After the Bruins' 4-1 win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Marc Savard was asked to describe what the B's did to survive a desperate Flyers team.
"I’ve got two words," Savard said. "Tuukka Rask."
Rask bailed out his mates with 34 saves and matched his season high with his fourth straight win. He is now 7-2 with a 2.18 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage in the postseason. The Finnish rookie continues to be a calming presence between the pipes, guiding his team through stormy waters.
Bruins defenseman Dennis Wideman acknowledged on Thursday that the Bruins didn’t exactly have their best game in Game 3, despite the lopsided score, and need to make some corrections.
"I may as well be honest. They outplayed us bad last game," Wideman said of the Flyers, who outshot the Bruins 35-20 yet still lost and trail 3-0 in the series. "We were pretty opportunistic and took advantage of our chances, but I thought for the most part we were playing in our own zone. So with a couple of bounces here and there, that game could’ve been a lot different."
But even if the Flyers do get some lucky bounces, chances are they will need to get really lucky to beat Rask, who has been the Bruins' backbone throughout the playoffs and down the stretch run.
"Tuukka played great," Wideman said of the 23-year-old's performance in Game 3. "He did a real good job of finding pucks in traffic. They had a lot of traffic in front, and they seemed to get the shots through. He did a great job of not only finding them but not kicking out a rebound. He kept in close so we could either clear it or push it back into him.
"When we’re under pressure and he makes those big saves, it does spread through the team and calms us down. We know we have him there, and he will get the job done. Obviously, you don’t want to depend on that all the time, but to be able to count on your goalie is huge and we can count on him and Timmy [Thomas], too."
Every big save Rask makes jump-starts the Bruins and helps them get back into their system and build momentum. The confidence and cool-under-pressure attitude he exudes has been spreading through the team like a bug that no one minds catching.
"Yeah, it is contagious," Savard said. "You see him and the way he is just in the zone, no matter what we do in front of him, and you fall back into that zone with him."
Veteran Mark Recchi, who has won two Stanley Cups — with Pittsburgh in 1991 and Carolina in 2006 — likened Rask’s calm demeanor and confidence to that of Hurricanes netminder Cam Ward, who carried the Hurricanes to a championship and was named the Conn Smythe winner as the playoff MVP.
"[Rask] really reminds me a lot of Cam Ward because he loves the game," Recchi said. "He’s out there soaking in every minute, but at the same time serious and composed. I’ve been so impressed by this kid, and he’s a main reason why we’re here."
The Bruins are on the brink of their first trip to the conference finals since 1992. All they have to do is win one more game, and they will face either Pittsburgh or Montreal for the right to play for the Stanley Cup.
The Bruins know they will get the Flyers’ best effort and the Wachovia Center will be rocking on Friday night. But just as Boston did in Game 3, the Bruins know they can take Philadelphia's best shot and prevail.
"Obviously, we can’t put everything on Tuukka, but we know and have no doubt he’s there to keep that puck out," forward Shawn Thornton said. "You saw how they dominated a lot last game and he had to frustrate them. That’s what he can do again, and hopefully, we close the series out."
The odds are in the the Bruins' favor. Tuukka Rask has saved his best for last.
