Bruins believe in Rask, aim to finish off Maple Leafs in Game 5

BOSTON -- The last two times the Boston Bruins had a chance to close out a Stanley Cup Playoff series, things did not go well.

RELATED: [Complete Bruins vs. Maple Leafs series coverage]
The Presidents' Trophy-winning Bruins lost Games 6 and 7 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Second Round to the Montreal Canadiens, a disappointing end after a triumphant regular season.
But the Bruins say the performances in those games, by Boston and by goaltender Tuukka Rask, do not necessarily mean anything heading into Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at TD Garden on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS), when they can eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"I think we're going to prepare ourselves as good as we can and go for the win, obviously," Rask said after the Bruins' 3-1 win in Game 4 in Toronto on Thursday.
"That's the only mindset you can have. But those last games, when you have a clinching game, they're always the toughest ones. You know the other team's going to come out hard and do whatever they can to try to win. But we just have to be mentally and physically ready."

Rask is a big reason the Bruins have a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. When they have had breakdowns and allowed the Maple Leafs to get out in transition, he has held strong, notably on a breakaway by Mitch Marner at 9:05 of the second period in Game 4, making a save against the Maple Leafs' best player in that game.
He's 3-1 in the series with a 2.27 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage.
"He played a phenomenal game," forward Brad Marchand said after Game 4. "He's one of the best goalies in the world. Gives us an opportunity to win every night."
Rask has played in 15 games when the Bruins could have closed out a series, dating to the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He is 5-10 in those games, with a 2.87 GAA and a .901 save percentage, numbers far inferior to his regular-season statistics during his NHL career (2.26, .922).
Perhaps that is part of why Rask, who won the Vezina Trophy in 2014 as the NHL's top goalie, doesn't always get the respect from fans that his performance might otherwise indicate.
To get the full picture it's best to examine those numbers more closely. To do that, one has to go back to the 2010 playoffs, which he and his teammates would probably rather forget.
That was the year the Bruins went up 3-0 against the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round, but lost the series in seven games.

Rask and the Bruins went 1-5 in potential closeout games that season, losing Game 5 and winning Game 6 against the Buffalo Sabres in the first round and losing four straight in the second round. In those six games, Rask had a 3.50 GAA and an .884 save percentage.
He was 23 years old then, in his first full season in the NHL, having won the starting job from Tim Thomas, who helped the Bruins win the Stanley Cup in 2011 (and who would later win the job back).
Rask, 31, is now a fully formed goaltender in his own right, the Bruins starter for six seasons. And since that devastating 2010 postseason, Rask has done far better with the chance to finish series, going 4-5 combined in the 2013 and 2014 playoffs, helping Boston to Game 6 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, where it lost to the Chicago Blackhawks.
In those nine games, Rask had a 2.44 GAA and a .913 save percentage, not as good as his regular-season numbers, but far better than his overall closeout-game statistics.
"He's been our backbone," said defenseman Adam McQuaid, who is in his ninth season with the Bruins and has seen all of Rask's NHL ups and downs. "He's been really solid for us. You especially need that in the playoffs. He gives us the confidence knowing when he's in there that he's able to keep us in games. … No doubt he'll be ready to go [Saturday]."
His teammates aren't worried. They're not looking at the statistics. They're not looking at the past. They know the game will be tough, given that the Maple Leafs will be trying to stay alive, but they believe they're prepared. They believe Rask will be ready, and that'll he'll do what he's done throughout this series to get them through to the next round -- again.
"We all know the fourth one's the most difficult," McQuaid said. "We're going to need our best effort."