Rask out, but Bruins soldier on
The Bruins, shortly after waking up Saturday to face the Hurricanes, found out goaltender Tuukka Rask was opting out of the NHL playoffs to be with his family.
While the defending Eastern Conference champions are supporting their teammate at least publicly, they’re focusing on their quest to go a step farther in the playoffs than they did a year ago with Rask in net.
Jaroslav Halak stopped 29 shots after starting on short notice in place of Rask and Charlie Coyle provided plenty of offense, scoring once and setting up another goal to help the Bruins beat the Hurricanes 3-1 in Toronto to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series.
“We move on,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I know it sounds cold, but on the professional part of it we have a job to do.”
Rask, a Vezina Trophy finalist, is the highest-profile player to opt out of the NHL’s return from the coronavirus pandemic shutdown. He led the league with a 2.12 goals-against average and helped the Bruins reach Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last year.
Rask left the league’s bubble in Toronto to be with his wife and three young children, including a newborn.
“We found out shortly before departure of the bus,” Boston defenseman Zdeno Chara recalled. “Obviously, our first concern is the health and safety of his family.”
Game 4 is Monday night, when the fifth-seeded Hurricanes may be without Andrei Svechnikov against the fourthseeded Bruins. The 20-year-old Russian standout forward was injured late in the game when his right leg, near his ankle, buckled after getting tied up with Chara in front of the net.
“That injury really looks bad and that’s all that’s going through my head,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said.
On Saturday afternoon, the Bruins were without star David Pastrnak for a second straight game due to an undisclosed ailment. He watched from the stands Saturday, sitting alone with a mask.
Coyle did his part to make up for the loss. He broke a scoreless tie, scoring on a power play off a rebound in the opening seconds of the second period. Coyle batted the puck past Petr Mrazek after the goaltender stopped Brad Marchand’s shot that was set up by David Krejci’s pass off the end boards.
“We need Charlie Coyle to be an effective player for us, an impact player,” Cassidy said.
The 35-year-old Halak made his first start in the playoffs since 2015 with the Islanders.
Kuemper huge: Darcy Kuemper stopped 49 shots and the Coyotes beat the Avalanche 4-2 in Edmonton, Alberta, to cut the Avs’ series lead to 2-1.
The Coyotes took the early lead on Derek Stepan’s first-period goal, then spent most of the day counterpunching against the Avs’ relentless pressure.
Andre Burakovsky tied it in the second period during one Avalanche flurry, but Brad Richardson Richardson put the Coyotes up 2-1 in the closing seconds.