Boston Bruins Fall Apart in 7-4 Loss to New York Rangers

The Boston Bruins lost 7-4 at Madison Square Garden Saturday afternoon in an Original Six matchup against the New York Rangers.

Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk was back in the lineup for the first time since Oct. 30 after dealing with an upper-body injury. Grzelcyk returned to the first pair with Charlie McAvoy as Mason Lohrei was sent down to Providence (AHL).

Ian Mitchell remained on the third pair with Derek Forbort instead of Kevin Shattenkirk who has now been scratched for three of the Bruins’ past four games. Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo stuck to their regular second pair standing.

James van Riemsdyk was back in the lineup after sitting out against the Detroit Red Wings Friday due to the heavy schedule. van Riemsdyk slid back onto the second line with Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic while Danton Heinen dropped back to the third line with Matt Poitras and Jake DeBrusk.

Rangers forward Nick Bonino opened scoring at 5:58 of the first period after Johnny Beecher mishandled the puck near the right corner. Bonino picked up the loose rubber, spun around and snapped it past Linus Ullmark for the 1-0 advantage and his first goal as a Ranger.

Charlie McAvoy and Matt Poitras collided near the offensive blue line at 7:29, and Poitras headed down the tunnel after looking pretty shaken up on the play. The 19-year-old center returned to the game in the latter half of the first period.

The Bruins had yet to register a shot on goal at the 10 minute mark of the opening frame, and put the Rangers on the power play at 10:10 as Grzelcyk got called for hooking. Chris Kreider gave New York a 2-0 lead at 10:56 on the man advantage, tapping Erik Gustafsson’s original point shot past Ullmark who made the initial stop.

Bruins coach Jim Montgomery called a timeout following Kreider’s goal to address his squad’s more-than-lackluster start, and his message seemed to get through. Coyle knocked in his eighth goal of the season on the rush with Trent Frederic to make it 2-1. Frederic’s initial cross-crease pass was blocked by Gustafsson, but No. 11 got the puck below the goal line and pushed it up to Coyle in the slot to deposit into an empty net at 13:50.

Morgan Geekie found the equalizer just 24 seconds later, blasting a one-timer from the high slot past Jonathan Quick and evening the score 2-2.

Boston got the opportunity to garner a late-period lead when Gustafsson was sent to the box for hooking at 18:26, however the Rangers stole the momentum. A stretch pass from New York captain Jacob Trouba hit Kreider dashing up ice on the breakaway where he netted his second goal of the period and gave his team a 3-2 lead going into the middle stanza.

David Pastrnak was quick to knot things 3-3, scoring his 13th of the season just 26 seconds into the second period on the remainder of the Bruins’ power play. Pastrnak wristed it five-hole from below the left dot on the unassisted tally.

The Rangers regained the lead at 16:37 during a delayed penalty call on Ian Mitchell for high sticking. New York demanded the offensive zone and wore the Bruins out before Jimmy Vesey dumped in the rebound of a Vincent Trocheck shot for the 4-3 lift.

Defenseman K’Andre Miller widened the gap at 19:36 with a rocket from above the left circle after Mika Zibanejad dropped him the puck on the backhand. Miller’s second goal of the season made it 5-3 heading into the third period.

Tyler Pitlick added to the Rangers’ lead at 1:26 of the final frame, wristing home a pass from Vesey while left wide open in the slot. The Bruins responded just over a minute later with Coyle’s second goal of the game, a rebound off of van Riemsdyk’s initial shot to make it 6-4 at 2:29. Artemi Panarin then got in on the fun at 4:38, bringing the score to 7-4 with a snap shot from below the left circle. 

The Bruins were unable to claw their way back and lost their second consecutive game for the first time this season, dropping to a 14-3-3 record. Boston will be back in action Monday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.