BOSTON - Tuukka Rask pushed aside those pesky trade rumors, including the ones relating the team he faced on Thursday night, to stop 31 shots - including two-of-three stops in a shootout - to lead the Boston Bruins to a 2-1 shootout victory over the worst team in the NHL, the Columbus Blue Jackets, at TD Garden.
Neither team scored in the first or third periods, with the only two tallies in regulation coming in the first half of the second period. Derek MacKenzie scored on a power play at 2:49 and Adam McQuaid answered with a score at 4:24. Despite the all-around sloppy play for both teams, Rask is happy with a win - any way he can get one.
"A win is always a win, no matter how you get it" said Rask. "Today, we definitely didn't play our best hockey, and we saw that."
Rask recognized the slower pace of the game, acknowledging the eventless beginning of the game.
"It was kind of a slow start," he said. "We had less than ten shots halfway through the game, pretty much."
Boston finished the game with 27 shots while Columbus recorded 31 shots in the losing effort.
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