Bruins Goalie Rask Opts Out Of NHL Playoffs For Family

Muhammad Rameez Published August 15, 2020 | 11:17 PM

Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask will miss the remainder of the National Hockey League playoffs after leaving the team less than two hours before a game against Carolina

Montreal, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Aug, 2020 ) :Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask will miss the remainder of the National Hockey League playoffs after leaving the team less than two hours before a game against Carolina.

The 33-year-old Finnish star, who backstopped the Bruins to the 2011 Stanley Cup and won the Vezina Trophy as top goalie in 2014, said he wants to spend more time with his family.

"I want to be with my team competing, but at this moment there are things more important than hockey in my life, and that is being with my family," Rask said in a statement.

"I want to thank the Bruins and my teammates for their support and wish them the best." He left with the Bruins level 1-1 in a best-of-seven opening round playoff series against Carolina barely two hours before the scheduled puck drop for game three at the NHL's hub city COVID-19 quarantine bubble in Toronto.

Rask, who led the NHL this season with a 2.

12 goals-against average and was second with a 92.9% save percentage, was between the pipes for the first two games of the series.

After a 3-2 Bruins loss in game two, Rask said the atmosphere with no fans made the playoffs seem more like "exhibition games" than a fight for the Stanley Cup.

Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said there are no health issues involved for Rask or his family and that Rask has the team's full support.

"We understand completely where Tuukka's coming from," Sweeney said. "I don't think it's any big surprise to us, to be honest with you. We're privy to information maybe before the rest of the public is.

"This has been a difficult decision for Tuukka, but the Boston Bruins are in full support of why he made this decision."The choice came three weeks after Rask and the Bruins entered the bubble in Toronto, required to restart a 2019-20 campaign shut down by COVID-19 on March 12.