NHL Beware Tuukka Rask Has Arrived- 1st Place Bruins Sweep Road Trip To Win 4th Straight With Shootout Win In Minnesota
“Bruins Take Over 1st Place As Rask Once Again Stands On His Head”
Goalie Controversy- Bruins 2nd year goalie Tuukka Rask guided the Bruins to their 4th straight victory tonight at the Xcel Center in St.Paul, Minnesota. The Bruins swept their 4 game road trip by getting 8 out of a possible 8 points to take over 1st place in the Northeast Division. Tuukka Rask started all 4 games on the road trip as Bruins starter Tim Thomas has anundisclosed minor injury that has kept him out for 4 games. Rask improved to 6-2-1 on the season with his goals against average dropping down to 2.19. His Save Percentage is at .919 which is good for 10th best in the league. Although they would never admit it the Bruins may have a goal tending controversy on their hands as Rask may be playing too good to sit down when Thomas comes back. If I am Claude Julien I go with the hot hand and right now that hand is with the kid and Tuukka Rask.
Krejci Undresses Backstrom For The Game Winner- David Krejci has had a tough season thus far. First of all he came back from hip surgery to start the season so before he even stepped out on the ice he had something bothering him. Then Krejci got swine flu and missed only 2 games because he was too sick to play. In his 21 games played this season Krejci has just 2 goals and 8 assists. Although it won’t count on the stat sheet tonight David Krejci scored one of the biggest goals in the 2009 Bruins season. Krejci absolutely undressed Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom with an incredible back handed deke to give the Bruins a huge shootout victory. As a result of this goal the Bruins are in 1st place for the first time this season.
“Red Hot Bruins Win 4th Straight To Take Over 1st Place In Northeast Division”
Not only did the Bruins weather the November storm by staying close to Buffalo in the standings despite being without their two biggest guns on offense and a brutal schedule, the Bruins have some how taken over 1st place in the Northeast Division with the month of November still having 5 days left. Tonight the red hot Bruins won their 4th straight game on the road sweeping up their trip as they beat the Minnesota Wild in a shootout 2-1. The win gave the Bruins 28 points on the season as it improved their record to 12-8-4. The win also gave the Bruins their 8th point out of a possible 8 during this tough 4 game road trip. Once again the Bruins have life and they seem to be battling hard on a nightly basis regardless of the opponent.
This was a team that started slow and once Lucic and Savard went down they could have been headed for a disastrous season especially with the brutal schedule that awaited them, but they fought hard and head coach Claude Julien deserves a ton of credit as he kept them focused on the task at hand. Julien is the NHL’s best coach and the job he has done this year may have already exceeded his efforts last season when he was rewarded the 2008 Coach of the Year Award. Julien has mixed and matched up the lines in search of that perfect fit and he may have finally found it as it seems all 3 lines are skating with a ton of passion. I will be the first to say that I never saw this coming with the Bruins as they seemed like a team that was in trouble. 2nd year goalie Tuukka Rask deserves a bunch of the credit as he is currently 6-2-1 riding an impressive 4 game winning streak. The most impressive part of this streak is that all of his wins have been on the road.
Once again tonight Rask carried the Bruins to victory as he stopped 28 of the 29 shots he saw. In the shootout Rask stopped 3 of the 4 attempts by the Wild allowing only Mikko Koivu’s shot to slip by him. Rask saved the game in overtime as he mad a sprawling save on a a slap shot by defense man Marek Zidlicky. Zidlicky had an open look at the net and probably would have scored on a wrist shot but at the last second Rask came diving across in the “nick of time” to make the save and preserve the tie.
The Bruins got their lone goal of the night from Byron Bitz in the 1st period from Derek Morris and Marc Savard. Bitz has really elevated his game over the last two weeks as his physical presence resembles that of teammate Milan Lucic. Unfortunately, Milan Lucic left the game withwhat many people feel was a sprained MCL as his knee buckled behind him causing him to leave the game in the 3rd period. Hopefullly, the Bruins can dodge a bullet with the Lucic injury and he won’t miss any real time. If Lucic is out the Bruins will once again have to pick up the slack as this situation has become all to familiar to them this season. The Bruins return hom Friday afternoon at 2PM for a matinee date withthe New Jersey Devils. The Bruins will be looking to extend their longest winning streak of the season to 5 games witha win over New Jersey. The Bruins are now 12-8-4 which is good for 28 points that puts them currently 1 point ahead of both Buffalo and Ottawa for 1st place in the Northeast Division.
Matthew Giacoppo-The Brain
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