Bruins Notebook: Rask faces a fitting foe leading up to career milestone, B’s 2nd line takes another hit & more

Tuukka Rask isn’t one to spend much time dwelling on the past. So when asked Monday morning about the upcoming milestone of 500 career games played, the B’s netminder was more than happy to crack a joke at his own expense, rather than divert much time discussing the scope of his career. 

“They say it’s like a 1,000 games for a player. It’s a big milestone,” Rask said. “You play 500 games as a goalie, it’s going to take some years. Just goes to show how old I’m getting, I guess. That’s about it.”

Sure enough, with his next outing, Rask will become the 72nd goalie in NHL history to reach the mark of 500 games played. The 32-year-old goalie is already the Bruins’ franchise leader in appearances with his current total of 499 — ahead of the likes of Tiny Thompson (468 games played) and both Frank Brimsek and Eddie Johnston (both with 444 games played). 

“It goes by so quickly. You don’t really pay attention to how many games you play in total until you reach some kind of milestone,” Rask said. “Then you start looking back and you’re like, ‘holy crap — that’s 500.’ It’s been like, what, 11 years? Time flies, definitely. Just grateful that I’ve been a part of this team for so long and I’m still in it.”

As the next man up in what has been a 50/50 split in netminder duties so far in 2019-20, Rask is set to reach this achievement at the friendly confines of TD Garden on Tuesday — against an opponent that is all too familiar with Rask’s lengthy career. 



Rask has always been a thorn in the side of the Toronto Maple Leafs over the years, with the B’s goalie posting a record of 17-7-2 with a .925 save percentage in 29 career games against the Canadian club. 

But even beyond the on-ice numbers against Toronto, Rask has haunted the Original Six franchise due to their linked history — given that Rask was drafted by the Leafs in the first round of the 2005 NHL Draft. 

You know the story by now — with Boston pulling the trigger on a deal with Toronto back in 2006 that sent Rask to Boston in exchange for Andrew Raycroft. Raycroft only lasted two seasons in Toronto, posting an .890 save percentage over 91 appearances before eventually being bought out — while Rask put himself in line to be Boston's goaltender of the future. 

Taking over full-time in net for Boston in 2012, Rask has now compiled 268 wins in his NHL career — which stands as the most wins ever for a goaltender originally drafted by the Maple Leafs. In total, the Leafs have drafted 37 goalies since the NHL Draft started up in 1963 — of which three have won at least 200 games: Rask (268) Felix Potvin (266), Rask and Ken Wregget (225).

For Rask, there isn't too much sour grapes when it comes to the Maple Leafs. Due to the 2004-05 lockout, the 2005 draft was not open to the public and was conducted at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa — with Rask and other prospects not in attendance. As such, there were no corny stock photos of Rask donning a Maple Leafs jersey, nor did he attend Toronto's training camps — instead playing over in the Finnish Elite League through the 2006-07 season.

"I never played there," Rask said of Toronto. "I never went to camp. Just a paper transaction. I was drafted by them, was part of that organization for a year, whatever. They knew that I was going to stay in Finland for a year or two and then what happened happened. And we’re here now."

Toronto's gaffe with Rask might have occurred well over a decade ago, but the B's netminder doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon. Thanks to the rotation currently put in place between him and Jaroslav Halak (just seven games away from 500 games played as well), Rask has been locked in during the early going of the year, ranking fifth among all NHL netminders with a goals saved above average mark of 2.38.

"I think it’s great," Rask said of splitting reps with Halak. "It worked out last year and now we’re just going from where we left off last year in the regular season. Trying to get both of us in it and keep riding it out throughout the year. Obviously probably not gonna rotate thorough the year, but it's helpful for the both of us.”

Injuries linger with B’s 

Despite missing a couple of key cogs up front on Saturday night, the Bruins still managed to hang around against the Maple Leafs up at Scotiabank Arena — earning a point in a 4-3 overtime loss. 

Based on the state of Boston’s lineup on Monday morning, it looks as though the B’s are going to be feeling the sting of the injury bug once again when they host Toronto on Tuesday. 

Two of Boston’s three regulars on its second line in David Krejci and Karson Kuhlman were missing during Monday’s morning session, with Krejci’s status still up in the air after exiting last week’s game against the Ducks due to an upper-body injury. 

“Not really, no,” Bruce Cassidy said of any update on a timeline when it comes to Krejci. “Just that he won’t play tomorrow and we’ll see how it works out for Saturday.”

Kuhlman was limited for most of Saturday’s loss to the Maple Leafs after taking a blast from Jake DeBrusk off the leg while attempting to screen Frederik Andersen down low. The winger exited the game in the first period and eventually returned, but only logged 9:19 of ice time. 

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“We gave him a day today to see how he would respond. That’ll be determined in the morning,” Cassidy said of Kuhlman’s status for Tuesday’s game. 

Elsewhere, both Par Lindholm and Joakim Nordstrom donned red, non-contact sweaters on Monday, but Cassidy noted that Lindholm should be cleared for Tuesday. However, Nordstrom is still up in the air, with Cassidy adding that the versatile forward is “probably not as far along” as Lindholm when it comes to his health. 

Based on Monday’s lines, it looks as though the solution for the second line will be to roll out Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk and Brett Ritchie — a trio that has been outshot, 11-7, in 16:51 of 5v5 TOI so far this year. 

But if Kuhlman and one or both of Lindholm/Nordstrom are indeed MIA for Tuesday’s matchup, a call-up from Providence once again seems like a logical route for the B’s to take. 

Pastrnak named NHL’s First Star of the Week

After racking up a casual seven goals and nine total points over a three-game span, David Pastrnak was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week for the stretch ending on Oct. 20. 

The 23-year-old winger got off to a fast start, scoring all four of his club’s goals in a 4-2 victory over the Ducks on Monday — becoming the 19th player in franchise history to light the lamp four times in a single game. Pastrank followed that up with a three-point night against the Lightning on Thursday before recording a goal and an assist in Saturday’s OT loss to the Maple Leafs. 

Pastrnak, who is tied for first in the league with nine goals through eight games played, is also now just one point shy of 300 for his career. Having only appeared in 328 games up to this point, Pastrnak will be just the fourth player in B’s franchise history to reach 300 points in 350 games played or fewer — joining Barry Pederson (235), Bobby Orr (279) and Ray Bourque (316).