Jake DeBrusk and Justin Brazeau scored for the Boston Bruins in Thursday's 5-2 loss against the New York Rangers at TD Garden.
Jake DeBrusk and Justin Brazeau scored for the Boston Bruins in Thursday's 5-2 loss against the New York Rangers at TD Garden.
The Boston Bruins were outworked Thursday night at TD Garden.
The 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers showed holes in the B’s checking game, ability to control the middle of the ice and overall compete level against a top-ranked, playoff team.
“They won the majority of the battles it felt like tonight,” Jake DeBrusk said Thursday. “They deserved to win.”
While the Bruins weren’t able to capitalize on their first power play of the contest – with Rangers defenseman Adam Fox in the box for hooking – DeBrusk put his team up by one just as the man advantage expired.
DeBrusk picked up a loose puck in front after a few down-low attempts from Trent Frederic, pulled it to the left side and snapped it past Jonathan Quick for the 1-0 lead at 8:04 of the first period.
The play marked DeBrusk’s third goal in four games and 11th point in the last 10.
A Danton Heinen miscue led to the Rangers’ tying goal in the second period. A blind backhanded pass landed on Artemi Panarin’s stick below the right dot where he wired it five-hole to make it 1-1 at 7:58.
“It was kind of a broken play and then it went through a couple of skates. One that I could work on, seeing through traffic,” Jeremy Swayman, who made 26 saves, said Thursday.
Panarin potted his second of the game off another Boston turnover. This time, it was Hampus Lindholm behind the net that got the puck poked off his stick. Panarin scooped up the rubber, and an intended cross-crease pass ultimately bounced off DeBrusk and in for the 2-1 advantage at 19:25 of the middle frame.
“Maybe make the simple play. Get deep behind them,” Lindholm said Thursday. “Me included, we can just be a little smarter there in keeping the momentum our way.”
Justin Brazeua knotted things 2-2 early in the final frame with a net-front, knock-in goal – his third in two games – however, the Rangers regained the lead just 40 seconds later thanks to a wrister from Fox at 3:57.
“I think we’ve been playing some good hockey, we just have to find a way to stick with it over 60 minutes every game and not have those kind of spare moments where we get off it,” Lindholm said.
Mika Zibanejad and Panarin each scored an empty-net goal in the final three minutes of regulation – securing the 5-2 victory, the hat trick for Panarin and the three-game season series sweep.
“You don’t want to lose, but you want to trust the process, and that’s what happened tonight,” Swayman said. “There’s no doubt in this locker room.”
The Bruins won’t be back at TD Garden until April 6 as they open a six-game road trip on Saturday with a matinee matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers.
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