Will the Penguins be Swept from their Series?

The Penguins did everything they could to get into their series against the Boston Bruins last night at TD Garden. Already down by two games, both of which they lost on home ice, things looked desperate. When they took to the ice on Wednesday, they brought everything they had. But it wasn’t enough. And now, the only question really is whether or not the Penguins will be swept from their series.

During games one and two, the Penguins put a total of 56 combined shots towards Rask. On Wednesday, they put nearly that many – 54 – on the Bruins’ net. Only one of them got through. That was in the second period and after that, Rask made sure that for the next 40 minutes or so, he kept the rest on the other side of the goal line. He did it and not only helped his team go up in their series 3-0 against the best team in the league, but also added a career best to his stat sheet.

While there’s victory in Boston, there’s certainly a feeling of defeat in Pittsburgh. This team that was so sharp, and so heavily favored to win the Cup, is now not only looking at being ousted in round three, but being swept right out of it. Wednesday night was certainly their best performance by far that they’ve given in this series, and they played more like a team than they had since the second round.

But the Penguins aren’t immune to the effects of getting into the game too late, and that may be just what happened here. They’ll face off against the Bruins again on Friday to see if they stretch out the series to at least one more game. For Rask, he’s not looking that far ahead.

“You can’t fall into that trap when you’re up 3-0,” he says. “Every game means more than the one before. We just have to focus on what we have to do and win the hockey game.”

Categorized in: NHL