Rask Sidelined For Bruins
Last night early on in the first period Bruins’ goaltender Tuukka Rask received an elbow to the head from Blue Jackets forward Emil Bemstrom. Rask had to be removed from the game and was replaced by Jaroslav Halak. The Bruins went on to lose the game 3-0 and that wasn’t their biggest loss of the night.
Tuukka Rask takes an elbow from Emil Bemstrom to the head.
He heads to the quiet room. Halak in.
Not good. pic.twitter.com/2bY4Xv0Mja
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) January 15, 2020
After the game ended it was revealed that Rask had suffered a concussion and he was going to miss some time. Just a day after he decided he would not participate in the All-Star game Rask is now going to miss more time. The Bruins have three games left before they reach the All-Star break and they’re hopeful Rask will be healthy after the break. Rask has lead the Bruins in 28 games with a 2.27 GAA and a .925 SV%. His record of 17-4 is among the top in the league.
The Bruins tried to get Bemstrom to answer for his actions when Carlo approached him twice in the second period with intent to drop the gloves, however, Bemstrom backed away. The Bruins have had trouble answering the call for fighting in recent years they just don’t seem to have an enforcer that they’ve needed maybe a handful of times this year. The enforcer is a role gone by the wayside but in attempt to bring one back the Bruins have designated Brett Ritchie for assignment and will likely recall Trent Frederic from Providence who has 102 penalty minutes in the AHL right now. Skill wise they’re similar players but Frederic is younger and will at least scrap when someone has to.
For the meantime the Bruins will need to address their goaltending need. Halak will likely start the next couple games but he hasn’t looked as sharp in his last couple appearances and has allowed some soft goals, the other options for the Bruins at the AHL level are Dan Vladar and Max Lagace. With Rask out for the foreseeable future and the Bruins lead in the Atlantic starting to slip they need a spark to get themselves going. They return to action tomorrow night against the Penguins.
Tyler Smith (@TylerSmith4386)