Goaltender Tuukka Rask has often had an up and down relationship with the fan base in Boston. When he left last season’s playoff bubble to be with his family, a good portion of Bruins Nation took him to task for “abandoning” the team and there were questions about his commitment to the game of hockey. Rightly or wrongly, some of those questions are starting to rear their ugly head again after Game 5 of the Bruins’ series with the New York Islanders.
Related: Bruce Cassidy and Nick Ritchie Both Fined After Monday Night’s Game
On Monday night, Rask wasn’t all that effective in the first two periods. He allowed four goals on 16 shots and by the the time the third had rolled around, he was no longer in net. Jeremy Swayman — who didn’t have a single playoff game on his resume — was in and the Bruins lost 5-4. The team is now a single loss from elimination.
Head coach Bruce Cassidy was asked about Rask in his media avail after the game and he answered why he took him off the ice. Cassidy explained:
“Yeah, there was some maintenance that needed to be done. He wasn’t 100 percent, so I made a decision. That’s a call we had to make between periods. I’ll just say he wasn’t himself … certainly could have went back in. We made a decision not to put him back in.”
It was a decision that many are now questioning, some assuming more is going on here than meets the eye. When asked if Rask was going to play in Game 6, Cassidy said, “I assume he will.”
Interesting Choice of Words
Steve Buckley of The Athletic points out that there’s a reason Cassidy phrased his response in the way he did. He noted:
“With those four words — “I assume he will” — Cassidy has unwittingly done his part to help create this latest Rask Referendum. He’s not saying Rask will start. He’s saying he assumes he’ll start. Remember, this a man who chooses his words carefully.
Buckley goes on to suggest that Cassidy is not the type of coach to beat around the bush. If a message needs to be sent, he’s likely to send it and the suggestion seems to be that it’s up to Rask. The past narrative was that Rask chose not to be a part of this team in crunch time last year. While Rask later came out and explained what pulled him away, is the suggestion here that Rask may have pulled himself from Game 5 and he may not want to come back in? It’s a stretch, but, again, because Cassidy didn’t clarify that an injury might keep the netminder out or maintenance would, thus all anyone is left to do is assume.
If It’s A Rask Injury, That’s Another Story
Former Bruins goalie Andrew Raycroft told WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show that Rask’s potential injury is something the Bruins will want to monitor closely. He notes, “Any time you have a ‘maintenance period,’ which I’ve never heard of in Game 5 of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there’s going to be a lot of questions and a lot of confusion for all of us,” he said.
Raycroft said Rask’s game didn’t look at all like what he was used to seeing. He explained, “A few odd plays coming out of the net, didn’t look like he could really get a lot of leverage on his stick and make real good, hard plays. So you put all of it together, and then he comes out, there’s something going on.”
The fact Cassidy acknowledged Rask could have played but they chose to have him sit, Raycroft says, “I’m not sure. There’s just a lot to try and take from the not-100 percent information that we have.”
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