What Is Going On With Tuukka Rask And Bruce Cassidy?
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston  BOSTON (CBS)  Normally, it wouldnt be very weird for a starting goaltender to get pulled from a game after allowing four goals on 16 shots. Even if the goals werent necessarily the goalies fault, a coach will often make a change in net, if nor nothing else than simply the sake of change and to give his team a wake-up call of sorts. Yet, in what has been a weird couple of weeks, Bruce Cassidy managed to make it weird when explaining his decision to give Tuukka Rask a seat on the bench after two periods in the Bruins Game 5 loss to the Islanders. Again, had Cassidy said he made the move because Rask was not at his best and the team needed a change, it would have made perfect sense. Instead, Cassidy said that Rask was hurt. But not hurt hurt. He just needed maintenance. So he could have played. But he didnt. It was weird. Yeah, its uhh  there was some maintenance that needed to be done, Cassidy said. He wasnt 100 percent. So we made a decision. And thats the call we had to make between periods. Ill just say he wasnt himself 100 percent. Um  certainly could have went back in. I assume he will, Cassidy said. Again. Kind of weird. Certainly nobody is 100 percent at this time of year, let alone a veteran goaltender who missed a month late in the year with a (presumed) back injury. Rask wasnt 100 percent in his first nine playoff games, when he had a .935 save percentage, a 1.94 GAA, and a 6-3 record. Seemingly all that changed on Monday was that a few more pucks got past him. Yet  Rask skipped the teams morning skate on Monday, opting to take some shots before the team took the ice together. The comment from Cassidy suggesting that Rask certainly could have went back in for the third period indicates that it wasnt really the type of issue that would or should have kept him off the ice. Weird. But really, while Cassidys postgame explanation for the goaltending switch was curious, it was merely the continuation of some eyebrow-raising comments from the head coach regarding his starting netminder. Most notably, of course, came after Game 2, when Cassidy criticized Rask for not tracking pucks well in the overtime loss. That particular criticism was a strange one, though. None of the three regulation goals allowed by Rask that night involved puck tracking, and the overtime winner came via snipe on a breakaway. Nevertheless, Cassidy (virtually) sat in front of the media and publicly pointed a finger at Rask, who really had been outstanding to that point. Cassidy also threw out this barb, when asked whether or not Rask was healthy. Well he finished the game, so I assume hes OK, Cassidy said after Game 2. If he wasnt, he wouldve told us. We have a very capable backup. So I assume hes fine.  We have. A very capable backup. Rask had been outstanding for Boston before allowing those four goals in Game 2. And even then, he made some incredible saves before taking the OT loss. And yet, at the first sign of a leak, Cassidy not-so-subtly reminded the world  and Rask  that Jeremy Swayman is a very capable backup. Insert thinking emoji here. Cassidy being so quick to allude to Swayman may stem from Rask being all too willing to discuss his health in recent weeks. In an interview with WEEI before the series began, Rask said:  Health is OK. Ive been playing, so thats  thats OK. Not as good as I would want to be, but obviously Ive been playing and practicing. So Im out there. Thats all that matters.  That came after Rask sidestepped a question about his long-term physical status following a Game 1 loss in Washington to start the postseason. Well Im not going to ask that right now, Rask said when asked if he feels physically capable of playing next season and beyond. Ill talk to you after the season. Youll find out.  Given the readiness of Rask to volunteer the news that hes not playing at 100 percent, and considering Rask was slow to get up and labored a bit during Game 2 vs. the Islanders, Cassidy was asked a day after that loss if it was indeed an issue for the goaltender. Cassidy did not seem interested in entertaining the notion. Right now I dont think that theres any reason to believe that he wont be ready to go Thursday. So thats where were at with Tuukka, Cassidy said. As for his injury, I dont believe that theres anything to worry about. If there is, then obviously well have to sort through that.  Cassidy did admit that Rask has been dealing with nagging injuries all year, but stated plainly that Rask was obviously good enough to play.  A day after that, Cassidy once again downplayed any physical issues with Rask. [Hes] fine, Cassidy insisted. Theres no issue there. Hes ready to go.  Theres no issue there. Going to need a quick visit from our friend again:  Rask didnt look like he had an issue in Game 3. He looked flat-out spectacular, only allowing a single goal  one that came when Mat Barzal had the time and space to take three whacks at the puck to finally get it through Rask. Cassidy did say his goaltender was rock solid in that game, which involved Rask making back-to-back saves in overtime before Brad Marchand scored the game-winner. But the praise was also notably muted. I thought it was a great goaltended game  by their guy and our guy. Thats what you expect in the playoffs, Cassidy said. It wasnt quite we have a very capable backup, no. But thats what you expect stands out  especially in retrospect  as a somewhat blas form of praise. Hit em with it again, thinking face emoji! Its all been  weird. Rask has nagging injuries, but theres no issue there. He got pulled from the game for maintenance, even though he could have stayed in the game. We assume hell be fine for Wednesday night, but we dont seem to actually know anything. All of the comments, combined with Cassidys in-game decision on Monday, create a muddy situation heading into a must-win game in what will be an absolutely chaotic atmosphere at Nassau Coliseum. Swayman has been a true delight for Boston this year, but willingly inserting him into that scenario would be poor coaching and planning on the part of Cassidy. That would be setting up a promising young goaltender to fail. The fact that Swayman immediately allowed a goal  New Yorks fifth, which stood as the game-winner  on Monday night had to have made the decision sting a bit more. Granted, given Rasks performance on the night, it seems unlikely that he would have made the point-blank save on Brock Nelson in that scenario. But Rask had stopped Kyle Palmieri in a similar situation earlier in the game, and if youre going to go down, youre generally going to want to go down with your best players on the ice. Swayman being the man between the pipes for that goal does create a potentially series-altering what if, if one were to go down that road. But, maybe not. Because Rask was hurt. But not really. Because he could have been in the game. But he wasnt. We dont actually know. Those of us on the outside obviously dont need to know every single detail of every single players health status. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are the time of year when hidden injuries are the norm, not the exception. But from the outside looking in, it doesnt look like those in the know can actually get a proper grasp of the situation with Rask. And theyre kinda-sorta out of time to figure it out. You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.