The Boston Bruins are in an improbable position. With 15 games left in the 2015-16 NHL regular season, the Bruins are all but assured a playoff spot. They're 6-3-1 over their last 10 contests and perhaps most impressive, they have an Atlantic Division-leading 207 goals on the year.
But is it Claude Julien's surprisingly strong offense that's propelling the Bruins toward the postseason berth they missed out on last year, or something else entirely?
It seems, that Stanley Cup-winning Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask may have something to do with it, which is, in and of itself, not all that surprising. But what is surprising is that the Bruins apparently fair very, very well not when Rask is asked to face fewer shots, but when he faces more.
It's an interesting concept, this notion that the heavier Rask's workload, the better the Bruins do. If nothing else, it means Rask is really earning that $7.5 million salary.
But do the numbers back it up?
His season numbers of 2.53 goals against average and .919 save percentage aren't even good enough for middle of the NHL pack. Of course, the lack of healthy bodies on the Boston blueline has had a lot to do with Rask suffering through a down season by his usual standards - and for talk that Julien may be an eventual Jack Adams-winner - but there' no denying that overall the numbers don't look good.
But apparently, if you parse through the overarching stats and look only at games wherein Rask has faced upwards of 30 shots, an interesting trend reveals itself.
In 21 games in which Rask has faced 30 shots or more, the Bruins are 14-3-4 and Rask boasts an impressive .937 save percentage and a moderately improved 2.34 goals against average.
Of course, facing all those shots it makes sense that Rask would allow a higher number of goals even as he's stopping a greater percentage of shots.
But the reasoning behind the trend is what's most interesting. Rask, as was proven when the Bruins won the Cup in 2011, is at his best when the lights are brightest. Maybe that's just what the netminder needs - pressure.
Or maybe the Bruins are just better equipped to handle back-and-forth offensive affairs, but due to their dearth of talented (and/or healthy) defensemen, struggle when the game is tight.
Based on the numbers that Bruins backup Jonas Gustavsson has posted this season though, numbers you could certainly call "normal," it seems likely to be a function of Rask. When facing 30 or fewer shots, Gustavsson has a 6-2-1 record. When facing 30 or more, he's just 4-3-0.
