‘It feels dull at times.’ Tuukka Rask’s thoughts on the 2020 NHL playoffs are sure to raise eyebrows - The Boston Globe
As serious as that might sound, if not critical, their goalie, Tuukka Rask, made clear after the loss that he feels something’s missing.
“Well, I mean, considering I had four months off,” said the franchise tender, asked how he felt both mentally and physically after starting on back-to-back nights, “I mean, I’m not in prime shape, but . . . trying to get there. I’m just trying to have fun and play the game. I’m not stressing too much about results and whatnot.
“It’s August, and I haven’t played hockey forever . . . so go out there and have fun and see what happens for me.”
Rask’s a different cat, no question, but that was an unexpected and unusual response, and one that no doubt will dominate Boston talk radio on Friday, over the weekend, and perhaps years to come.
Bruins fans live for this time of year, even if the postseason has been tolled into the dog days of summer. They frame their days around playoff games, dare not run to the fridge in the middle of the action. It won’t go down easy for many of them to hear the No. 1 goalie isn’t stressing like they are stressing.
Because there is “no buzz around the series,” explained Rask, noting special circumstances framed by the COVID-19 pandemic, “it feels dull at times.”
The lack of atmosphere, he added, “makes it feel like an exhibition game . . . but we’re trying our best to kind of ramp up and get energized and make it feel like a playoff game.”
The three-game round-robin tournament, in which the Bruins dropped all three and fell three rungs to the fourth seed in the East, was supposed to be where teams shook physical rust and mental cobwebs.
It didn’t do it for Rask.
When asked about Rask’s comments, teammate Brad Marchand said Rask perhaps was talking about the round-robin tournament. Nope. Rask clearly was focusing on the moment.
“These are playoff games, playoff atmosphere,” said Marchand, who put on a one-man penalty-killing clinic in the third period when the Bruins were scraping for the tying goal. “We are going to compete hard. There’s no question it doesn’t have the same atmosphere, and there’s no home-ice advantage . . . it’s just straight-up hockey at this point.
“Unfortunately, that’s the playoffs this year and, you know, at least we’re playing.”
