Tuukka Rask is at it again in an Eastern Conference Finals. His stellar play has the Boston Bruins all but a lock from representing the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Final. The Bruins have a 3-0 lead on the Hurricanes after last night’s victory. This should look familiar to Penguins fans because he did the same thing to Pittsburgh in the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals.

Rask has been one of the league’s best goaltenders since 2013. Only Carey Price (.9303) and Sergei Bobrovsky (.9301) have a better 5v5 save percentage than Rask’s .9292 among goalies who have played 10,000 minutes or more. Him playing at a high level shouldn’t surprise anybody at this point.

The big difference between now and 2013 is the Penguins played better against Boston and Tuukka Rask was also better against the Penguins.



Currently Rask has a .944 all-situations save percentage against Carolina and he is getting a ton of credit for the Bruins success, as he should.

Against the Penguins it was .985(!). Sometimes you just have to tip your hat to an all-time performance. I don’t think the Penguins played as bad as some think in that 2013 series against the Bruins. The last eight periods of the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals were played with both teams always one goal away from the other team tying things up. This wasn’t the blowout people made it out to be. It was the story of a goaltender being unconscionable for four straight games.

Right now the Hurricanes are getting a taste of what that felt like.

Thanks for reading!

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