If we've learned one thing about the Bruins the last two nights -- their 3-2 win over Nashville on Wednesday and 4-3 shootout loss at Philadelphia on Thursday -- it's that they can rely on both their goaltenders to be their umbrellas in a rain storm.
The offense is trying to find its chemistry and forechecking legs after being thrown together in the aftermath of Marc Savard and Milan Lucic's departures from the lineup. And the defense corps can be a bit casual with its passing in stretches, but Tuukka Rask and Tim Thomas are settling in as a duo that could challenge for a Jennings Trophy repeat.
In Philadelphia, Rask lost in a shootout on an impressive move by dynamic youngster Claude Giroux. However, the Bruins would never have gotten that far if Rask hadn't made the save of the season on a Jeff Carter breakaway after a Derek Morris turnover on Boston's late third-period power play. In overtime, Rask had to make a couple of huge saves as well.
The rookie's 36-save performance came 24 hours after Thomas made 28 saves, including 13 in the third period, against Nashville in Boston.
Both netminders got off to slow starts to this season, with little help from the skaters in front of them. Rask sometimes looked like he was made of rubber with the rebounds he was spitting out to opposing shooters and Thomas was seemingly fighting off shots like he was playing with his blocker tied to his glove. Over the last two games, both netminders probably can look back and pick out one or two goals they'd like back. That's all right when you consider that when the heat was turned all the way up, both responded with some huge plays that helped the Bruins take three of four points.
Loose pucks
Before the game in Philly, the Bruins summoned forward Guillaume Lefebvre from Providence (AHL) to counter the Flyers' size and penchant for rough stuff. But the Bruins didn't dress Lefebvre and instead stuck with Trent Whitfield centering the fourth line. Whitfield won eight of 10 faceoffs and got into a scrap (although he was pummeled by Ole-Kristian Tollefsen). ... Michael Ryder hit the post in the shootout and is now 2-for-13 in his career in the post-overtime spectacle. ... Morris scored his first goal in a Bruins sweater and might've played his best overall game in black and gold, other than the errant pass that sent Carter on his breakaway.
Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Contributors
Matt Kalman
Matt Kalman covers the Boston Bruins for ESPNBoston.com and is the founder/managing editor of TheBruinsBlog.net. Send any questions for Matt to his mailbag and he might answer them in his Bruins mailbag.
Chris Forsberg
Chris Forsberg has been reporting on the Boston sports scene since 1999. With his video camera in tow, Forsberg covered everything from Massachusetts high school sports to Boston's pro sports teams. Follow him on Twitter.
