rask is still a damn good goaltender.
Playing in his first game since June 9 after undergoing offseason hip surgery, Rask was not exactly bombarded by the Philadelphia Flyers, but he turned away a pair of second-period breakaways and was able to shut the door when the Flyers pulled goalie Carter Hart with over three minutes left, nailing down a 3-2 victory at the Garden on Thursday.
Rask turned away 25 shots — including all 12 he faced in the third period — and David Pastrnak notched a hat trick for the B’s first four-game win streak of the season.
Considering the tremendously supportive response from the Garden fans, how he felt on his surgically repaired hip and, of course, the result — it was a wildly successful return to the ice for Rask.
“It felt like I was home, basically,” said Rask.
While the breakaway stops were the highlight portions of the night for most, there were other more subtle movements he had to make, such as a solid stop on a wraparound attempt, that told him he was more like himself now than he was last year playing on the bum hip.
“A hundred percent. A hundred percent,” said Rask. “Even though it wasn’t killing me every single game last year, it was always in the back of your head that you’re limited. In the first period I had two or three kick saves to the right, then the third there was a wraparound where I extended, stuff like that last year was totally out of the question. It was great to feel that I was able to move both ways.”
While Pastrnak himself is heating up (seven goals in his last four games) after a slow start, he lit up when he was asked about Rask.
“Oh man, I was so happy to have him back, you have no idea. I was ready to leave it all out there for him. I told him I was going to get a hat trick before the game and he didn’t believe me,” said Pastrnak with a grin. “It was really good to have him back. He’s one of my best friends and I missed him. He was outstanding.”
By the time Rask saw his first shot of the night, the Bruins already had a 2-0 lead, thanks to a quick pair of Pastrnak goals.
Taylor Hall, who had his six-game point streak snapped on Wednesday, pounced on a bad bounce off the boards in the Flyers’ zone, gave Erik Haula a short backhand pass and Haula in turn fed Pastrnak for his 14th on a wrister from the slot just 1:51 into the game.
He didn’t have to wait long for No. 15.
For the second game in a row, Anton Blidh drew a penalty in the offensive zone on his active forecheck and the B’s cashed in on the power play. Brad Marchand, fresh off his hat trick against the Habs on Wednesday, froze Hart with a shot fake before finding Pastrnak on the right wing for an easy goal at 5:27.
Rask did not see a shot until 9:19, and he saw six in all. If there was any rust in his game it came on one of those six saves when he didn’t track the puck on a left-point shot that he did not see and luckily hit him.
The Flyers would not lay down like the Canadiens did on Wednesday, however.
First, big winger Zach McEwen threw down with B’s call-up Tyler Lewington and the bigger McEwen scored the victory.
Then Philly got on the board after Tomas Nosek was called for interference off an offensive zone faceoff. On the power play, Ivan Provorov’s right-point shot was deflected by Cam Atkinson just under Rask’s glove to halve the B’s lead at 8:02.
The Flyers nearly pulled even when Joel Farabee was sprung on a breakaway but Rask turned away Farabee’s nifty deke move.
But Farabee did eventually knot the game at 15:00. The Boston University product was able to corral a loose puck near the Boston blue line and then maneuver around fellow Terrier Charlie McAvoy. Once past McAvoy, he played catch with Atkinson, knocking home the return pass for the equalizer.
“We got sloppy (in the second), let’s face it,” said coach Bruce Cassidy.
The B’s forged back ahead before the period was out when they cashed in on a 5-on-3. And for the second consecutive night, it rained hats. After Pastrnak drew a hooking penalty on Max Willman to create the twoman advantage (Justin Braun was already in the box for tripping), Pastrnak beat Hart for a third time, this time on a slapper from the slot at 16:45.
The lead was almost coughed up again when, on the one-man advantage, McAvoy made a bad pass that Atkinson picked off at the blue line for a second Flyer breakaway. Rask calmly turned it away and the B’s were able to go into the third with a lead, but they could not flip on the cruise control with the way Philly had woken up.
The B’s were playing fairly well in the third when disaster nearly struck. They were forced to kill off a 51-second 5-on-3 with 6:45 to go when first Brandon Carlo and then Charlie Coyle shot the puck over the glass. Once they successfully defused that bomb, the Flyers got aggressive and pulled Hart for an extra skater with 3:49 left. But despite spending plenty of time in the Boston zone, the Flyers could not beat Rask again and the B’s were able to hold on.