Bruins pin hopes on Rask as Stars visit (Mar 30, 2017)

BOSTON -- Tuukka Rask answered the bell for the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

So did his teammates.

Rask, criticized by his coach after his previous start, bounced back with a strong outing and the rest of the Boston roster played a fairly complete game in notching an important 4-1 win over Nashville on their road back to the playoffs.

The Bruins, who host the out-of-the-playoffs Dallas Stars on Thursday night, remained a point behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division. They also moved three points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning and four ahead of the New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes in the wild-card race.

Rask was shaky in a 6-3 loss to the Lightning in Boston last Thursday. He then missed Saturday night's game against the New York Islanders in Brooklyn with a lower-body injury suffered Thursday. Khudobin played well and the team played a strong defensive game in front of him.

So, the talk started. Goaltender controversy? Khudobin, whose poor play earlier in the season led to Rask being overworked, was suddenly a favorite of some (media and fans) calling for him to play until he lost.

Interim coach Bruce Cassidy, who criticized his goalie after the home loss, didn't agree. If Rask could play, he'd play. He was ready to go and played well.

"People have their own opinions," Rask said after his 24-save performance. "When you're not playing that well, they want to jump on you. It's just the name of the game. It doesn't bother me. I try to work hard and give us a chance to win every night. That's all I care about.

"People can say whatever. I try not to read when we win and I try not to read when we lose. That helps me to stay even-keeled when people say what they say."

The win opened a three-game homestand for the Bruins, who play five of their final six games at TD Garden as they bid to end their streak of missing the playoffs at two seasons. Home hasn't always been kind to this team and cost the Bruins a playoff spot last year, but this is a good start to the final stretch.

And Rask, who had lost four straight before Tuesday, has to be in the middle of it.

"I thought he was terrific," said Cassidy. "Very pleased with his performance."

There were 25 shots that reached Rask and 25 that were blocked as the Bruins played hard against a team on the second night of a back-to-back.

The Bruins go for the sweep of the two-game series with the Stars, who are 1-1 on their current five-game road trip. Dallas won in overtime at New Jersey and yielded three third-period goals in losing to Montreal on Tuesday night.

Kari Lehtonen, who had allowed just four goals in the previous four games, kept his team alive for two periods in Montreal but then had a tough third.

"He might have hit the wall," said Stars coach Lindy Ruff. "We've played him a lot. He gave us two solid periods and then two got by him. He's played a lot for us lately. We've pushed the limit with him."

Lehtonen has started the last seven games and 11 of the last 12 for the Stars, who have won two of their last three but are 4-6 in their last 10.

Thursday marks the latest return to Boston for Tyler Seguin, who won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011. He had a goal and an assist in a 6-3 loss to Boston in Dallas on Feb. 26 and has four goals and seven points in seven games against his former team.

Rask is 4-2-1 with a 2.69 goals-against average and .920 save percentage lifetime against the Stars. On the other side, likely starter (if you go by Ruff's comment) Antti Niemi is 6-3 with 2.21 GAA and.912 save percentage against Boston while Lehtonen is 9-9 with 2.94/.906 against the Bruins.

Boston general manager Don Sweeney met the media Wednesday, announcing the signing of Boston University defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who will report to Providence of the American Hockey League after a two-year college career.

Sweeney also said Cassidy is keeping the interim tag, at least for now.

"Am I ready to hire Bruce Cassidy?" said Sweeney. "I'm certainly enjoying the fact that we are in a playoff race here and getting that done, and we'll go from there."