When Don Sweeney said Tuukka Rask wasn’t starting Wednesday against Montreal, the general assumption was that the Bruins veteran goalie would make his 2022 debut Thursday against the Flyers at TD Garden.
Coach Bruce Cassidy made that official Wednesday morning.
“Our intention is to start Tuukka tomorrow. He’ll have to be OK with that. I believe he is,” Cassidy said after morning skate. “He had a good workout today.”
He said how the goalie rotation progresses from there remains to be seen.
“We have to see how he performs first, see how his conditioning is recovering from games etc.,” Cassidy said. “We have a lot coming up so obviously both goalies are going to get the net. … We might alternate early on to see how it goes.”
Brad Marchand thought Rask’s return would provide a lift.
“There’s no doubt he’s going to help our team. He’s been one of the best goalies in the league for the last 10 or 15 years. We’re lucky he’s back again this year,” he said. “When you add a player of that caliber, you know they’re going to make an impact. You know they’re going to help you win and make a difference every night that they play. He’s going to do that. … There’s no question he’s going to help win games when he plays and there’s going to be games that he steals that we shouldn’t win. I think guys will be excited to have him in there. … You get a bit of a boost when you get a player of his caliber coming into the lineup.”
Rask hasn’t played since the Bruins were eliminated from the playoffs. He announced shortly after that he needed hip surgery to repair a torn labrum. He was a free agent but stated he only wanted to play in Boston and did he rehab with the Bruins before signing a contract Tuesday. Rask’s 306 career wins are the most in Bruins history.
AFTER A HIGH-STICK broke his nose Monday, Brad Marchand was still looking at the glass as half full.
“I’m just glad it wasn’t my teeth. I can deal with a broken nose. Missing these beautiful teeth of mine would have hurt,” said Marchand, who didn’t think Nic Dowd had been trying to injure him. “He got me pretty good. There’s no question. I don’t think it was intentional by any means. He was trying to lift my stick. He wasn’t very close, but it happens sometimes.”
CASSIDY SAID both Nick Foligno and Trent Frederic could be back in the Bruins lineup next week. Foligno, who suffered what looked like a serious lower-body injury against Tampa, skated Wednesday morning.
“Watching it on video it certainly didn’t look good. I thought it could have been more long-term,” Cassidy said. “I don’t anticipate we’ll see him this week, but next week is certainly a possibility.”
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