Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask doesn’t owe anyone an explanation when it comes to what caused him to leave the playoff bubble after Game 2 of their opening round playoff series with the Carolina Hurricanes.

He’s gone on record revealing it was a family emergency with one of his three daughters that forced him to leave Toronto and head back home to Boston. General manager Don Sweeney has also confirmed this.

But yet, the Rask haters refused to believe his words especially as rumors of Rask being seen on a Boston area golf course just days after leaving the bubble surfaced.

Speaking for the first time since the start of training camp, Rask once again addressed the decision to leave the bubble and this time gave more insight to the cause.

Hopefully this one puts all the doubt to rest.

“I got a phone call the night before [Game 3] that our daughter really wasn’t doing so well and they had to call an ambulance,” said Rask.

“So, at that point, my mind is spinning and I’m like, ‘I need to get out of here.’ So then the next morning, I informed [Don Sweeney], we had a brief talk, and then I left.”

Rask told the media his daughter is doing well and things are back to normal in the Rask household. Or as normal as they can be coming out of 2020.

As important as it was for Rask to be Tuukka Rask the dad, Tuukka Rask the goalie couldn’t help the feeling that he should be in Toronto stopping pucks.

“Obviously it was a tough decision to leave, but then again it wasn’t because I knew that it was more important for me to be home at that time, so that was easy to live with, “ said Rask.

“On the other hand, you’re at home, knowing that you could be there and should be there playing hockey so it’s tough kind of tough to watch the games. You’re kind of caught in this middle, your brain is kind of spinning at that point. You’re kind of, like, knowing you’re in the right place at home but then again you should be there stopping pucks.”

As the Bruins skated past the Hurricanes before being steamrolled by the Tampa Bay Lightning, Rask remained in constant contact with his teammates up in Toronto.

“It was tough for a few weeks, but it helped I was talking to Jaro (Halak) a lot and talking to a lot of guys and they were giving support and knew what was going on,” said Rask. “And there were no issues coming in here. We were in touch this summer and had discussions about whatever, life, teammates and stuff and there were no issues coming back.”

Rask is entering the final season of a eight year contract signed in 2013. While rumors of retirement and off-season trades have been linked to Rask, the goalie admits there’s only one place he wants to be.

“I’ve said that before. I have no intention of playing anywhere else except for the Bruins, so if I’m good enough to play one, two, three more years then so be it’” said Rask. “If I’m not then so be it. That’s where my head’s at.”

With all that has gone on since Rask left the bubble over the summer, Sweeney and Rask’s camp have yet to talk about a new contract for the 2021-22 season and beyond.

Rask does not seem too concerned with that.

“What the situation is now is everything’s kind of upside down with the hockey world and Sweeney has a lot on his plate right now. My contract situation is probably not on top of his list at the moment,” said Rask. “I’m comfortable with where we are right now. I just want to go out there and start the season right and get on a good groove and play good hockey personally and as a team and if the contract talks happen during the season, so be it. And if they don’t, we’ll just wait it out and see what happens.”

For the first time in Rask’s NHL career, he will be without Zdeno Chara running the defense in front of him.

While Rask has echoed what pretty much every other Bruin has in that things will be “different” the veteran goaltender has confidence in the guys in the room and is excited to see what a revamped d-core will look it.

“It’s going to be different. But I think the guys we have, they’ve played some games already. So it’s not like they’re just jumping into the unknown here. It’ll just be more minutes for them,” said Rask.

“Obviously everybody makes mistakes. We’re prepared that mistakes are going to happen. But I think we’re very comfortable playing with this group that we have.”

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