BOSTON — The Bruins have had trouble scoring goals all season, but they still find themselves in an excellent position to secure a playoff spot with three regular-season games remaining. Their improved play defensively and stellar goaltending from Tuukka Rask are the two main reasons.
The B’s latest defensive gem came Saturday night in a 2-1 shootout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden. It was the 11th time Boston has held an opponent to two goals or fewer in the last 14 games. The Bruins have collected points from 11 of those 14 games, including an active five-game win streak.
“When Tuukka is our best player, then you know we have a good chance at winning a hockey game,” Bruins defenseman Torey Krug said. “He’s seeing the puck right now, and it’s good.
“Guys are also committed to defense as well. It’s a combination of those two things and we’re not going to give up many goals, and that’s what it takes to win hockey games right now. That’s how the Boston Bruins win hockey games, by not giving up more than a couple of goals.”
Boston gave up 28 shots through 65 minutes versus Toronto, and just five of those shots hit the net from the slot at even strength.
Doing a better job protecting the slot and the other high-danger areas has been one key area of improvement for the B’s over the last few weeks.
“Well, it’s been better, obviously when you’re giving up just a few goals — and, yeah, you definitely need a good goaltender to be able to do that,” B’s head coach Claude Julien said. “But I think, considering we’ve had to bring a guy up from Providence, some of those guys have had more ice time and we’ve had to mix and match our back end. Even our forwards have done a better job of protecting the house.
“Our defensive game is probably not perfect, but it’s better than it has been when we were losing games. I thought we were giving teams a lot of great opportunities from the slot area, and we’ve really closed that down. What I’d like to see a little better is those shots from the point, I think our forwards need to do a better job of getting in those shooting lanes, they’re getting through us.”
Rask’s play in net also has been a huge factor in Boston’s recent success. The reigning Vezina Trophy winner made 27 saves on 28 shots Saturday. Two of those saves helped preserve a 1-1 score in the third period after a breakdown in front of the net. He also was 3 for 3 in the shootout.
Since March 9, Rask has a .938 save percentage, seventh-best in the NHL, and a .940 even-strength save percentage, sixth-best in the league. He also has posted an .870 save percentage on high-danger shots, the fourth-best mark during that span, per War on Ice.
“Sometimes we say that a lot, it’s not the quantity, it’s the quality of shots,” Julien said. “I know that two-pad stack save at that one point was probably one of the biggest saves there late in the third. (Rask) had to make the saves when he needed to. Again, in that shootout it’s the same thing, left on his own and some pretty good shooters went up against him.”
The Bruins control their own destiny in the playoff race, and unless the team’s defensive play or Rask’s performance suffer over the final week, they should secure a postseason berth for the eighth straight season.
“If you go into a game worrying about what’s going to happen, then you’re going to sit back on your heels and we’re not going to play our style, which is a defensive game where we have our layers, and then we get offensive opportunities because of our layers,” Krug said. “If we focus on ourselves, we’ll beat those teams, and we’ve just got to be sure we’re going to continue to stay on top of that.”
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
