3 Takeaways from Tuukka Rask’s first start back with the Bruins

There was something extra in the air at TD Garden on Thursday night. Yes, the Bruins were playing the Flyers, which is always a terrific matchup. But there was something a bit more.

That something was the return of Tuukka Rask to the Boston net.

From the start of warmups, through introductions and throughout the game itself, Rask’s first night as goalie again gave the crowd an extra jolt that a mid-January crowd might not normally have.

Rask’s play, plus a number of other factors, contributed to the Bruins 3-2 win over the Flyers.

Here are the three biggest takeaways.

Tuukka Rask looked like his usual self

Will this go down as one of Tuukka Rask’s most memorable performances? No, he didn’t get nearly enough shots for that to be the case and it’s a mid-January game against the Flyers. Was he really good? Absolutely. Did the TD Garden crowd treat everything he did as the greatest thing ever? Oh yes.

Rask was his usual self in between the pipes. He was poised. He was consistently square to the shooter. One of the first shots he faced came from the point and he never saw it. But because he was well-positioned, the puck went off his pad and away from danger.

He had two key breakaway saves in the second period. The first came on Joel Farabee. The Flyers forward faked shot, went to his backhand and tried to slide it through the five-hole, but Rask stayed centered and the puck was stopped.

Then, right after David Pastrnak’s goal to make it 3-2 Bruins, Cam Atkinson zeroed in on the Boston net untouched. He too went to the backhand, but was also denied by Rask who made the stop with his right pad.

Late in the game with the Bruins on the ropes committing sloppy penalties (such as the two-straight delay of game infractions), it was Rask who time and time again came up with large stops. The Flyers pulled Hart with 3:49 in the game and once again, it was Rask coming up big. In the end, Rask had 25 saves on 27 shots.

The most important thing when it came to Rask, however, came postgame.

How was the hip feeling after surgery?

“100 percent,” he said after the win via Zoom. “It was great to feel that I have the ability to move both ways.”

Just judging off tonight’s game, a rested, healthy Rask looks to be a huge factor in the Bruins’ mad dash to the finish line.

David Pastrnak continued the trend of Bruins hat tricks

Wednesday night saw Brad Marchand pot a hat trick. David Pastrnak continued that trend on Thursday, scoring three before the second period even concluded, which is also something Marchand did the night prior.

The scoring started less than two minutes into the game when Pastrnak got a pass from linemate Erik Haula and ripped it past Flyers goalie Carter Hart to make it 1-0. The play all happened because of Pastrnak’s efforts just a few seconds before to keep the puck in Philadelphia’s zone.

Roughly four minutes later, Marchand had the puck at the left point and started to skate in. He looked shot all the way but passed across to Pastrnak at the last second, faking out Hart and giving Pastrnak a mostly open net, which he had no problem depositing the puck into for his second of the night.

A potential hat trick before the end of the first period…again?

It looked imminent, but Bruins fans would have to wait until the second period to toss their hats.

Late in the second period on a 5-on-3, Pastrnak ripped a first shot toward the net that Hart stopped, but it caused a scramble, leaving the Philly netminder discombobulated long enough for Pastrnak to get the puck back and one-time it past him for the hat trick.

Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy had mentioned many times through the first half of the season that Pastrnak was due to breakout with goals. It never seemed to come. Until now.

Pastrnak has seven goals in his last four games. Expect a lot more.

Lots of new faces on defense

With Connor Clifton and Derek Forbort already in COVID-19 protocol and Matt Grzelcyk added to that group just a few hours before Thursday night’s game, the Bruins sent out a much different looking defensive crew.

Urho Vaakanainen, a 2017 first-round pick, was paired with Charlie McAvoy on the top duo. On the third pairing was puck-mover Jack Ahcan with bruiser Tyler Lewington.

Vaakanainen looked solid. He moved the puck well with McAvoy and played big minutes, most notably lots of time on the late 5-on-3 and after in the final five minutes as the Flyers unleashed their most aggressive attack. He finished with the second-most TOI of any Bruin with 23:17.

Lewington’s most notable moment came in his fight with Flyers forward Zack MacEwen. Both landed really strong punches, but it appeared as though MacEwen got the most in.

The Bruins are back in action this Saturday against the Nashville Predators at 1 p.m.