NEW YORK -- It wasn't pretty for 40 minutes, but the Boston Bruins dug deep and found a way to score a rousing comeback win over the New York Rangers on Tuesday night in Madison Square Garden.
Yes, it's preseason. So, as much as one can argue that it means nothing, to that I say au contraire. It being an exhibition makes it that much easier to pack it in when you're done, on the road, and tired. Instead, the Bruins fought back.
After Matej Blumel scored a very nice goal to open the scoring, the Bruins, self-admittedly, got run over. At the end of the second, Boston trailed 4-1 and got outshot 29-14 through two frames. Boston needed a spark in the worst possible way.
Mikey Eyssimont, signed on July 1 to be a spark plug, took over the game. 6:33 into the third period and trailing 4-1, Nikita Zadorov took a cross-checking minor. With superstar defender Adam Fox quarterbacking, it would've been easy to go into a shell.
Enter Eyssimont. Fox moved lackadaisically with the puck, and Eyssimont picked his pocket for a shorthanded breakaway, where he undressed Rangers backup Talyn Boyko.
The Bruins were sparked into life. They killed off the rest of the penalty, and everyone buzzed. Boston pushed, and pushed some more.
A new-look line from Head Coach Marco Sturm changed the fortune. He shook up his lines and paired Fabian Lysell, Fraser Minten, and Eyssimont.
With under 10 minutes to go in the third, the trio buzzed. Jordan Harris dipped low, stole an errant Rangers pass, and zipped it cross ice to Eyssimont, who roofed it.
From there, it was all Bruins. Eventually, Casey Mittelstadt set up Eyssimont down low, he slipped it to Marat Khusnutdinov, who equalized with 65 seconds to go.
In overtime, Zadorov sniped home the winner, and walked off the ice immediately.
"I wanted to go home," said Zadorov postgame. "With my family."
The takeaways are clear. The team has serious guts. Zadorov wore an 'A' tonight on the road.
"We're trying to set the standards in here," said Zadorov. "[Show] How we want to play. After the second period, we talked in the room a lot. It was a clear message that it [the second period] wasn't good enough.
"It's nice when you can lead, then the guys can respond, and they can show up after that, for sure."
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Inside the locker room, the mainly young Bruins locker room blasted "Empire State of Mind." The vibes were very high for Boston.
"It's a really big moment for a lot of us," said Eyssimont. "Preseason chances and stuff. So for a lot of guys in here, it means a lot to get the win. Obviously, playing in Madison Square Garden, stuff like that. It's a big moment for a lot of guys here and the guys showed it.
"Hopefully, it just shows that we fight till the end and see games all the way through."
For Sturm, he stayed even-keeled postgame. The biggest point of emphasis for him? How unacceptable that second period was.
"We addressed it after a second," said Sturm. "That's, That's not us. All right. That's not the Boston Bruins. That's not how we want to play. That's not how we want to represent our logo on that jersey. But, good for them for responding and ending up winning the game too."
Sturm did not mince words. He praised Eyssimont, confirming he's going to be a big piece of their PK and bottom six. He admitted the team had a tough day, a late arrival in New York, and over half the lineup's first preseason game.
Overall, Sturm indicated happiness in the team's resilience. Tonight, that's the biggest takeaway of the game.
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