Rask takes leave of absence from Bruins for personal matter

BOSTON -- Tuukka Rask was granted a leave of absence from the Boston Bruins on Friday.

"Tuukka's going to take a few days to address a personal matter," general manager Don Sweeney said after practice. "It is not health-related, so I think it's important for everybody just to respect his privacy and allow him to deal with [it] for the next few days."
The 31-year-old goalie is 4-4-0 with a 3.05 goals-against average and .901 save percentage this season. He allowed three goals on 14 shots in relief of starter Jaroslav Halak in an 8-5 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.

Halak will start against the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, SN360, NESN, NHL.TV). The Bruins recalled 21-year-old goalie Dan Vladar from Providence of the American Hockey League to back up Halak.
Coach Bruce Cassidy would not commit to a starter for Boston's home game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.
"I think [Saturday] we'll be focused on the Maple Leafs, business as usual," Cassidy said Friday. "That'll be the focus of the staff and the players. I'm sure different players that have different friendships will reach out to Tuukka and we'll go from there. You lose some players here and there during the year, and teams are pretty good at getting dialed into business when it's time to, and that'll be tomorrow."
When asked to reiterate the timeline for Rask's return, Sweeney confirmed that it might be a few days.
"Yeah, it should be, at this point, as far as we know today," he said.