The expectation entering Saturday night’s matchup between the Boston Bruins and Minnesota Wild was that Jaroslav Halak would get the start in between the pipes.
But as the Bruins hit the ice at TD Garden just before puck drop, Tuukka Rask led the team onto the sheet and made his way into the crease, washing all pregame plans aside.
So why didn’t Halak make his scheduled start?
“Halak showed up sick,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said after the game, via a team-provided transcript. “So very simply, Tuukka it’s you or goalie Bob (Essensa). He went in and did a great job pinch hitting. I think he had some tough luck around the net. Makes that, was it (Jason) Zucker, I can’t remember now, or (Zach) Parise? One of them was in late, that could be it, right? You could say, ‘Well, not our night,’ but we battled hard, overtime shot, that I think hit (Charlie) Coyle’s stick. It’s hard from my vantage point what exactly happened. He stretched out, made a great save. He battled hard, good for him. I’m glad he got the win because, in those circumstances it’s not easy.”
Rask ultimately took care of business, especially in the third when a couple big saves of his ultimately allowed David Krejci to score two goals in 48 seconds to tie the game late. Torey Krug would pot the winner in overtime to give the Bruins their 15th win in dramatic fashion.
