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 "Whenever we play defense like that and keep them on the outside
for the most part, it makes my job easier and I expect to make those
saves," goaltender Tuukka Rask said after stopping all 33 shots,
most of them harmless, in a 2-0 win over the sizzling St. Louis
Blues on Tuesday night. "That was my job."
Rask, the defending Vezina Trophy winner, made 15 saves in the third
period of his 24th career shutout.
"I think he deserves a lot of credit because he was outstanding for
us tonight," said coach Claude Julien. "But I certainly don't want
to diminish the fact that I thought our guys played well tonight
against a team that's been extremely hot, extremely good as you can
see.
"No matter how well you play defensively they're still going to get
their chances and when they did, Tuukka made the big saves. But I
liked their effort overall tonight."
Rask's best stop may have come midway through the third period, on a
rebound that actually went off Bruins defenseman Dougie Hamilton.
Most of the other shots were from the outside or long range, and two
diving checks by defenseman Matt Bartkowski short-circuited chances.
"We gave him a chance to see (the puck) too much tonight and as a
result he stopped every single one we threw at him," said St. Louis
center David Backes.
The loss ended the Blues' six-game TD Garden winning streak and
handed St. Louis its first road loss to the Bruins since Jan. 30,
2001. It also ended a three-game St. Louis winning streak and gave
the Blues (12-5-1) only their second loss in the last 12 games.
"I just think they kept us on the perimeter all night," said Blues
coach Ken Hitchcock. "I know we had a lot of shots on goal, but we
weren't really a threat. We were trying to make the extra play all
night, rather than pound it in and look for the grease goal. They
allowed us to enter the zone, kept us on the perimeter and we stayed
on the perimeter."
In winning their second straight, the Bruins (12-8-0) had only 17
shots on goal and were outshot 15-3 in the third period. The torrid
Blues line of center Jaden Schwartz with wingers Vladimir Tarasenko
and Jori Lehtera, which had 33 points in the previous eight games,
totaled nine shots, but didn't scare anyone.
Center Patrice Bergeron and defenseman Torey Krug scored for the
Bruins, beating goaltender Brian Elliott.
Boston, which has had all kinds of injury problems on defense, lost
Adam McQuaid early in the second period to an undisclosed injury. No
details were available.
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Elliott mishandled the puck twice behind his own net in the first
period. He almost got burned the first time. He did on the second.
On a dump-in as the Bruins changed, he went behind the net when he
should have let defenseman Ian Cole handle the puck. Elliott
handcuffed Cole, who was being chased by winger Matt Fraser. Cole
wheeled the puck right out in front to Bergeron. With an open net,
Bergeron scored his fourth goal in the last seven games.
"It was definitely one of those that you take," said Bergeron.
Cole was in the wrong place at the wrong time again when Krug
scored. Krug walked in from the left point, and Cole, tying up
center Carl Soderberg in front, screened his goalie and the puck may
have glanced off the defenseman and by a surprised Elliott.
The Bruins thought they had taken a 3-0 lead with nine seconds left
in the second period when the puck went in off Fraser's body in the
crease. It was ruled no goal but it wasn't clear why.
NOTES: C David Krejci returned to the Bruins lineup after missing
four games with what was reportedly a hip injury, but LW Brad
Marchand was out with an undisclosed injury; coach Claude Julien
saying only that it is not a head injury. ... D Kevan Miller, who
missed his 13th straight game with a right shoulder dislocation
suffered in a fight, skated in warmups but didn't dress while D Zach
Trotman was shipped back to the AHL. ... D Chris Butler, recalled by
the Blues after they traded D Jordan Leopold to the Columbus Blue
Jackets, did not dress. ... The Blues play Game 2 of their four-game
trip at Montreal on Thursday, while the Bruins are at Columbus on
Friday night. ... St. Louis D Kevin Shattenkirk, who played his
college hockey at Boston University, played in his 300th NHL game.
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