Tuukka Rask Struggles in Return to Net, Leaving Questions in Bruins’ Goaltending Rotation

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Feb 11, 2011

BOSTON —Tuukka Rask had played just once in the previous seven games, so he was anxious to get back in the net for the Bruins Friday night.

But the Red Wings were even more anxious to test the rusty netminder, scoring on their first two shots of the game.

"They come and first two shots are goals," Rask said after falling to 5-11-1 on the season. "That's something that should never happen when you think about it as a goalie. We didn't play our best definitely today that's for sure. They kept it going for 60 minutes."

Detroit also scored on the first shot of the second after the Bruins had pulled within 2-1 at the break, and finished with five goals on 19 shots before Rask was pulled after two periods of a 6-1 loss.

"We didn't feel he was as sharp as we needed him to be, that was No. 1," coach Claude Julien said of the decision to pull Rask before the third period. "He still made some good saves. Don't think we didn't recognize that as well, but he just wasn't as sharp tonight and after discussing the situation, we just felt that the right thing to do was to give Timmy [Thomas] the third period."

Tuukka Rask Struggles in Return to Net, Leaving Questions in Bruins' Goaltending Rotation

Thomas stopped all but one of the 15 shots he faced in the third, with the lone goal he gave up coming on a two-man advantage with Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara both in the box. But it was far too late to turn anything around in this game, as the Red Wings rolled to the easy victory.

Rask had no complaints with being lifted, admitting that his play wasn't up to the standard he expects of himself.

"I'm not going to start analyzing that," Rask said. "I thought I deserved to get pulled. I didn't play to my level today."

But the Bruins need Rask to get back to the level he showed last season, when he emerged as the Bruins' No. 1 goalie and led the NHL is goals-against average and save percentage. Thomas is leading the league in those and just about every other category this year, but he will still see some days off down the stretch to stay fresh for the playoffs.

"I think we have to look at situations, but we keep saying that over and over, we need Tuukka to come in and give Timmy some rest and we need Tuukka to play well because we know he can play well," Julien said. "Tonight was a tough night for him. The last time he played, he was very good for us, so he's capable of it. I think we'll just chalk that up as a tough night like the rest of the team in front of him and move on."

Julien isn't sure exactly how he will move on in regards to splitting the goaltending duties the rest of the way. The last time he pulled Rask from a game in Buffalo, he came right back with him the next night and Rask rewarded the faith with a 37-save performance in a 2-1 win over Toronto.

But Julien isn't likely to throw Rask right back into the fire when the Bruins face the Red Wings again in Detroit on Sunday. And when he does use him again is undetermined at this point.

"Well those are questions I can't really answer because I don't know what is going to happen in these next 27 games," Julien said. "Whether one of them is going to get really hot or whether both of them are going to play well. I deal with it day-by-day.

"My goal standing here, I would tell you that I would like to give Tuukka some games and give Timmy some rest and utilize both in a way that it works for our hockey club," Julien added. "But I can't tell you right now I've got the blueprint, because the blueprint changes everyday like you saw tonight."

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