Bedard: Tuukka Rask has left Hurricanes 'at a loss for words,' Bruins 1 game from Cup Finals

RALEIGH, N.C. — In some ways, you almost feel bad for the Carolina Hurricanes.

They're obviously trying their collective butts off to break through against the Bruins in this Eastern Conference Finals — they carried the play for large portions of Games 1 and 3 — got their raucous home fans riled up with scores of Carolina Panthers and local hoops legends on Tuesday night, and even sent out a new goaltender after getting down 2-0 in the series.

Nothing has worked. None of it. Every time they try a different approach, it's almost like one of those old cartoons with the Roadrunner ... and the Hurricanes just run into a brick wall.

This wall happens to be 6-foot-3, weighs 175 pounds, hails from Savolinna, Finland and wears black and gold with 40 stitched into the back.

Tuukka Rask has been so good in this postseason and series — with the coup de grace being his 20-save, first-period performance in the Bruins' eventual 2-1 victory that even the opposing goaltender couldn't help but marvel at from 178 feet away.

"He was putting on a show tonight," said Curtis McElhinney, who wasn't too shabby himself saving 29 of 31 shots in place of the benched Petr Mrazek. "He made a lot of great saves and kept them in the game."

Go from stall to stall in the Hurricanes locker room and there was a collective frustration over not only what has transpired in this series, but especially in Game 3. You get the feeling that the Hurricanes think they've been the better team (taking Game 2 out of the mix) and have absolutely nothing to show for it except for the type of hole that coach Rod Brind'Amour admitted he told his players, "This sucks, there's no way around it. We got kicked in you-know-where and it's going to hurt for a while."

"He was really good early, that's for sure," said captain Justin Williams, who has lost his mind this series with dumb penalties. "We had a lot of opportunities in the first period, probably deserved a little better, but that's the way it is. Lot of chances, he made a lot of great saves then and throughout the game."

"We had some looks that you'd like to see go in," said defenseman Justin Faulk. "He played good. He's been good all series. He's not making it easy on us. It's tough, but we need to find a way to fight through that."

Said defenseman Calvin de Haan, who was able to find a moment of weakness from Rask to squeak in a goal to make it 2-1: "Their goaltender is playing great, I think he's been the difference-maker. Kind of at a loss for words right now, but that's hockey."

The Hurricanes had to know they were facing a long night less than three minutes into the game when, after Brandon Carlo was sent to the box for delay of game, Rask made four — count 'em, four — point-blank saves.

“Not getting anything there is a little bit demoralizing,” Brind’Amour said. “You got to come away with something with all that we had going on in the first.”

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Then, in the second period, Sebastian Aho thought he'd have a wide-open net on a backdoor tip — and normally he would have — but not with Rask in this zone. It's almost as if he's seeing the play before it happens. Rask anticipated the pass so well that Aho's shot just hit him in the chest.

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"I played with Tuukka, he's a really good goalie," said Dougie Hamilton, who officially took six shots on his former teammate but it felt like 60 -- not many near the net. "He looks super calm right now."

The Bruins know that Rask completely bailed them out of a first period that they were lucky they weren't trailing 4-0.

"We didn't play a good period at all in the first, we know that," Bruins forward Brad Marchand said.

Said Patrice Bergeron: "We wanted a better start, I'll be honest, but Tuukka was the big difference there in the first. ... Tuukka's one of those guys who's always calm and collected. Right now he's in the zone. He's been amazing and a huge reason why we're here."

Ah, the proverbial zone. Rask turned aside any talk of that like Teuvo Teravainen at the side of the net.

"It's just the way you see the puck, you feel comfortable,” explained Rask. “It’s about timing and patience and all that. Experience helps that. So you try to stay mentally focused and sharp, night in and night out, and not get rattled about anything.

“But, being in the zone ... nobody knows what that means ... I want to play calm and make myself look big. And maybe on tough chances try to make it look easy, kinda ... so if that’s in the zone, so be it. I just try to be focused and give us a chance.”

Rask didn't really entertain the question about whether or not this is the best he's ever played, but it's certainly a debate between now (11-5, .939 save %, 1.96 GAA) and 2013 (12-4, .943, 1.75) through 16 games. It's sort of take your pick right now. The more apt comparison — and the one that will get Bruins fans charged up — is with Tim Thomas' legendary run in 2011. Rask's actually been better to this point (Thomas went to another level in the Cup Finals). Thomas in '11: 11-5, .931, 2.27.

Another Thomas marker: Rask was the first Bruins goaltender to make 20+ saves in a postseason period since Thomas made 22 in the third period of Game 2 in the '11 Conference Semifinals.

As for whether or not this is the best Rask ever ... Bruce Cassidy, who has never been shy about criticizing his No. 1 goalie, will take that one.

“For me, I don’t know if there has been another period (he's been more confident in Rask),” he said. “And I’ll tell you why: It’s the urgency of the time of year, right? We’re in the Eastern Conference final. You see the tough environments. We go into Toronto – a good offensive team. Columbus, just beat Tampa. And he found his game as that went along. And obviously tonight, in a difficult environment, against a team that had a lot of urgency.

“So, to answer your question, probably right now is the best I have seen him play. I don’t want that to come out wrong, because he’s had some excellent runs. But I just think right now, with the magnitude of the season, yeah, it would be.”

On the other side of PNC Arena, the Hurricanes have probably never been this frustrated. Behold the power of a hot goalie.

"He's definitely the difference-maker," said Brind'Amour. "You can feel it ... you can feel it from their point of view when he makes a save that maybe should have gone in ... that lifts your team, big time. When you make them over and over on some real Grade-As, that's how you win."

And, thanks to Rask, the Bruins have won six-straight games (.956 save percentage) and sit one victory from their first Stanley Cup berth since '13.