Rask to start for Bruins in Game 6, Boudreau tells 'NHL @TheRink' podcast

Bruce Boudreau expects goalie Tuukka Rask to be the Boston Bruins starting goalie in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Second Round at the New York Islanders on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS).

Boudreau, the former NHL coach who is working as a studio analyst for NHL Network, joined the "NHL @TheRink" podcast Tuesday and discussed Rask, who allowed four goals on 16 shots and was replaced after two periods by rookie Jeremy Swayman in a 5-4 Game 5 loss that put Boston on the brink of elimination in the best-of-7 series.
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said Rask was pulled for maintenance reasons and is questionable for Game 6.
"My question would be is Bruce protecting Tuukka when he didn't think he played his best and used it that he wasn't completely healthy and that it was maintenance," Boudreau said. "He could have gone the other way and said, 'Jeez, I've watched this guy for 10 years now and he makes those saves.' I'm pretty sure in a final game or a potential final game like Game 6, if Tuukka says he can go he's going to be playing."
Boudreau said he felt the Bruins were in trouble after the first period in Games 4 and 5. They outshot the Islanders 11-7 in the first in each game and Boudreau said Boston outplayed New York each time too, but the Bruins couldn't take a lead.
Neither team scored in the first period of Game 4, a 4-1 Islanders win keyed by three third-period goals. It was 1-1 after the first in Game 5 but the Islanders scored three times in the second.
"When you outplay a team that badly and you do not get rewarded, the other team usually comes back and bites you in the butt," Boudreau said. "That's what happened. Boston was all over them in the first period in Game 5] and they come out with a 1-1 tie. That's one of those periods when you have to have a 2-0 lead at the end of the period. As soon as that happened it was, 'Uh oh, here we go.'
"The Bruins didn't get rewarded in the first period of the last two games and I thought, 'Uh oh, the Islanders are believing now and they're going to come out and this is Islanders hockey and they're going to have success.' Fortunately for them they did."
Boudreau also dissected the Montreal Canadiens' four-game sweep of the Winnipeg Jets and said the Tampa Bay Lightning remind him of the Pittsburgh Penguins when they were embarking on their run to a second straight Stanley Cup championship in 2017.
In addition, Boudreau talked about his desire to get back into the NHL as a coach. He last coached with the Minnesota Wild in 2019-20.
Podcast co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke were joined by NHL.com Montreal-based columnist Dave Stubbs, who spoke about the atmosphere and impact in the market with the Canadiens halfway to their first Stanley Cup championship since 1993.
The "NHL @TheRink" podcast is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on
[NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts
and the NHL app.
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