Tuuka Rask is a better goalie than he has performed in his past seven starts? Isn't he?
On Wednesday night in Edmonton, Rask allowed two power play goals and one even strength goal in a 4-3 shootout loss to the 29th place Edmonton Oilers.
Rask made 27 saves on 30 shots (.900 save %) and was out played by Ben Scrivens who made 38 saves on 41 shots (.927 save %). Rask has one win in his last seven starts. He is Boston's number one goalie by virtue of his recent Stanley Cup championship. He also have four years remaining on his contract at $7.5 million per season.
Rask allowed Oilers D-man Martin Marincin to score in the 12th round of the shootout to lift the Oilers to a 4-3 win over Boston. In so doing, the Oilers snapped a 13-game losing streak to the no longer big, bad Bruins.
The Bruins have been a mediocre lot of under achievers for the past four weeks. Their commitment to team defense and their goaltending have been huge warts on their game.
Rask has been ordinary. His forwards and D are turning pucks over and losing possession of the puck far too often.
What gives?
The Bruins would have been better served by giving rookie Malcolm Subban the start in Edmonton. Why would Julien call the kid up, fly him from Boston to Calgary on a moment's notice on Monday, only to have the kid sit and watch as the third goalie?
You can't say that the Bruins are showcasing Subban for a trade because he has yet to start an NHL game. The Bruins have flirted with the notion of giving the kid the net for his first NHL start by talking him up and pumping his tires to the media, however, they haven't followed through on it yet.
If the Bruins aren't going to use Subban, why not trade him? By doing so, Pete Chiarelli can acquire needed players to help turn Bruins around.
On Wednesday night, the Bruins needed an infusion of new adrenaline and energy that Subban likely would have provided to them. Julien's last minute decision to start Rask over Subban was a terrible coaching decision. Julien should have put his foot down and told Rask that he was taking the night off to clear his head and watch Subban play against the upstart Oilers. Instead, he second-guessed himself and rode his losing goalie. Julien said after the Oilers loss that he and his management team arrived at the Rask over Subban decision as a group on Wednesday.
The result is damning because the Bruins and their playoff hopes are dangling perilously from a thread right now. The Florida Panthers are playing with a ton of confidence and now trail the Bruins by only three points in the Eastern Conference wild card playoff race with 25 games to be played in the NHL regular season.
Julien's troops are having a tough time dealing with the pressure of having to play inspired hockey while looking in their rear view mirror.
"I think there's a lot of frustration right now. I think the guys, everybody's feeling the heat we feel that's been put on us, and it's up to us to work through this and find ways to overcome those kinds of things."
"It's part of being a professional, it's part of the game. So it's up to us. We have higher expectations. In that dressing room, coaches and ourselves, we have higher expectations than what we've shown right now."
"So we're not going to hide behind disappointment and stand here and think that we're doing OK," Julien continued. "We're underachieving right now and our game's got to get better. I still feel we've got the group in there to make it better, so it's up to us to take charge."
Julien better dig his team out of the snow covered ditch that it presently finds itself stuck in or else he may find himself on the unemployment line come April.
Ditto Peter Chiarelli.
The Bruins now travel to St. Louis and Chicago.
It would be awfully unfair of Julien to throw Subban in the net against one or two of the best teams in the NHL , wouldn't it?
What choice does Julien have with Rask playing so poorly?
Julien told the Bruins website:
“Everybody is feeling the heat right now. We have higher expectations in that dressing room...the coaching staff and the players...than what we’ve shown right now. We’re not going to hide from it.…
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The Edmonton Oilers now lead the Buffalo Sabres by 8 points in the McEichel standings.
Thanks, Boston!
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