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Streaks on top of streaks

March 3, 2019, 11:32 AM ET [13 Comments]
Anthony Travalgia
Boston Bruins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Tuukka Rask and/or the Bruins have to lose in regulation at some point, right?

With Saturday’s 1-0 shutout of the New Jersey Devils, the Bruins have points in 16 straight games, while Rask has earned the Bruins at least a point in 17 straight games.

Coming off an entertaining win against the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday, and looking ahead to Tuesday’s date with the surging Carolina Hurricanes, as head coach Bruce Cassidy mentioned before Saturday’s contest, hosting the Devils had trap game vibes. It had the vibe of a game where the Bruins come out flat, losing by two or three goals.

Out of the gate it was apparent that the game would be more of a defensive, sit back and let the game play out type of game. Something we’ve seen many times in year’s past with the Devils. It was a boring game for sure, but the Bruins did what they needed to do in order to pick up two points.

Neither team gave up much to their opponents.

“Yeah, I mean we gave up very little,” Cassidy said. “They played a tight game, got a lot of young guys that are trying to stay in the NHL, and one way to do it is to play good defense and the other way to do it is light up the scoresheet. But I think the easiest way is to defend and be part of a good team, so that’s what they were trying to do. That’s their makeup over there, and I thought they did a good job with that. They didn’t give us much.”

Entering the game with 666 career penalty minutes, and playing in his 666th career National Hockey league game,—against the Devils of all teams—Brad Marchand scored the lone goal of the game, a first period power play tally.

“Can’t all be pretty one’s especially the way they play, they play hard and they’re aggressive,” said Marchand. “At the end of the day we got the two points, in the regular season that’s what you need, I’ll take it and we’ll focus on the next one.”

In a month that saw the Bruins go without a regulation loss, February saw the Bruins win games in different ways. From 6-5 games, to overtime victories, a boring, 1-0 shutout was a new add to the list.

But at the end of the day, the Bruins are going to take points however they can get them.

“Yeah it is not always going to be the prettiest game. Things aren’t always going to go your way, it’s hard to win in this league,” said Charlie Coyle who is still looking for his first point as a Bruin.

“It doesn’t matter who you are playing. It doesn’t matter who is in the lineup but you find a way to get it done. We played well defensively and sometimes it can be a 1-0 game. Tuukka played great, made some big saves. But, yeah, sometimes that’s the way it goes and we’ll definitely take it.”

Outside of Jesper Bratt’s breakaway, Rask wasn’t challenged too much en route to his 44th career shutout.

“He (Rask) was there for us. Like I said, he’s really in the zone right now, and it looks like one of his easier shutouts, but I think these games are sometimes hard to play,” said Cassidy. “When you don’t see a lot of action you have to stay focused. He’s no different coming off a big win against Tampa, so I give him a lot of credit, especially early on to make sure the guys know you’re ready to go.”

Rask’s last regulation loss came on December 23, a lackluster performance in Carolina against the Hurricanes. Since then, Rask has gone 14-0-3 with a .933 save percentage and a 1.88 goals-against average.

The run Rask is on is one of the best of his career. With his 17-game point streak, Rask is just the second goalie in league history to post multiple points streaks of 17 games. Peter Peters is the other.

Patrice Bergeron has seen a lot of Tuukka Rask over the years, and always has confidence in the goalie. But with how well he’s been in this streak, that confidence is only growing.

“Poised. The poise that he [Rask] has shown gives us confidence. He’s well positioned when facing every puck and his rebounding control is pretty amazing right now,” said Bergeron. “He’s helping us out a lot. He’s bailed us out a few times, especially tonight and we’ll take that.”

We all know how much heat Rask takes in Boston, and how many times fans have wanted Rask shipped out of town, sent to the moon, or other craziness. But if the Bruins are to go anywhere in the upcoming Stanley Cup Playoffs, it’s going to be with Rask between the pipes.
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