Haggs: Is It Time For Boston Bruins To Pull Plug on Tuukka? | BHN+

Is it time already for the Boston Bruins to pull the plug on the Tuukka Rask experiment?

In the best of circumstances, it felt like the Bruins were trying to fix something that absolutely wasn’t broken when they signed the 35-year-old Rask to a one-year, $1 million contract last month and then attempted to knock the rust off in live NHL games where the wins and losses counted.

Now with Rask out with a lower body injury and essentially shut down until after this weekend’s NHL All-Star break, it might already be time to simply keep Rask around as an insurance policy in case something goes sideways with Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman.

Ullmark continues to be a solid performer for the Black and Gold with a 2.67 goals against average and .912 save percentage, and the rookie Swayman’s numbers (2.31 goals against average, .916 save percentage) have been even better at the NHL level this season. Meanwhile, Rask has looked rusty and off his angles while dropping into the butterfly too often with a 4.28 goals against average and .844 save percentage in four games.

He’s given up 12 goals on 63 shots in his last three games, including getting pulled in a blowout loss to Carolina and looking eminently beatable against a young, skilled Ducks team that just kept beating him upstairs.