Boston Bruins starting goaltender Tuukka Rask is out for Sunday's round-robin game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said Rask is "unfit to play." Backup goalie Jaroslav Halak will take over in his place. Dan Vladar will be the backup for the matchup as Rask is not dressing.
Cassidy said that he hopes that Rask is able to get back on the ice tomorrow.
#NHLBruins Coach Bruce Cassidy says Jaroslav Halak will start in goal vs the #Flyers this afternoon. Says Tuukka Rask is in the “unfit to play” category but feeling better. #WBZ @wbz pic.twitter.com/aSobO6rwtQ
— Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) August 2, 2020
The 33-year-old missed practice on Saturday after not feeling well, but said on Sunday he was doing better. Cassidy said after the weekend practice, "He wasn't feeling well, so unfit to participate today."
Cassidy said on Saturday that if their go-to guy wasn't fit to play, Halak would be prepared to step in.
"As an afternoon game tomorrow, 3 o'clock, I'm sure the follow-up question is will he start? I'll have to talk to Tuukka later, see where he's at. If not, [Halak] will be ready to go," the coach said Saturday.
It is worth noting that the NHL's "unfit to play" designation is is for all reasons that a player would be unavailable during the return to play during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 31 games this season, Halak went 18-6-6 with a 2.39 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. In his 41 games played this year, Rask, who has been with the Bruins for 13 seasons, went 26-8-6 with a 2.12 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.
Before the league paused due to the coronavirus, the Bruins lead the Atlantic Division with a record of 44-14-12. The Flyers were second in the Metropolitan Division sitting at 41-21-7.
The Flyers and Bruins are set to face off at 3 p.m. ET.
