It’s nearly impossible to win the Stanley Cup without tremendous play from your goaltender.
Often times, the team with the hottest goalie is the team who raises the Cup in June. That certainly was the case the last time the Boston Bruins won it all in 2011, as Tim Thomas was lights out for long stretches during the B’s playoff run and ultimately won the Conn Smythe as the most valuable player in the playoffs.
Tuukka Rask mostly has had solid performances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs if you look at his averages. He has a career .924 save percentage in the postseason. But Rask’s career has been footnoted by his lowest of lows, and there have been couple clunkers during his playoff tenure in Boston.
He also is heading into the playoffs in the midst of a cold streak, posting a .881 save percentage since March 1.
All of that led to ESPN ranking Rask dead last in their “Heat Index” of the 16 starting goalies in this year’s playoffs. The poll weighs recent performance with how goalies’ seasons went as a whole, and how likely their recent performance is to stand up given their career performance.
Here’s the explanation provided by writer Matthew Coller (who coincidentally was the only ESPN writer to pick the Bruins to win the Cup):
“You won’t find many teams as impressive defensively as the Bruins, who allowed the fewest ‘high danger’ shots in the Eastern Conference. But Rask has all sorts of question marks. This season has been the worst of his career in save percentage, his last month was abysmal and his most recent performance in the postseaon did not even slightly resemble the elite version of Rask we knew from 2009-10 through 2014-15. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the B’s make a change to Jaroslav Halak (career .924 postseason save percentage) if he struggles.”
Here’s how the top five shook out:
- Ben Bishop, Dallas Stars
- Philipp Grubauer, Colorado Avalanche
- Marc-Andre Fluery, Vegas Golden Knights
- Petr Mrazek, Carolina Hurricanes
- Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets
Toronto Maple Leafs’ netminder Frederik Andersen rang in at No. 14.
Rask often is the first person to find himself under the microscope in the playoffs, and that won’t any different against the potent Leafs. But we’re not quite sure he’s nearly bad as the “hockey experts” at ESPN have him.
