The Bruins turned their focus to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Thursday, taking a day off after their five-game ouster of the Hurricanes.
As they waited to learn their next opponent, team president Cam Neely wasn’t yet sure when Game 1 would be played. Whether Tuesday or Wednesday, as expected, or earlier, as Neely hoped . . . they were prepared to wait.
“It’s a long time to sit around,” Neely said of the prospect of five or six days between games. “Especially in the bubble here.”
Life is slowing down, closing in on five weeks in the NHL’s sanitary sanctuary in Toronto. The NHL has explored a golf excursion, but there’s been no official word on that, and the 12 teams that were still alive entering Thursday were mostly focused on the games, their nutrition, and their recovery. As usual.
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“We’re certainly going to practice but they have to fill their days whether there is a pool here, the golf simulator, the pickle ball, there’s a field outdoors,” coach Bruce Cassidy said Wednesday, pondering the week ahead. “We’ll probably try to schedule something over there, whether it’s touch football or soccer, but at the end of the day there’s not a lot of different things you can do. We’ll just sort of continue to focus on the task at hand and enjoy our time off, lick our wounds so to speak, and get ready for the next round.”
‘“We’re certainly going to practice but they have to fill their days whether there is a pool here, the golf simulator, the pickle ball, there’s a field outdoors,”’
Bruce Cassidy, Bruins coach
In addition to his usual league business — still TBD if the NHL can host fans in its 32 rinks in 2020-21, he said — Neely has been watching other teams play at Scotiabank Arena to keep himself occupied. Other than that: “You stare outside a lot,” he said, chatting with reporters on a Zoom call. “The weather has been pretty good here and we’re on [Lake Ontario], close to the lake. It’s a little teasing, I’ll tell you that.”
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But ultimately good for the Bruins, who will have time to recharge, and fix the issues they saw last round. After sending the Hurricanes back home, captain Zdeno Chara had a host of reasons to toast his teammates.
“I think that I really like how we responded,” he said. “How resilient we were in certain situations throughout the series. Not an easy situation that Jaro [Halak] had to step in and play really big for us [with the departure of Tuukka Rask]. The whole line of Nordy [Joakim Nordstrom], Par [Lindholm], and Wags [Chris Wagner], they did such an amazing job for us, blocking a lot of shots, sacrificing themselves. I think that different guys stepped up every night but obviously our top line did their job. Our power play scored some key goals in key situations. We defended well, but again, we know we can be better and we have to be working on it to be better.”
. . .
It’s unclear if Rask will be back this postseason, but the Bruins are moving on without him.
"I have not spoken to Tuukka the last few days," Neely said. "As [general manager Don Sweeney] mentioned, he came and spoke to us the morning of Game 3, where he said that he had to go home to deal with a family emergency. So we respected that. Now it's about the guys that are here and the team that we have here. That's what we have to focus on."
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On Wednesday, WEEI radio host Greg Hill said the goaltender told him privately he was leaving because of a medical situation with one of his daughters. Commentator Dale Arnold, who also hosts a WEEI show, made similar comments on NESN’s pregame show Saturday, the day Rask opted out before Game 3.
Speaking about Rask’s departure that morning, Sweeney said the netminder found it difficult to focus on the postseason with his young family at home, but that it was not an emergency.
NHL rules do not prohibit Rask from returning to the bubble, if he is inclined to do so, as long as he fulfills a quarantine and submits several negative COVID-19 tests. Rask has not spoken publicly since announcing his withdrawal through the club.
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The Bruins enjoyed the elite performances of David Krejci (3-5—8), Brad Marchand (4-3—7) and Patrice Bergeron (2-3—5) in the first round. Neely was just as excited about Connor Clifton, the third-pair defenseman who looks like he’ll keep his lineup spot. “I think he surprises a lot of people still about how solid he is,” Neely said. “He’s a thick kid.” … Nick Ritchie did not play in Games 3-4-5 in the Carolina series, the speedier Jack Studnicka, Karson Kuhlman, and Anders Bjork taking turns on the wings. Neely doesn’t believe Ritchie will collect dust. “I think he’ll certainly contribute for us,” Neely said, “especially if we go deep into the playoffs” and play an opponent more physical than the Hurricanes … Neely said Chara, at age 43, “recognizes where he’s at with his game. … He’s still a beast to play against and we love him on the penalty kill, that’s for sure. He’s still very, very hard to play against. But he understands where he’s at.” … Neely was a vocal opponent of the round-robin format that led to the Bruins winning the Presidents’ Trophy but opening the playoffs as a No. 4 seed. He does like the idea to re-seed after each round, highest remaining seed playing the lowest. “I’d like to see it in the future as well,” Neely said. I think it’s more fair. I’ve suggested that in the past and I’ll continue to suggest it.”
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Matt Porter can be reached at matthew.porter@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyports
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