Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said Monday he has no regrets about playing goaltender Tuukka Rask late in the series against the Islanders, when the Bruins were on the ropes and the netminder was compromised.
“Obviously Tuukka has acknowledged that he was playing hurt,” said Cassidy, who discussed a number of topics in a 27-minute Zoom call with local reporters. “He met with us every day — medical staff, myself, Goalie Bob (Essensa) — to go through his status, particularly in the playoffs. He played Game 1 with it against Washington right through Game 6 in New York. It was the same injury, sort of the same player dealing with it. We just got different results in the second round. Some of that is team-oriented in both the first and the second round. You don’t put everything on the goalie when you lose, just like you don’t when you win.
“We were never going to run out a player that wasn’t fit to play,” Cassidy said. “He regularly told us he was ready to go.”
Cassidy also touched on the issue of winger Jake DeBrusk, who had a down year and was a healthy scratch for some of the playoffs. Cassidy said he has not conducted his exit meeting with DeBrusk because things are still “too raw.” They’ve had plenty of in-season talks, but getting to the root of issues is difficult when there’s always a next game on the schedule.
This week, Cassidy plans to meet with DeBrusk to “find some common ground on where you see yourself fitting into this lineup, and where I feel you need to be better, and see if we can sort through some of the stuff … it’s up to me to dig a little deeper with him.”
Bruce Cassidy said he has no regrets about sticking with an injured Tuukka Rask - The Boston Globe
Last edited:
