WINNIPEG, MB.Tuukka Rask is still looking for answers, and still seeking his first win in more than a month.
The 24-year-old Finnish goaltender earned his first start since getting pulled against the Buffalo Sabres more than a week ago, but couldnt do enough to prevent his personal losing streak from reaching five games in a 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at the DTS Centre.
Rasks defense failed him in the final period when the Bruins collapsed after David Krejci managed to tie it in the opening minute of the third period, but the Bs netminder was admittedly far from good in the second.
He allowed four goals on the first 17 shots he faced in the game, and could have accepted fault on both Winnipeg scores in the second period. Rask has now allowed three or more goals in each of his last five appearances.
Alex Burmistrov started Winnipegs scoring by firing a puck from the right face-off circle that beat Rask while the Bs goalie made a futile swipe with his glove hand. The shot bounced Rasks water bottle straight off the top of the netting and immediately sent him into second-guess mode with the choice of glove save over a shrugging shoulder save attempt at the puck.
I saw it. It was a pretty good shot. I was more unhappy about the second one because it went through me, said Rask, referencing Blake Wheelers goal. The first one wasnt the hardest shot ever, but it caught me in a good spot. I used the wrong save selection there because I probably should have gone with a shoulder save.
I made a couple of good saves in the game, but its all about the timing I guess.
The real point of frustration for Rask was the Blake Wheeler goal that whistled through his leg pads on the way to the back of the net. The Bruins had won some measure of momentum back on Jordan Carons second-period goal, but Rask gave it right back with the soft goal surrendered to Wheeler.
Boston Bruins
That led to Krejcis game-tying score, and a pair of Bryan Little rebound strikes in the final period that handed the Jets a needed win.
The four goals leave Rask 0-4-1 in his last five games with an .855 save percentage and a goals against average over 3.00. Best of all, its coming at the worst possible time this season. The Bruins desperately need Rask to be effective as they reach the densest, road-heavy portion of their NHL schedule, but the confidence index in Rasks ability to stop pucks is rapidly eroding away with each underperformance.
Its always tough when you lose and youre trying to find your game. But you cant get down on yourself, said Rask. You just need to work hard and try to find that rhythm youre looking for. You need to find that comfort zone, but sometimes you just cant find it.
Its a tough battle but I think were going to come out as winners when it matters most.
Claude Julien admitted Rask needs to be better than he was Friday night in Winnipeg during the 21-save effort, but there were as many problems with irresponsible defenders breaking down in the third period.
I think weve seen Tuukka better. Everybody has to be better. The goaltender is the easiest one to criticize because hes the last guy standing there, said a frustrated Claude Julien, who answered two questions before ending his post-game session with reporters. Our goalies can be better as the rest of the team can.
While Julien can talk a good game about the ease of blaming a goaltender for a teams woes, actions will speak louder than words as they always do. The Bs coach will show exactly what kind of confidence he holds in Rask with the choice of his next starting assignment between the pipes.
The losing performance to the Jets didnt inspire much in the way of strong belief in Rask, but his coach still has a chance to augment it by going right back to him again on Sunday against the Minnesota Wild.