One thing’s for sure: Montreal netminder Carey Price has played out of his mind through the first three games of his club’s second-round series against the archrival Boston Bruins.
The face of the Canadiens’ 2-1 series lead, the 26-year-old Price has been a brick wall for about 90% of this series, stopping all but nine of 113 thrown his way (a .920 save percentage) through three games. And though it’s not a series-stealing statline for Price, the 6-foot-3 goaltender has done a tremendous job of shutting the Black-and-Gold down when they generate a considerable surge in the Montreal end.
When the Habs have needed the big save, Price, aside from a Game 2 hiccup, has come through.
Can you say the same about his Boston counterpart, Tuukka Rask?
“[Rask]’s one of the top two or three goalies in the world, and he knows where his game is, and I’m not going to comment on his game,… B’s general manager Peter Chiarelli said on Wednesday in a rare round of mid-series media availability. “I think he’s even one of the top two goalies in the world, so I would expect him to play well, and he’s one of the many that have to play better.…
So, maybe that sorta, kinda answers that. This is a tough idea to wrap my head around, really. I think it’s tough to harp on the Finnish sensation -- especially when he’s so, so hard on himself whenever he drops a contest -- but I mean.. he does have to be better. That’s just a fact at this point.
When the Bruins signed Rask to a mammoth eight-year contract worth just south of $60 million last summer, making him just the second goalie to count for $7 million on a team’s yearly cap (Nashville’s Pekka Rinne is the other one) it was because he established himself as a top tier goaltender capable of taking down just about any other goaltender in a duel.
Through three games, he has not done that yet.
Bottom line: Price is just finding ways to keep the puck out of his net (seriously, sometimes I’m just baffled by Boston’s inability to bury it) while the B’s can’t seem to dodge the painful death that comes with a lack of key stops or lazy defensive miscues. Right now, it just seems like every Boston mistake ends with a red light confirming their mistake to thousands of spectators.
Painful? Undeniably so. Foreign? Again, undeniably so.
For most, the idea that the 27-year-old Rask, a Vezina finalist and the Bruins’ hero of last year’s improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final, can be outdueled over the course of a seven-game series is pretty crazy. But that’s exactly what’s happened, as Rask’s won just one of three games this series, posting an uncharacteristic (and downright dreadful) .884 save percentage over that stretch.
In 2011, we all sat and watched as (now former) Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher talked about his club and how they had to find ways to solve Tim Thomas, who Boucher described as ‘making miracles’, if they wanted to best the Bruins in a seven-game series for the Eastern Conference crown. That put pressure on the Bolts’ goaltending duo of Dwayne Roloson and Mike Smith to take their game up a level. You saw that pressure ultimately crack Roloson in Game 7, when he looked ready to collapse when Nathan Horton scored midway through the third period. At the end of the day, the Bolts couldn’t match miracles with Boston’s goaltender, and the B’s moved on while summertime came to Tampa Bay.
It’s an unfounded cliche, I know, but perhaps that’s what going on with Rask and the Bruins right now.
(Is there another way to explain it, really?)
But with Game 4 set for Thursday night at the Bell Centre, and with a big save making the difference between heading back home tied 2-2 or down 3-1, the B’s will need Rask to work some miracles. Perhaps that’s easier said than done in what’s been a three-game war that’s left the Bruins in a semi-frantic search from some desperately needed ‘puck-luck’, though.
“Our last game for me was a game of frustration - and you can truly dissect and you get into all the details. It’s a game of inches. You can dissect the other team’s game and you can say the same thing - and the other day, they scored more goals than we did, so we lost,… Chiarelli said of his team’s fortunes. “It’s a game of inches. We have to be better at it. We’re good at that. I think when we’re a good team, we break out well, I think our neutral zone is good, I think our forecheck is good. It wasn’t as good as it should be, but that happens, so it’s a long series and we’ll see where it goes.…
Say what you will about shooting percentages (the B’s are shooting just 8 percent this series) and the lack of luck, but here’s the thing that I think will make the difference for Boston heading back to the Hub tied up -- their goaltender’s ability to bail his team out when they do screw up. Let’s not pretend that Rask’s not a pretty good goaltender. He’s arguably the best in the league. He can steal a game -- or even a series -- and he has done just that. He did in 2013 (the Bruins don’t make quick work of the Rangers and Penguins last spring without Rask), and I think he definitely had his moments in Boston’s five-game handling of the Detroit Red Wings.
Now, with the Bruins another step closer to the wall and with Price playing lights out, it’s time for No. 40 to do the same and up Boston’s ante.
If Rask turns in a game similar to Price’s, one would think that the Bruins, who have controlled the pace of play and had their share of chances on a shot-blocking heavy Montreal defense, will have a bit larger of a margin for error. And in a series where the Bruins have led for less than 15 minutes (an absolutely insane figure), that’s huge. ‘Cause, again, it seems like every little mistake made by Rask or the defenders is being magnified given the forcefield that Price has put up in front of the Montreal net.
“It’s hard to play catch-up hockey like that. We’re a good team with the lead, but it’s taxing,… admitted Chiarelli. “You end up chasing a lot, and when you chase, it gets a little frustrating.…
I think that ‘frustrating’ has become the word of the series from the B’s perspective, but if there’s one player than can settle the frustration from their end in Game 4, it’s their ace in net.
So long as he’s up to the task, something that recent history has shown him more than capable of.