John Tortorella says Blue Jackets have ‘dented’ Tuukka Rask
Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella is still talking the talk.
With his team in a do-or-die situation at Nationwide Arena on Monday night — and after guaranteeing that the Jackets would be back in Boston for a Game 7 following last Saturday’s Game 5 defeat in Boston — Tortorella’s latest vote of vocalized confidence tonight comes from the fact that his team ‘dented’ Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask in their losing effort.
“I think one of the bigger points in our last game, in Game 5, is that we dented their goalie,” Tortorella said in his morning meeting with reporters ahead of tonight’s Game 6. “I think that was very important. I think they dented our goalie. We’ve dented their goalie in that third period, which is very important going into Game 6.”
That dent, according to Tortorella, came in a third-period effort featuring three goals on 13 shots, and with some of Columbus’ best players (namely Cam Atkinson) finally finding time and space to create offensive chances on the 32-year-old Rask.
But B’s coach Bruce Cassidy had a simple response to Tortorella’s talk.
Cassidy on Rask: “I don’t think he’s been dented.”
— Matt Porter (@mattyports) May 6, 2019
The Blue Jackets are going to need more than a dent to beat Rask and the Bruins, though, as Rask comes into Game 6 with a .936 save percentage through the first five games of this series, with stops on all but 11 of 173 shots thrown his way.