Bruce Cassidy names his goalie for do or die Game 6, but he may be on a short leash

Boston Bruins’ Tuukka Rask has been good for the first-round series and managed to get his team on top for Game 1 of the second round against the New York Islanders. But since, it has been harder for the star goalie and fans are heavily criticizing his play. Last night, Rask was in net for two periods and allowed four goals on 16 shots. When the Bruins jumped back on the ice for the third period, it was Jeremy Swayman who was in the cage. The Bruins lost 5-4 and are now one loss away from being eliminated from the Cup tourney after dropping Game 5 to the Islanders in Boston. When asked about Rask after the game, this is what head coach Bruce Cassidy had to say: 

“Yeah, there was some maintenance that needed to be done,” the Boston coach said, per The Athletic. “He wasn’t 100 percent, so I made a decision. That’s a call we had to make between periods. I’ll just say he wasn’t himself … certainly could have went back in. We made a decision not to put him back in.”

The Rask saga started right after when Cassidy was asked if his star goalie will be ready for Game 6.

“I assume he will,” Cassidy said. 

He had a better more confident answer on Wednesday morning after practice when he confirmed that Rask was ready to go. 

We have a feeling Rask might be on a short leash in this crucial game to push the series in seven games back in Boston. 

There are other players that will miss the game tonight in New York as Cassidy had already announced that defensemen Brandon Carlo and Kevan Miller and center Curtis Lazar will not be available for Boston’s do-or-die Game 6 matchup. Jake DeBrusk will be going in for Lazar. 

This is tonight’s expected lineup, per team insider Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic: 

Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak
Hall-Krejci-Smith
DeBrusk-Coyle-Kuhlman
Ritchie-Kuraly-Wagner

Grzelcyk-McAvoy
Reilly-Lauzon
Tinordi-Clifton

Rask