The Bruins were able to exhale Thursday night when star center Patrice Bergeron made it back into the lineup after missing the first three games this season because of injury.
Less than 24 hours later, franchise goalie Tuukka Rask was held out of practice again — for the second time in eight days — for what the club only will say is a “soreness’’ issue. If that soreness turns out to be chronic, it could suck the wind out a team hoping to recover from two straight seasons of not qualifying for the playoffs.
“There’s not much of an update,’’ said coach Claude Julien, following a brief practice Friday morning in Brighton. “The general soreness that he had last week is still there a little bit. So it’s kind of maintenance and it’s day to day.’’
Rask at least twice was slow to right himself in the crease during Thursday night’s 2-1 win over the Devils at the Garden. Typically loose, agile, and prompt to right himself after saves, he was slow to get upright in those occasions. The first such incident came at 2:06 of the second period, Rask laboring slightly as he stood up after covering a puck near the left post.
Rask looked similarly strained at the 8:15 mark of the second when he was slow to get up after dropping to the ice in anticipation of defending a shot that went wide.
Rask appeared to hurt himself last Thursday in the opening game of the season at Columbus. Midway through the game, he could be seen flexing and stretching his right leg. But he played the full game, then took the next day off for “maintenance’’ when the club practiced in Toronto.
“So we’ve got to figure it out,’’ Julien said following his club’s workout in preparation of Saturday’s game at the Garden vs. the Canadiens. “We’ll see how things are going to be tomorrow.’’
With Rask sidelined, Mike Ronan, the goalie coach at Babson, filled one of the nets, opposite Rask’s backup Anton Khudobin. Khudobin played in Toronto last Saturday, in part because of Rask’s condition, and suffered the 4-1 loss. If Rask cannot start vs. Montreal, then Khudobin likely would get the start, either with Rask suited up as backup or perhaps Malcolm Subban on recall from Providence of the AHL.
Rask has been a workhorse the last two seasons, averaging 67 net appearances in the 82-game regular season. He is perfect (3-0-0) in three starts this season, with a 1.68 goals-against average and .947 save percentage.
‘Civilized’ rivalry
The Habs will visit the Garden on Saturday night for the first time in the regular season. Once among the sports world’s most heated rivalries, the Boston-Montreal holy war has mellowed in the new NHL, one that no longer tolerates heated skirmishes and bucket-of-blood donnybrooks that once were dyed into the fabric of the series.
“I don’t know if it’s going to stay that way,’’ said Julien, the former head coach in Montreal, asked to reflect on how the matchup has changed. “But it’s been — I am going to use the word civilized — the last few years. There hasn’t been as [many] sideshows. But I think there is still a lot of hatred between the two organizations.’’
But because of the way the game is trending, noted Julien, both teams have grown “cautious,’’ in large part because of how destructive it can be to take penalties that turn into power-play goals. Loose fists can be a difficult fit in a tight game.
“I still think both teams can really get up for these kinds of games,’’ said Julien. “Hopefully that happens and our fans get to see a real good game.’’
Asked if he realized a lot of fans liked it when play turned uncivilized, Julien said, “Absolutely. And I am not saying that we didn’t like it either back in the day. But it is one of those things now, you need to evolve with the game. You need to evolve with the time. Certainly from our point of view, it wouldn’t be smart or prudent to go out there and do that stuff . . . to do it premeditated is not a smart thing to do.’’
Sitting still
In all likelihood, Ryan Spooner and Rob O’Gara will be the healthy scratches for a second straight game. Adam McQuaid remains sidelined by injury, but is close to a return date. Once he is ready and able, it’s a good bet O’Gara, a first-year pro, will be assigned to AHL Providence, where young center Austin Czarnik was assigned Thursday . . . Montreal’s offense gets more kick delivered from the back end. Their defensemen have combined for a 4-9—13 line through four games, led by the likes of Jeff Petry and Shea Weber (4 points apiece). Bruins blue liners have registered 2-5—7 in the same amount of games . . . The Habs have been a middle-of-the-road 3 for 16 (18.8 percent) on the power play, ranked 16th in the league. The Bruins have been a dead-end 1 for 14 on the PP (7.1 percent). Only Calgary and Vancouver (combined 2 for 37) have been worse than Boston.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.
