Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask had to leave Thursday night’s game against the Nashville Predators after taking a puck to his face mask. To the collective relief of Bruins fans, Rask was back in practice on Friday morning.
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The Boston Bruins are relying heavily on Tuukka Rask this season. He’s been their best player so far this season. He’s also the only Black and Gold goaltender that has been able to rack up more than one win for Boston this year.
The 29-year old Rask got injured in the first period when a puck flew into his mask at neck level. It caused the Finnish goaltender to crumple up on the ice after the shot. The Bruins front office and the fans held their breath as they waited to see how bad it was.
At first glance, it didn’t look good. Thankfully, Rask was able to get up under his own power and with a little help, make his way off the ice. He didn’t return to the game. The Bruins placed Rask through the required concussion protocols to make sure everything was alright with their number one netminder.
Tuukka Rask takes a puck to the neck, he heads down the locker room #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/WWq06LGjCM
— Marina Maher (@marinakmaher) January 13, 2017
Zane McIntyre filled in for the rest of the game. While McIntyre looked far more confident in net then he did earlier in the season, the Predators were able to get two pucks by him. The B’s ended up losing to Nashville 2-1.
Rask was back in practice Friday morning to the collective relief of his teammates and the fans. He shared with the media, via the Boston Bruins website what happened and how he was currently feeling.
“It was a heavy shot, caught me right in the neck,” said Rask about the shot. “Had to catch my breath a little bit and make sure it doesn’t swell up so I can breath. It was fine. Just straight in my neck.”
“I designed the helmet so that the jaw is longer than usual; I try to protect my Adam’s apple as well as possible,” continued Rask. “When you turn your head sideways you kind of expose that part of your neck and muscle there. I’m not too worried about it…a tough break.”
Rask is expected to be in net on Saturday afternoon as the Bruins take on the Philadelphia Flyers at the TD Garden.