Bruins notebook: Tuukka Rask remains off the ice

Another day passed for the Bruins on Tuesday, and it was another day that Tuukka Rask did not take the ice.

Rask continues to deal with a lower body injury that knocked him out of the goaltending rotation last Friday in Arizona. At the time, he was termed as day-to-day, but it has clearly lingered a little more than was hoped or expected. For the first time on Tuesday, coach Bruce Cassidy acknowledged that the injury was indeed related to his surgically repaired hip.

“Yeah, it’s dragged out,” said Cassidy. “Once he missed time on the road, we did not figure he’d be practicing today or maybe (play), that would be a big ask so you might as well take the break and get it sorted out. I guess there’s maybe some lingering effects from the surgery that are creeping in now after he played more than practicing for that stretch. Only he knows how much it’s preventing him from being 100 percent athletic or comfortable in the net. That’s what’s happened the last little little stretch. Obviously, (Jeremy) Swayman is here and he’s done a good job for us. Were still solid between the pipes…but that’s where Tuukka’s at and we’ll have a much better idea coming out of the break.”

If what’s bothering Rask now hasn’t settled down when the B’s return from their All-Star break next week, it would certainly seem to put Rask’s comeback attempt in question, if we’re not there already.

Rask was originally going to do a rehab start in Providence for a game or two, but that was wiped out when the P-Bruins opponent, Lehigh Valley, for the weekend on January 8-10 had to cancel because of COVID issues. The decision was made then for Rask to jump straight into NHL action in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers on January 13, a start in which he picked up the win and looked for very good.

His next start was a disastrous 7-1 loss to Carolina from which he was pulled after the first period, but it was hard to dump the loss on Rask’s shoulders because it was a team-wide collapse. He won his next game against Winnipeg, bouncing back from an early soft goal to notch the 3-2 victory, shutting the door late in a 6-on-5 situation.

But in a 5-3 loss to Anaheim on January 24, he struggled badly, allowing a bad shorthanded goal and a couple more that highlighted his problems with his puck-tracking and depth. That was his last game.

It as known that he had some sort of physical issue coming out of the Anaheim game, but it wasn’t expected to be bad enough to keep him from starting one of the three road games. But after he backed up Linus Ullmark in Colorado, it was deemed he was unfit to even do that in Arizona. Troy Grosenick was activated off the taxi squad for that duty before Swayman was recalled from Providence to back up Ullmark in Dallas.

After Ullmark was shelled, Swayman relieved him against the Stars on Sunday. Cassidy decided to go right back with Ullmark for Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Kracken at the Garden for his fourth straight start.

“(Ullmark) is playing good hockey. I don’t think anybody was great in Dallas, so let’s give him a chance to get back in the net,” said Cassidy, whose team is heading into a week-long All-Star break.

Bergeron appreciates Brady

Patrice Bergeron’s career nearly coincided with Tom Brady’s in Boston, having arrived here as a teenager in the fall of 2003, not too long after Brady won his first Super Bowl in January of 2002.

Bergeron admired the quarterback’s focus and competitiveness.

“First and foremost the way he approached the game, the way he competed and wanted to win, his will to win was bar none the best I’ve seen and witness. It was just a pleasure to watch for 22 years. An amazing career and a well deserved retirement,” said Bergeron.

The B’s captain first became aware of Brady when he was a 16-year-old Midget triple A player in his native Quebec City and his team used the underdog Patriots, who upset the Rams on Adam Vinatieri’s last second field goal, as their own inspiration.

Now Bergeron himself is approaching a career crossroads. He may not have reached it yet, but the 36-year-old centerman, who is in the last year of his contract, has thus far declined to negotiate an extension, not yet knowing if he’ll be ready to gear up for another NHL campaign. But he’s not ready to announce his intentions one way or another just yet.

“You want to make sure you’re fully committed to playing the game at a high level.. Especially as a leader, you want to make sure you’re doing that to the best of your abilities for your teammates,” said Bergeron. “I think that’s what he’s been able to do throughout his career and I (salute) him for doing that for such a long time. As far as myself, I’m focused and committed to playing the game.”

Foligno, Frederic return to ice

Trent Frederic and Nick Foligno, both out with upper body injuries, returned to the ice for Tuesday’s morning skate, but neither was in the lineup against the Kracken. Frederic has been out since leaving the B’s 7-3 win on January 10 and Foligno hasn’t played since leaving the B’s 5-3 loss to Anaheim on January 24.

Cassidy said that the players would have to go through a full practice with contact before they could get back in.

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/SdkjRyp4L