Talking Points: Bruins’ Rask Stands On His Head, Laughs Off Gaffe

Here are Talking Points from the Boston Bruins 3-2 overtime win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.

GOLD STAR: Sure, Tuukka Rask forgot what the score was in the final minute of the third period and mistakenly skated to the Bruins bench for the extra attacker in a 2-2 game. But that’s easy to forgive when Rask was so brilliant throughout the rest of the game making 33 saves, and absolutely standing on his head in the second period with 14 saves where he stoned Mika Zibanejad a couple of times on Grade-A scoring chances. Rask looked locked in from the very beginning and was only beaten on a bad defensive zone breakdown and a puck that was high-sticked in front of the net before it bounced around to Kevin Rooney at the doorstep. Otherwise, it was Rask wiping away scoring chances on odd-man rushes, breakaways and backdoor plays as the Boston Bruins defense didn’t have a particularly strong game in front of him. Rask had a brain-fart late in the third period, but he was brilliant throughout the game and Boston’s best player in the win.

Tuukka Rask denies Mika Zibanejad. pic.twitter.com/ZFlbzq3n7i

— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) February 11, 2021

BLACK EYE: A rough night for Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk, who were on ice for both of the goals against for the Bruins. The second goal was perhaps a bit more understandable with a Brendan Lemieux high stick during a battle in front with Matt Grzelcyk serving as a big part of the score that could/should have been negated. But the pairing was a hot mess at times in the first two periods, including in the first when they both chased the puck carrier behind the net and left things wide open for Julian Gauthier to score his first career NHL goal. Carlo and Grzelcyk combined for a minus-4 on the night and really struggled in all phases as Grzelcyk made his return to the lineup after missing the last couple of weeks due to a lower body injury.

TURNING POINT: There were wild moments in both directions in the third period, but the Bruins had a couple of bumps on the road that they had to overcome. One was what appeared to be a Jake DeBrusk goal that was ultimately waved off with video review confirming the puck never crossed the goal line, and the second was a game-tying score for the Rangers that the Bruins felt was a high-stick on Brendan Lemieux. The goal counted on the ice and the Bruins opted not to challenge the Rangers score that tied things up halfway through the third period. The Bruins battled through those developments to push things to overtime where they ultimately won the game, and once again showed the ability to play through in-game adversity.

HONORABLE MENTION: Jake DeBrusk didn’t end up scoring a goal, but he played great in his first game back from injury. DeBrusk nearly scored in the third period on a shot from the slot that deflected off the goalie, the crossbar and the goal line without any video evidence actually showing that it was an actual goal. When that goal didn’t count, he simply went back to work and fed a great pass from behind the net to Anders Bjork at the net-front for the go-ahead goal in the third period. DeBrusk finished with a game-high seven shots on net and 14 shot attempts in 14:08 of very active ice time. It sure looked like DeBrusk had good skating legs and that he teamed nicely with Bjork and Charlie Coyle as an effective speedy third line for the Bruins.

Been that kind of night for Jake DeBrusk. pic.twitter.com/rqmlAprWE2

— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) February 11, 2021

BY THE NUMBERS: 4 – the number of consecutive wins for the Bruins where they needed to mount comebacks for the wins, a first in Bruins franchise history.

Here’s more from Rask on his silly mistake not knowing the score of the game tonight pic.twitter.com/Fk15s9iZQT

— Craig Kolodny (@NBCBostonCraig) February 11, 2021