There are no sure things for a 34-year-old goalie coming off major hip surgery.
Tuukka Rask learned that the hard way. On Jan. 24, Rask did not feel right after a 5-3 loss to Anaheim. He has been sidelined since.
Sunday marked Linus Ullmark’s third straight start. He did not finish it. Ullmark was pulled after Dallas grabbed a 4-0 lead in the second period. Jeremy Swayman, recalled from Providence on Saturday, saw his first NHL action since Jan. 6. Swayman may get Tuesday’s game against Seattle at TD Garden.
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That will give Rask the All-Star break to heal the lower-body injury that has ailed him since his last start. Whether that will be enough time for Rask to recover is unknown.
If everything goes right for Rask, he could be back in action when the Bruins return from their All-Star pause on Feb. 8 against Pittsburgh. That is a big if.
Even so, that would mark a reboot 26 days after his Jan. 13 season debut against Philadelphia. That is a considerable segment of time, which is not an infinite commodity for the would-be ace.
Rask’s setback does not close the door on his comeback. But it is an unwelcome turn as the calendar pages continue to flip. The Bruins have 40 games remaining in the regular season. They cannot devote all of them to determining whether the new Rask can be the old Rask in the playoffs.
In other words, there will come a day when Rask and the Bruins have to say go or no-go on the postseason. It would be unfair to Rask, Ullmark and Swayman to tread too deeply into March or April without clarity on how they will proceed in May and June. The home stretch of the regular season will be devoted to priming the No. 1 goalie, whoever it may be, for playoff success.
Before Rask’s injury, coach Bruce Cassidy estimated the ex-Vezina Trophy winner would need approximately eight starts to knock off his rust. So far, he’s gotten four. How many more he’ll need upon return is difficult to say. That will depend on how he’s feeling and how he’s playing. Based on his stop-and-start health and leaky performance, eight starts may not be enough.
He was excellent in his first game against the Flyers. Carolina pumped five pucks past Rask in the first period of a 7-1 rout on Jan. 18. He was better in a 3-2 win over Winnipeg on Jan. 22. But Rask hit the skids against the Ducks, when he allowed five goals on 27 shots. The leakiest was an Isac Lundestrom slow-moving shorty.
Rask cited depth in his net, tracking and puck play as his bugaboos against Anaheim. He said nothing about an injury.
“Looking briefly at those goals, I’m too deep in the crease. I’m giving too much net away,” said Rask (.844 all-situations save percentage through four appearances) after the loss. “Tracking the puck, obviously it’s not as sharp as it should be. Puck play also. A lot of things. Then again, it’s going to come. I’m going to work on it. I made some saves at times, showing that it’s still there. But the inconsistency within the game, you can’t let in one or two bad goals a game. Because you’re doing the total opposite you’re supposed to do at that point.”
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Rask still has time. The Bruins have 11 games in February. They have 14 in March.
Their January surge has also given Rask more runway. They are nine points clear of Detroit for the No. 2 wild-card slot. Wins are not as precious as they were at the beginning of the month when the Bruins started out of the playoff picture. If necessary, they can afford to sacrifice points if it means giving Rask starts with the intention of clarifying his future.
So if Rask is feeling better after the All-Star break, he should have enough time to share the crease with Ullmark and see how his game develops. But at some point, both sides will have to make the call. Rask has said he only wants to help the team win. If the best way he can do that is by surrendering the net to Ullmark and Swayman, he will do so. He is a pro.
It will put the Bruins back where they started. Ullmark and Swayman will compete for the net, just like they did at the beginning of the season. There have been pockets of turbulence, especially early. But they were good in December and January prior to Rask’s re-entry.
Rask is unrestricted at year’s end. The future belongs to the 28-year-old Ullmark and 23-year-old Swayman. The next month will go a long way in determining whether their time will be sooner than expected.
(Photo: Richard T Gagnon / Getty Images)
