Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask placed on injured reserve
Nov 21, 2019; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (40) prepares during the third period against the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden. (Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports)
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
The Bruins will be without their No. 1 goaltender until the team returns from their bye week (and the league’s All-Star break), as the team placed Tuukka Rask on the injured reserve on Thursday morning.
Clocked in the head by the Jackets’ Emil Bemstrom just 1:12 into play in Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to the Blue Jackets, Rask exited the game and did not return by the night’s end, and was diagnosed with a concussion shortly after the game.
It was the 32-year-old’s second concussion in just under a year, and his third since the start of the 2017-18 season. Bemstrom, for the record, was not fined or suspended for the hit on Rask.
Rask’s absence will force Jaroslav Halak back into the de facto starter’s role for the Bruins. Halak has struggled of late, with losses in four of his last five starts, but has a 10-5-6 record and .919 save percentage on the season.
And with Rask on the shelf, the team has recalled Daniel Vladar from the P-Bruins.
Vladar, a 6-foot-5 Czech, is 6-5-0 with a .935 save percentage and 1.85 goals against average in 12 appearances for Providence this season. A third-round pick (75th overall) of the club back in 2015, Vladar has found himself in Boston on emergency recalls in the past, but has yet to appear in an NHL game.
