Tuukka Rask made 22 saves on 27 shots in his fourth start - and first back-to-back - since re-joining the Bruins earlier this month. Following the loss, Cassidy said that the netminder is "not where he needs to be" as he continues to work his way back into game shape.
"I think that's evident, and we weren't sure he would be this soon either," said Cassidy, who added that Linus Ullmark will get the start on Wednesday in Colorado. "I think you need seven or eight, probably, starts. There hasn't been a long layoff, he was just in the net [on Saturday]. That part of it is good that he got right back in there. Didn't get the result we wanted. Certainly needed a few more saves if we were going to win tonight, but, again, he'll need more starts, and then we have to evaluate it, right?"
"He's got to sort through it, get through the kinks in his game, track pucks a little better, find pucks, puck touches, all of the things that you have to get back in your game where he feels good about it. It's like any other position, you have a little success, you feel better about your game, so that's where we've got to get to."
Rask acknowledged that he is "not satisfied" with his overall performance through four games and must find more steadiness between the pipes.
"Obviously, you can't expect it," Rask said of having rust since his return. "You're a proud player. You're trying to set your expectation high but then reality sometimes doesn't match it. Obviously, I haven't been good enough. Kind of the inconsistency within the game, and game in and game out, hasn't been there and I just gotta fix that. Yeah, not satisfied, obviously."
The backstop said he feels the most rust in his depth, explaining that at times he's found himself too deep in the crease.
"Looking briefly at some of those goals, I'm too deep in the crease, giving too much net away, and then tracking the puck," said Rask. "Obviously, it's not as sharp as it should be. Puck play, also. A lot of things….in the end, it's gonna come. I gotta work on it. And again, I've made some saves at times that show that it's still there, but then the consistency within the games, too, you can't let in like one or two bad goals a game because you're doing the total opposite that you're supposed to at that point."
With the schedule ramping up and limiting practice time, Rask said he will have to make most of his improvements on the fly.
"The only way you can do it is by playing and we're midway through the season," said Rask. "We don't have the luxury of throwing games away and putting me in there to try and figure it out. I need to be sharp every time I go out there and that's my job to find it. It's not easy. I've just got to work on it, game in and game out, finding that consistency and try to help the team get some wins."
"The schedule's tough that there's not a whole lot of practice time, so it makes it even tougher. You can do all you want with the goalie coach and a couple of guys, but when you throw bodies in there and a lot of variables it's not easy to simulate the game situation. I'll do my best and hopefully I can find the consistency."
