BOSTON – Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask was granted a leave of absence from the club, the team announced. The Bruins said Rask left the team due to a “personal matter.”

Boston general manager Don Sweeney told reporters the leave of absence wasn’t health related. He also asked for privacy on behalf of Rask.

Rask, 31, is just 4-4-0 with a 3.05 goals-against average in eight appearances (seven starts) this season.

He won more than 30 games in each of the previous five seasons with his GAA ranging from 2.04 in 2013-14 to 2.56 in 2015-16.

Rask won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender in 2013-14 when he went 36-15-6 with seven shutouts.

Overall, Rask is 242-141-53 with a 2.27 GAA and 41 shutouts in parts of 12 seasons with the Bruins.

Jaroslav Halak will see most of the playing time between the pipes with Rask away. Halak is 4-1-2 with a 1.96 GAA in nine appearances (eight starts).

–Field Level Media

DALLAS – David Pastrnak scored with 11.1 seconds left in regulation and Brad Marchand collected one goal and three points as the Boston Bruins scored three unanswered goals in the third period to beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 Friday night in Dallas.

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Bruins’ goalkeeper Tuukka Rask

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Just as it appeared the game was headed to overtime, Marchand dished the puck down low to Pastrnak, who worked around Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen before burying a shot, stunning the Stars and their faithful at American Airlines Center.

Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask made 40 saves as the under-manned Bruins snapped a two-game losing skid without forwards Patrice Bergeron, David Backes and Rick Nash and defensemen Zdeno Chara, Charlie McAvoy and Torey Krug, among others.

Marchand was definitely the hero, leading the charge after his team trailed 2-0 through two periods. First, he put the Bruins on the board just 77 seconds into the third period when Pastrnak’s shot bounced off his leg as he was causing chaos in front of the net.

Marchand then set up Tim Schaller’s shorthanded goal at the 9:47 mark of the third period to tie the game 2-2. A lucky bounce on a clearing attempt sprung the pair on a rush that Schaller finished with a backhand deke.

It was a painful defeat for the Stars, who returned home after a winless six-game road trip that put them outside a wildcard spot in the Western Conference playoff chase.

The Stars had early momentum when Esa Lindell opened the scoring just 2:26 into the game, ripping a wrist shot from just inside the top of the left circle that squeezed under Rask’s armpit.

Things looked even better for the hosts when captain Jamie Benn netted a shorthanded breakaway tally with 37.5 seconds left in the second period to double the lead. Benn held off the check from Marchand as he deposited a one-handed backhand, giving him five goals and nine points in a six-game stretch.

But the Stars and Lehtonen — who made 33 saves — couldn’t hold the lead and now sit four points out of a playoff spot with seven games remaining.

–Field Level Media

Buffalo 4, Boston 2

BOSTON – Tuukka Rask’s lengthy points streak came to an end at the hands of an unlikely source.

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Boston’s Tuukka Rask

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Evander Kane, Scott Wilson and Benoit Pouliot each got pucks past the Bruins’ goaltender to snap his career-best personal 21-game points streak and lift the last-place Buffalo Sabres to a 4-2 victory Saturday night in Boston.

Rasmus Ristolainen scored Buffalo’s final tally on an empty-netter.

Rask went 19-0-2 during his streak, with his last regulation loss before Saturday coming in a 5-3 decision at Nashville on Dec. 4. Ryan Spooner and David Backes each scored for Boston, which snapped its four-game winning streak.

Buffalo won its second straight game following a four-game skid. The Sabres entered the night in the Eastern Conference cellar with the second-fewest points in the NHL and dead last in scoring, averaging 2.3 goals per game.

Jack Eichel left the game with a lower-body injury after the Sabres’ former No. 2 overall pick out of Boston University collided with Boston’s Matt Grzelcyk — another BU product — behind the Bruins’ net late in the first period.

Rask made 24 saves as he was outdueled by his former backup Chad Johnson, who had 25 stops. Johnson improved to 12-1-0 at TD Garden.

Kane opened the scoring with a breakaway goal with 12:18 left in the second period, beating Rask high glove-side. His 17 goals are second only to Eichel’s 22 for the Sabres this season.

Wilson scored his third of the year with 7:16 left in the second, firing a rebound past Rask glove-side after he tipped a blue-line shot from Nathan Beaulieu off Boston’s Adam McQuaid in front of the net.

Spooner’s goal gave the home crowd some life with 5:21 to go in the second, sending a backhanded feed from Jake DeBrusk in front of the crease past Johnson.

Ex-Bruin Pouliot scored his 10th of the year with 1:11 to play in the period after McQuaid’s giveaway led to a 3-on-1 opportunity.

With Rask on the bench, Backes tipped in his 10th goal off a shot from Patrice Bergeron with 59 seconds to play. Ristolainen’s empty-netter, his fourth goal of the year, ended hopes of a Boston comeback with 28.2 ticks left.

–Field Level Media