Kalman: No One's More Valuable in NHL Right Now Than Bruins' Rask
By Matt Kalman, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Fake news has emerged as the bane of our existence in 2016.
Beyond the type of fake news that turned the world and our country on its head, there was another type of fake news that should've been exposed and discredited as soon as it emerged on the scene.
Stories about the Bruins needing to trade Tuukka Rask seemed so much like real news that they actually convinced some people that that would be the proper plan of attack for general manager Don Sweeney in his attempt to get the Bruins back on track.
If you were duped, I'm sorry. I tried to warn you.
Luckily Sweeney and the rest of the Bruins front office wasn't fooled and those who were fooled have had 2 ½ months to not only realize the error of those stories but become full-fledged converts to the side that said Rask was untouchable. The Bruins and their true believers are reaping the rewards of Rask's staying and soaring to the top of the charts at the No. 1 goaltender in the NHL and a potential candidate for the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP.
Rask's play this week catapulted him to the top of the power rankings. Let's face it, when the Bruins lost back-to-back games to last-place Colorado and last-place Toronto last week, you had no idea if the Bruins would get any points in the standings on their two-game road trip to Montreal and Pittsburgh. You had no idea if they'd score any goals, let alone break the ever-elusive two-goal ceiling in either contest or even in both games combined. The only certainty was that Rask would play both games and he'd be the least culpable if the Bruins returned to Boston point-less.
Well the road trip ended and the Bruins – this is NOT fake news – took three out of four points against the first-place Canadiens and first-place Penguins. And guess what: Rask was reason one, two and three for the win against the Canadiens and the point earned in an overtime loss to the Penguins.
Rask made 30 saves on 31 shots in a 2-1 overtime win against Montreal on Monday. His most breathtaking save came on Tomas Plekanec with an old-school, two-pad-stacked maneuver in the second period.
Just when you thought Rask couldn't top that save, he did. As part of his 41-save performance in the 4-3 loss to the Penguins, Rask made sure the game went to overtime by denying Connor Sheary on a breakaway with a Gumby bend and a right-pad flash that (along with the post) kept the puck out of the net with 54.3 seconds left before overtime.
Maybe the drama of that save earned it top billing because equally impressive was Rask's collarbone stop on a Trevor Daley drive and then a glove save on Scott Wilson on the rebound at 3:07 of the third period.
Rask is 15-5-3 with a 1.90 goals-against average and .930 save percentage. And before you say that he doesn't lead the League in the major goaltending categories, so he can't be the Vezina, let alone the Hart, winner, consider a few things. As the NBCSN graphic showed you during the Pittsburgh game, Rask is in the middle of the pack in terms of goal support with a team that's averaged 2.32 goals per game. The other top goaltenders all have top-10 offenses in front of him.
Rask plays behind a young, inexperienced defense and still puts up those numbers. Rask makes his share of flashy saves, but there are many saves that would be sprawling, flailing attempts for other goaltenders but Rask makes them with barely a flinch because of his superior anticipation and positioning.
When you think of MVP, you think of where a team would be without a particular player. Well where would the Bruins, who are battling for second place in the Atlantic Division, be without Tuukka Rask? Remember, they've only won one game without him in between the pipes.
As for the "trade Rask" trolls, the goalie's stock is high so go ahead and waste your breath, your ink or your clicks on devising ways to deal him to "get the Bruins out from under it" or whatever the catch phrase of the week is. Aside from the wins and losses, Rask provides the Bruins with so much more. The stability of having a world-class goaltender gives young defensemen like Brandon Carlo and Matt Grzelcyk, and even Torey Krug, room to develop by taking chances and experimenting.
Rask allows the Bruins to survive the Adam McQuaid/Kevan Miller show, which often involves more pratfalls than Chevy Chase's season of Saturday Night Live.
Rask gives the Bruins a chance to win even though they act as though scoring more than two goals in a game is more sacrilege than a rabbi eating pork.
Most important, Rask gives the Bruins a chance, with the returns of Frank Vatrano and Matt Beleskey down the road, and the right moves at the trade deadline, and/or the development of more prospects, to make the playoffs this season and at least be a threat once they get there. And that postseason experience will be invaluable to many of Boston's younger players the way the playoffs helped quicken the development of Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and others a decade ago.
This is Tuukka Rask's team and that's why the Bruins are better than expected and why Rask should be on everyone's Hart and Vezina ballots, not on the trading block. And that's the truth.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @MattKalman.
