The Boston Bruins received a great performance from starting goaltender Tuukka Rask and played well enough defensively in Tuesday night’s game against the Nashville Predators, but they weren’t able to secure two points.
It’s an all too-familiar storyline for the B’s this season, who are now one point behind the Florida Panthers for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference after a 3-2 shootout loss in Nashville on Tuesday. The Toronto Maple Leafs increased their lead over the Bruins in the first wild card position to eight points with a win over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.
The Bruins are 2-5-3 in their last 10 games, including a 1-4-2 mark in December. One bright spot has been Rask’s performance, though. He’s posted a stellar .934 5-on-5 save percentage in his last 10 starts and has given up two goals or fewer in seven of his last 11 starts.
The Bruins would’ve left Nashville pointless if Rask didn’t make 38 saves (34 at even strength) and stop 19 of the 20 shots he faced in the final period of regulation plus overtime. His 38 stops tie a season high.
Rask has a .914 save percentage and a 2.53 goals against average this season, both worse than the .930 and 2.04 numbers he posted in his Vezina Trophy-winning 2013-14 campaign. That said, the Finnish netminder has played better than his stats would indicate, and the Bruins would be in a much worse position if he hadn’t kept the team in so many games when the offense has struggled.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, the offense has consistently failed to score more than two goals over the last month. After scoring four goals on Cory Schneider in a 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 10, the Bruins have scored two goals or fewer in 12 of their last 15 games. The power play has scored just two goals in 30 opportunities over that span.
The only line consistently creating offense and scoring goals is the Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Reilly Smith trio. Smith scored Tuesday with a beautiful move in the second period to tie the game 2-2 in the third period.
It was Smith’s eighth goal of the season and tied him with Marchand for the team lead. The Bergeron line has combined for 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in the last seven games.
The Bruins should see a turnaround soon. The goaltending has been very good throughout the season and the defensive breakdowns that resulted in goals against in October have decreased, and that should continue with No. 1 defenseman Zdeno Chara back in the lineup after a 19-game absence.
Boston ranks 23rd with an 8.11 shooting percentage, which is bound to improve when top-line center David Krejci returns to the lineup. Bergeron also has a very low 5.90 shooting percentage that is going to increase at some point.
The problem for the Bruins is they don’t have any time to wait for the offense to improve. Better results must be seen immediately or the Panthers, Leafs and other teams battling for wild card spots will strengthen their position in the playoff race.
The Bruins have two good opportunities for wins on this road trip with matchups against the Minnesota Wild (three losses in last five games) and the injury-ravaged Winnipeg Jets before returning home for a Sunday game versus the last-place Buffalo Sabres.
Thumbnail photo via Christopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY Sports Images
