While Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask was scratched from his scheduled start on Friday in Arizona, it’s not expected to be a long-term injury for the netminder, notes Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald. Rask is dealing with a lower-body injury and it’s unknown if it’s related to his surgically-repaired hip. However, the team hasn’t ruled him out for Sunday’s game against Dallas. Jeremy Swayman was scratched from his AHL start on Friday and is expected to join the team by Sunday which would allow Troy Grosenick to return to the taxi squad after serving as the backup last night.
More from the Atlantic:
- Senators center Josh Norris won’t be able to return to Ottawa’s lineup until after the All-Star break, relays Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link). Instead, he’s set to undergo further examination on his injured shoulder. Norris has been a bright spot for the Sens this season, notching 18 goals in 36 games while sitting third on the team in points with 26.
- Canadiens goaltender Carey Price skated for the first time today since being shut down in his injury rehab last month, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). Price continues to work his way back from offseason knee surgery but has had multiple setbacks along the way which have prevented him from playing at all so far this season.
- Still with Montreal, the team announced (Twitter link) that wingers Paul Byron and Brendan Gallagher could return to the lineup tomorrow against Columbus. Byron has missed the entire season after undergoing offseason hip surgery while Gallagher has been out for nearly a month with a lower-body injury. The Canadiens will need to activate Byron off LTIR but with Price and Shea Weber both still on there, they have enough LTIR space to still be cap-compliant with his activation.
If Rask does not improve his play soon, he needs to get a minor injury and go on LTIR the rest of the year to save face. Then after the season just quietly skate off into the sunset.
@Johnny Z – After looking at his numbers for this year, I’d have to agree. It looks like he’s a mediocre ECHL goalie right now…
Heck, never mind the numbers, it’s the play. I didn’t see the game where he gave up five goals on seven shots, but I saw the other two he started. The first game he gave up two, and looked rusty otherwise, but I thought, mm, okay, he hasn’t played in over half a year. The second game he just plain gave up soft goals. I think both Rask and the team blew it here to salve Tuukka’s pride a bit — he should have started out with conditioning games in Providence, and he’d have a better chance to work things out. Now he’d need to clear waivers, I wager.
Thanks Nha. Tukku Rask needs To Take-a Rest! LOL
Rask is definitely no Tim Thomas.
He’s coming off hip surgery and played one AHL game to get ready for a return to the highest caliber hockey league on Earth.
Anyone who expected more of Rask must also expect him to walk on water.