In a perfect world, Tuukka Rask would have had a full day of rest between Games 1 and 2 between the Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes.
But 2020 is anything but perfect.
The Bruins and Hurricanes’ Game 1 was postponed from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning due to the marathon Game 1 between the Lightning and Blue Jackets that ended in the fifth overtime when Tampa Bay finally scored to go up 1-0 on Columbus in the series.
The long wait halted Boston’s plans and now the Black and Gold will play back-to-back games. So it’s fair to wonder if Rask will start both matchups.
So does Bruce Cassidy have a plan?
“We do, we’re going to let the game play out first tomorrow,” the B’s head coach said during a Zoom press conference. “The good news about the back-to-back, there is a day and a half, not quite, there’s a 12 o’clock game and an 8 o’clock game, little more rest, there’s no travel involved so it may depend on the workload of Tuukka. Obviously we’ll discuss it with him. We’re very comfortable with both goaltenders. I’ve heard (Hurricanes head coach) Rod (Brind’amour) say on the other side, he proved it, he used both goaltenders against the Rangers. So I don’t think it’ll be an issue for him either. It’s two teams that typically use both goaltenders so that’s a bit of a fortunate break for both teams.”
Both Rask and Jaroslav Halak were a heck of a tandem for the B’s during the shortened 2019-20 regular season, so it’s no surprise Cassidy is confident in both of his guys.
Puck drop for Game 1 (for real this time) is set for 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
