Tuukka Rask reads the news from his homeland of Finland every day, and when he went online Thursday, he was surprised at what he saw. 

"I made news in Finland," Rask said Thursday. "Freaking crazy." 

A day after his tirade during Wednesday's practice when the wiry goaltender unsuccessfully tried four times to break his stick before eventually giving up and throwing it off the ice, Rask did what he could to provide some better news.

While his standout performance in the Bruins' 2-1 shootout victory over the Blue Jackets likely won't make it to the Helsinki Times, Rask delivered plenty of good news to folks around Boston. He was the best player on the ice Thursday, winning the type of low-scoring game that his team usually loses for him. 

Remember what a typical Tuukka Rask start used to be? Think something along the lines of a low-scoring loss in which Rask played well enough but his teammates struggled (he had three goals of support in losing his first three games). Thursday had its similarities to such a game, as the Bruins skaters looked drowsy and committed turnover after turnover en route to providing him with only one goal of support through 65 minutes of play. 

But Rask rose to occasion, matching Blue Jackets goalie Curtis Sanford step for step and eventually playing hero by stoning Antoine Vermette in the third round of the shootout to bring the B’s their seventh straight win. 

Because of the turnovers, of which there were many, Rask had to be even sharper than his 31 saves suggested. He didn’t have a problem in such instances, like when he stopped Mark Letestu following a bad Steven Kampfer giveaway right by his net. 

"You've got to be on your toes no matter what happens right?" Rask said after the game. "But you definitely kind of -- when that kind of thing happens, it wakes you up a little bit."

If dicey play by a team wakes up a goalie, Rask was practically a Rasta Monsta energy drink advertisement by the time overtime rolled around. He stopped Jeff Carter twice right in front in the extra time and then stopped two of the three shootout attempts, preventing a Columbus team that outplayed the B's from leaving Boston with what would have been a much-earned two points. 

"I thought Tuukka made big saves when we needed him to and kept us in there and allowed us to win in the shootout," Claude Julien said of his netminder following the Bruins' victory. "How he handled himself in the shootout, I thought, was very good. He’s a goaltender that I think has been working extremely hard in practice, doing extra and everything else. It’s nice to see him back to .500, and hopefully he keeps moving on the positive side."

Rask has won his last three starts, but Thursday should be considered extra special for the 24-year-old. Unlike his last two wins, which were unusual for him given that he received six goals of support in each, Rask had to work with little offense and lead his team to victory -- at times almost single-handedly. It may have felt like his earlier starts in the season, but Rask took over and was able get a win in a contest in which he faced more quality chances than the Bruins could produce. 

“You don't try to play the score as a goalie; you just try to stop every puck,” Rask explained after the game. “You kind of expect every game to win 1-0 for your team, because you don't want to get scored on. Sometimes things go differently, and the last couple of games, we were able to score a lot of goals. Today was a different story, and so be it.”

Through six games, Rask has registered a modest 2.32 goals-against average and .919 save percentage en route to compiling a 3-3-0 record on the season. It could be argued that Thursday was his best performance of the season, so the combination of three straight victories and a sound performance in the ultimate trap game should leave Rask -- who at times has to deal with far more practice time than game action -- brimming with confidence. 

“[I feel] good,” Rask said. “I’ve been practicing a lot. Pretty confident. It’s all about the patience and how patient you can be and stay on your feet.”

So who knows? Maybe taking a nutty in practice brings out the best in Rask. Or did he stick with the stick that wouldn't break despite his enraged attempts?

"No, I [did] some kind of damage on that stick," Rask said with a grin. 

"I mean, I'm not that weak."