But less than three minutes after Nokelainen's goal, the opportunity opened up for Callahan when Chris Collins backchecked too far into the corner, giving the defenseman time and space to send his long-distance shot on net. Somehow, the puck eluded Rask and ended up behind him. It was the first shot Rask had seen the entire period, and one that gave Portland a jolt of energy.
"I don't know what happened," Rask said. "It was a good shot. I don't want to take any credit away from him. But I should have had that."
In the third period, Portland busted the tie with a pair of strikes, then asked goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin to prevent a Providence rally. The Pirates won, 3-2, and can end the series tonight at Dunkin' Donuts Center, which would tag Rask with the longest losing streak of his rookie season.
"They got the opportunistic goal, even though it was halfway through the second period, [that] turned the game," said Providence coach Scott Gordon. "It was a big goal for them, then they were able to score on their second one, then really put it away on the power play."
For the most part, Rask's first year of North American hockey has progressed as expected. In 45 regular-season AHL appearances, Rask went 27-13-2 with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage, backstopping the most powerful team in the league. Rask was projected to spend the entire year in Providence, developing under Gordon (a former NHL goalie), but was recalled to Boston because of injuries to Manny Fernandez and Tim Thomas. Rask made his NHL debut against Toronto, the team that drafted him No. 21 in 2005 (he was the second netminder taken in the first round; Montreal selected Carey Price with the fifth pick) and traded him to Boston for Andrew Raycroft a year later. He recorded a 4-2 victory over the Maple Leafs Nov. 20.
Rask sparkled at the start of the AHL playoffs, winning his first six games and posting a pair of shutouts while recording a 1.14 GAA and a .952 save percentage during the span.
But Rask and his teammates have lost their last three games. In those losses, Rask has a 3.13 GAA and a lowly .861 save percentage.
