The good news for the Boston Bruins is that Bruce Cassidy does not think the departure of Ondrej Kase from Monday's game had to do with a concussion.
Kase left Monday's overtime win against the New York Islanders with an upper-body injury. That came in his first game back since the second contest of the year on Jan. 16, when a Miles Wood high stick kept the winger, who has a history of head injuries, out for months.
The 24-year-old is among many who won't play Tuesday in the regular season finale against the Washington Capitals, which will air on NESN+. He didn't travel with the team, but the Bruins head coach thinks something conditioning-related kept him out.
"No, I don't think (it's related to concussions); I think there was a little bit of a conditioning (matter) with him," Cassidy said over Zoom on Tuesday morning. "It was his first game in a long time, so I was told he just didn't feel like he was getting through it where he needed to be, so he let the training staff know. So, they decided to say, let's cut it short tonight.
"So, we'll see where it ends up. Obviously, he's not going to play (Tuesday), so we'll have a better assessment (later). Wednesday is a day off for everybody. Obviously, he'll be in to see the trainers, so I'll probably have a much better idea in the Wednesday or Thursday session how he came out of it."
Tuesday would've been the continuation of the opportunity to see what Kase would be able to provide the Bruins in the postseason. Now, he'll likely have a steeper path to playing his way into the lineup.
