Boston Bruins Fall 2-1 in Overtime to New York Rangers

Trent Frederic scored the Bruins' only goal of the game in the 2-1 loss at TD Garden Saturday night.

BOSTON – Trent Frederic swiftly shed his gloves and went straight for Jacob Trouba, taking the New York Rangers' captain down in a matter of swings.

With 8:55 remaining in the second period, the Boston Bruins – and Saturday night’s Original-Six matchup in general – got the spark it needed from the bout. While the Bruins ultimately fell 2-1 in overtime, they continued to see character players step up while the team is short-handed. 

“I think ‘Freddy’ was still a little upset about the baseball swing to the head last game,” Brad Marchand said. “We definitely fed off of [the fight]. You always get fired up when you see a teammate step up in a situation like that. So great by him.”

In Nov. 25’s game between the Bruins and Rangers at Madison Square Garden, Trouba whacked Frederic in the head with a high stick and was fined $5,000 thereafter for the play.

“I try to play hockey, and obviously that was part of it,” Frederic said. “I can never hit him hard enough if he hit me, so have to fight him 10 times to do that.”

Frederic, who gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 2:07 of the middle frame with a net-front, knock-in goal, bought not only into the game’s 'Lunch Pail A.C.' theme, but the sharp-edged, handyman forward identity that the Bruins have needed this season.

“I think ‘Freddy’ is getting really comfortable knowing what he is, what his role is on the team and how he has success most importantly,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said.

A shift prior to Frederic's fight, Matt Poitras went straight down the tunnel after being hit into the boards by New York defenseman Erik Gustafsson. 

Poitras returned to the ice late in the second period and finished the game after sitting out against the Islanders on Friday. The 19-year-old pivot was handed more responsibility from Montgomery and skated with a heightened confidence compared to the past few weeks.

“I thought he played really well. I thought he was good in all three zones and I thought he had a lot of juice in his legs. He was skating really well, carrying the puck well,” Montgomery said of Poitras.

With the B’s still leading by one, David Pastrnak picked up his first-career game misconduct and a five-minute major after nailing Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren’s head into the corner boards at 18:10 of the second.

“Very surprised. I thought it was two minutes,” Montgomery said. “I don’t think he hits him anywhere near his numbers. I think he hits him on the front of his shoulder.”

Vincent Trocheck found the equalizer for the Rangers at 10:49 of the third period with a snipe from the slot, dished to him from Mika Zibanejad who was stationed to the left of Jeremy Swayman beneath the goal line. Trocheck’s seventh of the year came on the power play with Brandon Carlo in the box for interference.

The game-winner came from Trocheck, too, in an overtime that the Rangers dominated and commanded puck possession in. Trocheck, by the left doorstep, knocked in a pass from Artemi Panarin to secure the 2-1 victory at 2:03.

“Those games, they’re an inch here, inch there,” Charlie Coyle said. “I think our effort’s there. We’re doing the right things and that game can go either way…We’ve got things we can work on, and get a little more healthy – but we like our game.”

The Bruins will next face the Minnesota Wild for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop at TD Garden.