If the Bruins are going to right the ship and keep their season alive beyond Wednesday’s Game 6 showdown at Nassau Coliseum, it’s going to take a lot more than just an appeal to the hockey gods for more luck when it comes to officiating.
No, if the Bruins plan on dragging the Islanders back to Causeway Street for a decisive Game 7 on Friday night — they’re going to need their goaltender to not only out-duel Semyon Varlamov in enemy territory, but also bail out a shorthanded B’s defense that could be without Brandon Carlo and Kevan Miller once more.
No easy task, to say the least.
And such an undertaking becomes even more daunting when your No. 1 netminder couldn't even finish the previous contest due to injury.
But such is the hand the Bruins are dealt in this do-or-die juncture of their 2021 season, with Bruce Cassidy noting postgame following Monday’s disheartening defeat that Tuukka Rask is expected to start in Game 6 — despite getting pulled from Game 5 after two periods of play due to what is believed to be a nagging ailment.
“I assume he will,” Cassidy said of the chances of Rask playing on Wednesday night down on Long Island.
While both the Bruins and Rask himself have been transparent all month long about the goalie’s lingering injuries and the challenges of fighting through it — Cassidy downplayed such concerns by equating them to the regular bumps and bruises that skaters shoulder during these grueling stretches of playoff hockey.
And even if he has been plagued by injury throughout the playoffs, Rask didn’t seem to let it bother him through his first nine games of the 2021 postseason — entering Monday’s Game 5 meeting with New York with a .935 save percentage.
But clearly, Rask suffered another setback somewhere along the way Monday, with the goalie surrendering four goals on 16 shots before getting the hook after 40 minutes of play.
“Yeah, there was some maintenance that needs to be done, he wasn’t 100% — so we made a decision,” Cassidy said. “And that’s a call we had to make between periods. I’ll just say he wasn’t himself, 100%. Certainly could have went back in. We made a decision not to put him back in.”
If Rask is indeed back in net for Game 6 as Cassidy stated, an already uncertain situation when it comes to Rask’s health becomes even more dire, given that Monday stood as the first time in which the B’s top goalie finally appeared mortal for extended stretches.
Fair or not, Boston cannot afford a similar result again — especially if the Isles are going to continue to execute on low plays on the power play and regularly pepper in pucks from Grade-A ice.
"We broke down,” Cassidy said of his team’s PK unit. “We need to be better on the penalty kill. We have all year. From the blue line back — today wasn't our best. When we broke down, we've gotten the saves in the past. Tonight, that didn't happen. Our penalty kill was good all year. So there's no reason to think it won't get better. It was great against Washington. But it needs to do it in a hurry.”
While you could make the case that Jeremy Swayman (who stopped two of the three shots he faced in the third period on Monday) could be a tempting option to start given his strong regular-season totals and Rask’s health, it certainly seems like the Bruins are ready to follow their veteran netminder into Game 6 — and to whatever end may follow.
“I mean, there is no doubt,” David Pastrnak said of Boston’s confidence in Rask. “He’s one of the best goalies in the world. So, absolutely zero doubt.”