Tuukka Rask answers the call with first win of the season
Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask got some help from forward Milan Lucic as they led the way for the Bruins in a 4-0 victory over the Florida Panthers on Thursday 18 November.
How it happened
At the start of the season Tuukka Rask had been billed as the Bruins number one goaltender. After a mediocre performance in the season opener coach Claude Julien decided to give Tim Thomas a shot between
the pipes and Thomas did not disappoint, putting up league leading numbers for goals against average and save percentage. Early on Julien maintained that, despite Thomas' fine form, Rask remained the team's number one goalie. But every time Rask got his shot,
the Bruins came up short. Last night Rask finally answered the call collecting his first win of the season and posting a shutout as well. Rask was impressive stopping all 41 shots that he faced.
Lucic scored his first of the game at 15:37 of the first period. He then scored two goals just 15 seconds apart, with just over five minutes to go, to put the Bruins up 3-0. The hat trick now gives Lucic
10 goals on the year.
Shawn Thornton added a fourth goal for the Bruins just over a minute later to round out the scoring.
What they're saying
Although Lucic was impressive in scoring his hat trick, he decided to laud praise on his goalie.
"Fortunately for us, Tuukka played the way that he did and we were able to get some goals there in the third to extend the lead," Lucic told reporters after the game. "We wanted to go out there and give
him a good effort and give him a win. He's such a great goalie, and we're happy that we were able to get the win for him."
Florida Panthers head coach Peter DeBoer also admitted that it was Rask who was the key factor in the Bruins winning the game, and not any lack of effort on the part of his team.
"Tuukka Rask was our power-play problem. It wasn't our power play," he said. "We generated plenty of chances on the power play (the Panthers went 0-for-5 on the night). I mean, when you've got a goalie
that plays like that, that's the power-play problem."
The Bruins collected their fifth shutout of the season as nearly half of their wins have come without conceding a goal. They now get set to take on one of the Western Conference's top teams as they host
the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday 20 November.
The Panthers are now 1-2 on their four-game road trip. They finish up with a game against the New York Islanders on Saturday before they head home for three games.
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