Rask's struggles with consistency continue in Bruins' loss to Ducks

BOSTON -- Tuukka Rask said his return to the NHL with the Boston Bruins has not exactly gone as planned after he allowed five goals on 27 shots in a
5-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks
at TD Garden on Monday.

Rask, who had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip last July, has allowed five goals twice in the four games he's started this season. He also gave up five on 12 shots to the Carolina Hurricanes and was pulled after the first period in a 7-1 loss on Jan. 18.
"You're a proud player," Rask said. "You're trying to set your expectations high, but the reality sometimes doesn't match it. Obviously, I haven't been good enough. … Not satisfied, obviously."
Rask signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Bruins on Jan. 11. The intention was to send him to Providence of the American Hockey League for a few starts before he returned to the NHL, but Providence had multiple games canceled because of COVID-19.
In four starts with Boston, he is 2-2-0 with a 4.28 goals-against average and .844 save percentage. Rask will be 35 on March 10.
"He's not where he needs to be," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I think that's evident, and we weren't sure he would be this soon either."
The Bruins (24-13-2) begin a three-game road trip Wednesday at the Colorado Avalanche (10 p.m. ET; TNT, SN, TVAS). Cassidy confirmed that goalie Linus Ullmark would start, and then a decision would be made whether Rask would start Friday at the Arizona Coyotes or Sunday at the Dallas Stars.
"He'll need more starts, and then we have to evaluate it, right?" Cassidy said. "Right now, (he's) not where he needs to be. … He's got to sort through it, get through the kinks in his games, track pucks a little better, find pucks, puck touches, all the things that you have to get back into your game where he feels good about it."

Rask said he was particularly disappointed with a shorthanded goal he allowed to Ducks forward Isac Lundestrom at 1:28 of the second period that slipped between his pads.
"My stick wasn't there and then somehow it trickled through slowly," he said. "Shouldn't happen. … Just a terrible goal."
Rask also cited his inconsistency, his depth in the crease and tracking the puck as issues he's had since his return.
"A lot of things, obviously," he said. "But then again, it's going to come. I've got to work on it. (I) 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."
The Bruins were using the tandem of Ullmark and
Jeremy Swayman
prior to Rask's return. Ullmark is 14-5-0 in 20 games (19 starts) with a 2.55 GAA and .915 save percentage; Swayman was sent to the AHL after going 8-6-2 with a 2.26 GAA and .918 save percentage in 16 games with Boston.
Rask acknowledged that the Bruins, who are fourth in the Atlantic Division and 11 points behind the Panthers and Lightning, don't have the ability to let him find his game while struggling.
"The only way you can do it is by playing, and we're midway [through] the season," Rask said. "We don't have the luxury of throwing games away, (to) put me in there and try to figure it out. I need to be sharp every time I go out there and that's my job to find it, I guess.
"It's not easy. But I've just got to work on it game in, game out, finding that consistency and try to help the team get some wins."