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Bruins' Rask misses practice, uncertain for Sat. vs. Habs

October 21, 2016, 1:31 PM ET [30 Comments]
Ty Anderson
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • RSSArchiveCONTACT
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It’s been a near-perfect start for the Boston Bruins. At 3-1-0, the Bruins have handled their business with the poise that eluded them for prolonged stretches last season, and have been led by the strong play of their goaltender, Tuukka Rask, who has yet to lose a game in three starts this year.

In what began as a rough start to his season with a soft Alexander Wennberg goal against and an early game leg-buckle of sorts -- one that caused the 29-year-old enough discomfort to sit out the second game of the season, a 4-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs -- in the opening period of the year, Rask has rebounded with straight-up fantastic performances in his three appearances for the B’s.

With 28 stops on 29 shots against in Thursday’s 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils, and an even more impressive 34-of-35 night against the Winnipeg Jets the game before that, Rask improved his season save percentage up to a stellar .947, with just five goals surrendered on 95 shots against.

But the Bruins marched on through a Friday practice at Warrior Ice Arena without Rask.

Called a “maintenance day” by the team, the practice rolled on with Boston backup netminder Anton Khudobin and the 32-year-old Mike Ronan, a goaltending coach at Babson College, with the team as a one-day, emergency fill-in. Ronan, a native of Quincy, Mass., last played hockey in 2011-12 with the Cape Cod Bluefins of the Federal Hockey League.

“There’s not much to update,” B’s coach Claude Julien said of Rask’s status for tomorrow’s showdown with the rival Montreal Canadiens. “The general soreness that he had last week is still there a little bit, so it’s day to day and we’ll figure it out and see how things will be tomorrow.”

Rask has five wins and a .910 save percentage in 24 career games against the Habs.

If Rask is unable to go, the Bruins will have to give the start to Khudobin, who took the loss in that aforementioned Toronto game behind a 20-of-24 night, or call either Malcolm Subban or Zane McIntyre up from the Providence Bruins on an emergency recall.

Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can also be read in the New England Hockey Journal magazine. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
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