The Boston Bruins (14-12-0) started too slow on Friday afternoon against the New York Rangers (13-11-2) and fell 6-2 inside TD Garden.
The Bruins hadn't played at home in 11 days, going 2-2-0 on a road trip, but returned home with even more injuries than they left with.
David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha did not play today due to undisclosed injuries. Matej Blümel landed on long-term injured reserve.
Only Casey Mittelstadt has returned from injury so far.
The Bruins fell behind 4-0 after two periods, with the Rangers doing damage at both even strength and on the power play.
After 40 minutes, the Rangers had also outshot the Bruins 27-12. It wasn't a very even game, and the Bruins' massive injury toll reared its ugly head today more than most.
In the third period, the Bruins surged back hard. As is their trademark, they fought the full 60 minutes.
Early in the third, Mittelstadt scored in his return game.
His entire line had a very strong third period, spearheading the comeback attempt. On the Mittelstadt goal, they created havoc off a face-off and broke Igor Shesterkin's shutout attempt.
After the goal, Boston kept pushing, and it forced the Rangers into taking their timeout, trying to settle in.
Immediately off the timeout, Morgan Geekie scored his 18th of the season, once again tying himself with Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead.
Still, the comeback attempt wasn't enough. The Rangers shut things down from there, silencing the Bruins and adding two late goals to down the Bruins 6-2.
Boston's back in action tomorrow night against the Detroit Red Wings in TD Garden. It's a big divisional game, with both teams coming off early afternoon losses on Friday.
Jeremy Swayman will start for the Bruins, while Pastrnak and Zacha's statuses remain unknown, but given the day-to-day timeline, it's possible both return tomorrow.
Postgame, Marco Sturm said he has "no idea," if either could play tomorrow.