A deeper dive into Tuukka Rask’s brilliance this postseason, early thoughts on Hurricanes and other leftover Bruins notes

For 48:58 of game action on Monday night, Bruce Cassidy had every reason to pace on the bench.

The Bruins entered Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal with the safety blanket provided by a 3-2 series lead against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but that didn’t make Cassidy’s gig any easier. After all, the margins that determine a win and a loss in the postseason are awfully slim.

Before Marcus Johansson fired in a puck that ricocheted off of Sergei Bobrovsky and tumbled into the Blue Jackets’ net at 8:58 in the final stanza, the Bruins were either knotted in a scoreless deadlock or clinging to a one-goal lead at Nationwide Arena — with David Krejci putting the B’s on the board at 12:13 in the second.

It was par for the course this series, with four of the six meetings between the Bruins and Jackets decided by a single goal. And yet, even with the B’s holding on to such a slim lead for most of the evening, Cassidy wasn’t fretting about his club’s situation.

The main source of Cassidy’s relief? The man that the Blue Jackets had supposedly “dented” in the closing minutes of Game 5.  



“I was comfortable, even with the one-goal lead, just the way he was going,” Cassidy said of Tuukka Rask. “I mean, you're not sitting there trying to nurse (the lead), by any means. But I wasn't worried about Tuukka. You could tell this whole playoff, he's been in a real good place, been consistent.

“Just solid and composed, comes to the bench, there's no issues between periods — any little thing, he doesn't seem to be bothered by anything. Really seems to be in his own zone right now where he's just going to go out and stop the puck, not worried about all the banging in the crease or if the goal is disallowed, allowed, any of that stuff.”

As has been the case for most of the postseason, Rask was dominant in net during Boston’s eventual 3-0 win on Monday — recording his first playoff shutout since May 8, 2014, en route to stopping all 39 saves that came his way.

It was just the latest chapter in what has been a dominant run for Rask so far in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs — with the netminder leading all goalies with a .938 save percentage and a 2.02 goals-against average (min. 10 starts).

The Bruins will need all the help they can get against the Hurricanes — who, after being woefully unlucky for most of the regular season — are finally seeing chance falls their way this spring.

Generating 64.90 5v5 shot attempts per 60 minutes of play during the regular season, the Hurricanes still found themselves in the middle of the pack when it came to actually lighting the lamp — ranking 16th in the NHL at 2.96 goals per game. That’s due in large part to a shooting percentage of 7.3 percent, which stood as the fifth-lowest mark in the league.

Carolina’s tendency to pepper the net has continued in the postseason (61.35 CF/60), but now — with a league-high 9.2 SH% on their side — the Canes’ are burying chances in bunches.

Thankfully for the Bruins, Rask has paced the pack when it comes to turning aside fortuitous bounces and Grade-A looks this postseason — stopping 67 of the 74 5v5 high-danger scoring chances that have come his way so far against Toronto and Columbus.

That .905 save percentage on high-danger shots is tops among any playoff netminder that has played in at least six games — and has played a big role in Rask’s impressive goals saved above average (GSAA) mark of 4.739.

In other words, Rask has prevented close to five expected goals when factoring in shot volume and quality of said attempts — pretty, pretty good.

As you can see below, Rask leads the rest of the field in GSAA by a wide margin, with Toronto’s Frederik Andersen ranking second with a GSAA of 3.107.



The road isn’t getting any easier for the Bruins against a Hurricanes team that likes to play with pace, but with Rask operating at this level, Boston has to feel confident with whatever matchup stands between it and Lord Stanley's Cup.  

Cassidy, Sweeney give early look at Hurricanes

In the minutes following Boston’s second-round victory, Cassidy didn’t want to delve too deep into Boston’s upcoming foe in the Eastern Conference Final.

The real work when it comes to game-planning for a young, but dynamic Canes club began in earnest Tuesday, but Cassidy doesn’t need much film to highlight the challenges that Carolina will bring with a trip to the Stanley Cup Final on the line.

“I don’t try to look too far ahead,” Cassidy said n Monday. “I’ve watched some of the games, because you think positive assuming you’re going to advance. We saw them towards the end of the year. Their pace, they can skate and they’re physical.

“They’re a mix of Toronto and Columbus. Toronto is more pace, Columbus is more physical. They flipped goaltenders and didn’t miss a beat. We’ll look at them a little closer starting (Tuesday). They got this far. Obviously they’re a very good hockey club. We’ll have our hands full.”

After eliminating the defending Stanley Cup champion Capitals in a seven-game slugfest, the Hurricanes made short work of the Islanders in the Eastern Conference Semifinal — sweeping the Islanders and outscoring them, 13-7, in the process.

“It’s a great story, tells you once you’re in, anybody can get going, and they’ve got different guys scoring,” Cassidy said of Carolina on Saturday. “It’s not like (Sebastian) Aho has 20 points, a guy that was their main guy all year, but different guys pitching in, their D are obviously active. Full value for advancing.”

Rod Brind'Amour’s team likes to play a frantic pace, with blueliners like Dougie Hamilton often activating off the blue line to stand as the next wave in a salvo of shots (league-high 34.4 shots on goal per game during the regular season).

Add in the physicality provided by players like Warren Foegele, Micheal Ferland (if cleared from injury), Jordan Martinook and others — and the Canes present matchup issues for just about any club set to battle against them.

“We’ve got a tough opponent in Carolina,” Don Sweeney said. “It’s a team that forechecks really hard. Their D are really active. I think since February they’ve been a team that found a way to start to score some goals. Their goaltending was excellent. We’ve got a tough challenge in front of us. It’s just the next step. We worry about Game 1 then move on.”

While a full schedule will not be released until later this week, Game 1 between the Hurricanes and Bruins is set for Thursday night at TD Garden, with puck drop set for 8 p.m.

Kevan Miller not ruled out for ECF

Nothing is set in stone quite yet, but Sweeney did note that the Bruins could get Kevan Miller back at some point in the Eastern Conference Final. The veteran defenseman hasn’t played since injuring his leg/knee against the Minnesota Wild on April 4, and has yet to return to the ice.

“Nothing definitive,” Sweeney said of Miller. “Kevan’s made some progress, so we’re hopeful. He’s got some tests, some benchmarks he has to before he gets back on the ice, but he’s made some progress. So, we told him all along, the further play, the more he has an opportunity to continue to work and get back in there. Hopefully, we give him that opportunity.”

Stats via Natural Stat Trick and Sean Tierney.