Rask opts out of Stanley Cup Playoffs with Bruins

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Tuukka Rask has opted out of the NHL’s Return to Play and will not play for the Boston Bruins for the rest of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The goalie announced Saturday that he was leaving Toronto, the Eastern Conference hub city, less than two hours before the Bruins were to play the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round (Noon ET; NBC, SN, TVAS).

“I want to be with my team competing, but at this moment there are things more important than hockey in my life, and that is being with my family,” he said. “I want to thank the Bruins and my teammates for their support and wish them the best.”

The best-of-7 series is tied 1-1. Jaroslav Halak will start Game 3 for the Bruins.

“We understand completely where Tuukka’s coming from,” Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said. “I don’t think it’s any big surprise to us, to be honest with you. We’re privy to information maybe before the rest of the public is. And this has been a difficult decision for Tuukka, but the Boston Bruins are in full support of why he made this decision.”

Sweeney said there was not a specific incident or family emergency that spurred Rask’s decision after a month inside the bubble.

“I mean all of our players, we knew this would be a mental challenge, especially the players with families,” he said. “In Tuukka’s case, he has a newborn at home, along with two other young girls and he just felt that he needed to be home with them at this particular time. Can’t control the timeline of when the playoffs resumed. Give Tuukka a hell of a lot of credit for trying to persevere through this and initiate the process to come up and be with his teammates because first and foremost, that’s what he wants to do, but the priorities are in the right order and this is what he has to do at this time.”

Rask hinted at his struggles while speaking after a 3-2 loss to the Hurricanes in Game 2 on Thursday.

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“Considering I had four months off, so not in prime shape, but trying to get there,” Rask said. “I’m just trying to have fun and play the game. I’m not stressing too much about results and whatnot. It’s August and I haven’t played hockey in forever. Just go out there and have fun and see what happens for me.”

Rask, a finalist this season for the Vezina Trophy awarded to the goalie voted as best in the NHL, is 1-3 in the postseason. He lost each of the two round-robin games he started for the Bruins, who did not win in the round-robin portion of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers and fell from the No. 1 seed in the East to No. 4. He has a .904 save percentage and a 2.57 goals-against average. In the regular season, he was 28-8-6 in 41 starts with a .929 save percentage and League-best 2.12 GAA.

In 93 playoff games, Rask is 51-42 with a .926 save percentage and a 2.20 GAA. He led Boston to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season before losing to the St. Louis Blues.

The 33-year-old, who has played 13 seasons with the Bruins, can become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2020-21 season. He has one season remaining on an eight-year, $56 million contract, with an average annual value of $7 million, he signed on July 10, 2013.

Halak allowed four goals in his only postseason appearance in the bubble, making 29 saves in a 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Aug. 2. During the 2019-20 regular season, he was 18-6-6 with a .919 save percentage and 2.39 GAA.

“Jaro is a pro and I think over the past two years we’ve been a hockey club that’s relied on everybody and Jaro’s been a big part of that,” Sweeney said. “We’ve split starts. We’ve really rarely played players back-to-back. Jaro is mentally and physically ready to step in and assume the role and, obviously, we hope that he rises to that challenge. But from the standpoint of knowing that there was always going to be a back-to-back and then we had another one thrown in there, so I think Jaro was well prepared to have an understanding that it was going to take probably in most situations that you’re seeing, a lot of the cases around the League where both goaltenders have been used anyway, even in the initial rounds.”

Rask and Halak shared the William M. Jennings Trophy as the goalies whose team allowed the fewest goals in the NHL this season (167, 2.39 per game).