Bruins Bubble Notebook: Rask’s availability uncertain for Sunday’s round-robin game; Kase practices up in Toronto

Good news, Bruins fans.

For the first time since early March, the Bruins had their full complement of forwards back on the ice — as Ondrej Kase made his anticipated return Saturday after missing most of the first three weeks of Boston’s “Return to Play” activities.

The bad news?

Well, the Bruins might be without Tuukka Rask for Sunday’s round-robin opener against the Flyers. 

Speaking after Saturday’s skate, Bruce Cassidy confirmed that Rask did not participate in Boston’s latest practice — potentially putting his availability in doubt for the B’s afternoon bout on Sunday. 

Speaking following Thursday’s exhibition loss to the Blue Jackets, Cassidy stated that Rask was penciled in as the starting netminder for Sunday’s game.

“He wasn't feeling well, so unfit to participate today, which, as an afternoon game tomorrow at three o'clock, I'm sure the follow up question — Will he start? I'll have to talk to Tuukka later,” Cassidy said. “See where he's at. So if not, Jaro will be ready to go.”

Rask, like most of his teammates, was rusty in Boston’s loss to Columbus, relinquishing three goals on 20 total shots before exiting Thursday’s tune-up midway through the second period.

Granted, rolling out Jaroslav Halak is one hell of a backup option, with Boston’s No. 2 goalie stopping all 10 shots that came his way on Thursday. 

Still, I don’t think I need to say all that much when it comes to harping on the importance of having your No. 1 goalie ready to roll once playoff hockey begins.

Yes, the upcoming round-robin games have much less at stake when compared to the eight play-in series, but Boston needs to get Rask settled into a groove before these contests really start to count during the following week.

Kase returns:

As expected, Cassidy confirmed that both Kase and Nick Ritchie will not be cleared in time for Sunday’s game, with Kase in particular needing time to re-acclimate with his club after only skating in one of Boston’s 13 practices at Warrior Ice Arena during Phase 3. 

While Kase missed the team’s charter flight to Toronto last Sunday, the right winger did not have to adhere to some of the mandated safety protocols put in place for players flying commercially up to Phase 4 secure zones — such as a mandatory four-day quarantine in his hotel room.

Kase could have avoid these restrictions by flying in a private plane up to Ontario, among other possible measures, but the 24-year-old forward wasn’t particularly chatty about his road up to Toronto, nor his absence from the club over the last couple of weeks.



“I respect your question, but I would prefer to not get into specifics about the whole process,” Kase said.

“I think there was a mistake somewhere along the line. He didn't have to quarantine here. He did that in New England, in Boston,” Cassidy added. “He arrived yesterday. And he was on the ice this morning with the extra players. We had two groups go. He'll be out tomorrow, certainly won't play tomorrow. Richie skated with that group as well and with us, so he did double work today, but he won't be available tomorrow either. But they're both back on the ice and we'll make a decision on Wednesday. As we get closer to that game, see how they do with us on Monday and Tuesday in practices.”

While, on paper, the Bruins are a better club with a shot-first winger like Kase in the lineup, it’s far from a given that the B’s deadline pickup has solidified a spot next to David Krejci — especially with Jack Studnicka making a pretty good impression in the top-six grouping during Thursday’s tilt. 

Still, even if doesn’t settle on Krejci’s line — a good problem for the Bruins to have, given that would signal that Studnicka is rolling with that grouping — Kase, once he’s settled in, can bring a lot to any line he’s on.

“He's high energy — he'll get on pucks,” Cassidy said. He's a good forechecker that way — he's good at being the first guy. Jake's got good speed, too. So if he ends up with Krejci, Krech can kind of be the high guy and read off those two. So he certainly brought that. A willingness to shoot the puck, he went to the net. The offensive numbers weren't there, I'm not sure they were for for the line in general. Not going to put that all on Ondrej. So that's what I'd expect out of him. He's young, should have his legs under him.

“For him, it'll be getting the reps, the timing, the execution — getting used to the physical part of the game, because he's been out of practice. Our guys have done obviously more of that and just tried to step it up in practice without risking injury. They've got another they've got a game under their belt from the other night. So that's where Ondrej will have to catch up. We'll see where he's at once he gets back at it.

Here’s a look at the Bruins’ lines during Saturday’s skate up in Toronto:

Marchand – Bergeron – Pastrnak
DeBrusk – Krejci – Studnicka/Ritchie
Kuhlman/Kuraly – Coyle – Bjork
Nordstrom – Lindholm – Wagner

Chara – McAvoy
Krug – Carlo
Grzelcyk – Lauzon
Moore – Clifton

Halak
Lagace
Vladar

Group 2 participants: Frederic, Kase, Lagace, Ritchie, Senyshyn, Vaakanainen, Zboril

Brad Marchand given green light:

There weren’t a whole lot of positives to take away from Thursday’s exhibition loss against the Blue Jackets — the top being the status of Brad Marchand.

Marchand only ended up logging 13:55 of ice time in Thursday’s game, exiting during the third period after suffering what looked to be a groin/hip injury while finishing up a shift on the penalty kill. Marchand, who was in visible discomfort during the shift, did not return upon making it back to the bench. 

Despite the troubling optics involved in Marchand’s sudden absence, the B’s top left winger was a full participant during Saturday’s skate — with Cassidy adding that Marchand should be given the green light for Sunday’s matchup.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1289009699988307968

“The reason he left the other day won't preclude him from playing tomorrow,” Cassidy said. “He looked fine. You never know what those three o'clock games, how it'll shake out. I'm sure he'll be ready to go. His minutes will be determined, probably more about how he's playing. Obviously, if there's a lingering issue with an injury, then we keep an eye on it, but I think he's going to be 100% ready to go and play whatever's asked of him."