The Boston Bruins lost to the New York Rangers 3-2 on Saturday night in Boston, but losing goalie Tuukka Rask to a concussion may have hurt the Bruins more.
Rask had to leave the game during the first period, when a hard check in front of the Boston net by Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy sent Rangers center Filip Chytil flying into the goaltender after Chytil had put the puck into the net to tie the game at 1-1.
The hit knocked Rask onto his back, where he remained for several minutes before being helped to the Bruins’ bench and eventually to the locker room.
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The severity of Rask’s injury was not immediately known, but it came as Boston was heading into a stretch of 10 days off, as the NHL reaches its All-Star break. So if Rask is soon cleared to return to action, he might miss only a few games, if any.
Rask had started the game tied with Cecil “Tiny” Thompson for most wins by a Boston goaltender, with 252.
Jaroslav Halak entered the game for Boston after Rask left.
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As for the final result, New York’s Mika Zibanejad scored two goals and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves to become No. 6 on the NHL's career wins list.
Danton Heinen and Brad Marchand scored for the Bruins.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.