The Boston Bruins' first-place lead in the Atlantic Division is getting a bit slimmer, and their starting goalie going down will add to a bit of a rough patch in their tremendous season. The Bruins were forced to place goalie Tuukka Rask on injured reserve this past week due to a concussion. The move came two days after he suffered the concussion in a 3-0 shutout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Rask left just over a minute in to that game after taking an inadvertent stick to the ear from Emil Bemstrom.
The replay showed that Bermstrom's elbow or forearm may have also added to the contact to his head, which Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy was not happy about after the game. Cassidy stated "it's just unfortunate that it happens to your No. 1, it's pretty clear to me."
The 32-year-old Rask has started 28 games for the Bruins and more recently decided to skip the All-Star Game on January 26th for "self-care." This comes one season after he led the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final when he appeared 70 games combined in the regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs. There is no doubt he has had an All-Star season this year, going 17-4-6 with a 2.27 goals against average. Jaroslav Halak will take over as the starter in the interim, and got off to a hot start with 24 saves in a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The replay showed that Bermstrom's elbow or forearm may have also added to the contact to his head, which Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy was not happy about after the game. Cassidy stated "it's just unfortunate that it happens to your No. 1, it's pretty clear to me."
The 32-year-old Rask has started 28 games for the Bruins and more recently decided to skip the All-Star Game on January 26th for "self-care." This comes one season after he led the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final when he appeared 70 games combined in the regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs. There is no doubt he has had an All-Star season this year, going 17-4-6 with a 2.27 goals against average. Jaroslav Halak will take over as the starter in the interim, and got off to a hot start with 24 saves in a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
