B's Blew A 2-1 Third Period Lead As The Rangers Won Their Season Finale 5-4 At The TD Garden

 

    This afternoon at the TD Garden, the Bruins (32-15-7 overall, 17-7-3 home) wasted a great opportunity to gain two more points against the Rangers (27-23-6 overall, 13-12-3 away) who knew coming into the tilt that it was their last game of the 2021 season. After a scoreless first period, Boston and New York both scored a goal in the second period and the B's took a 2-1 lead early in the third period before it all went to hell and they ended up losing 5-4. Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (18 saves, 14-5-2) allowed all five goals but this was more of a function of Boston's defense falling apart around him than him melting down on his own. The Islanders (32-17-6) beat the Devils (19-29-7) 5-1 tonight which means that they are only one point behind the Bruins for third-place in the East Division while Boston has one game in hand. 

    The Rangers took a 1-0 lead at 6:21 of the second period as defenseman K'Andre Miller's wrist shot the point found its way through traffic and by Rask who barely moved. Rookie winger Justin Richards (1st NHL point) and center Filip Chytil had the assists on Miller's fifth goal of the season. Bruins left wing Nick Ritchie won the Seventh Player Award before the game (given to the guy who most exceeds the expectation of the fans) and he proved them right as he tied it at one. His career-high 15th goal of the season came at 18:12 and it was assisted by winger Jake DeBrusk and BU's Charlie McAvoy. The puck bounced off the end boards right to Ritchie who was parked at the side of the net where he was able to put it in before Rangers goaltender Keith Kinkaid (28 saves) was able to react in time to stop it.

    Boston briefly was up 2-1 as right wing David Pastrnak scored his 200th career goal 21 seconds into the last frame. Left wing Brad Marchand had the lone assist on Pasta's 20th goal of the season. From there, New York exploded for three goals in the span of 4:14. Center Mika Zibanejad tied it at two then a pair of rookie forwards-Alexis Lafreniere and Vitali Kravtsov-gave them a shocking 4-2 advantage. Marchand cut it to 4-3 with a power play goal on a backhander (his team-leading 28th tally of the season) at 14:08 from center David Krejci but Zibanejad answered with an insurance goal to put it out of reach at 5-3. Captain Patrice Bergeron trimmed New York's lead to 5-4 at 18:39 with his 23rd goal of the season (re-directing Matt Grzelcyk's shot with McAvoy getting the other helper) but the home team eventually ran out of time.

    The B's have an optional practice tomorrow before they host the Islanders (11-13-3 away this season) on Monday (7, NESNplus) in the regular season home finale. That's the beginning of a back-to-back for Boston as they go to DC on Tuesday (7, NESNplus) to face the Capitals (35-15-5 overall, 16-8-3 home) at the Verizon Center in their last regular season game. I'm guessing that Rask will start one of those contests while rookie goaltender Jeremy Swayman should get the other. With all due respect to Jaroslav Halak who has had a nice few years with the Bruins, it's time for him to officially drop to third on the depth chart for Boston once the playoffs start sometime next week.

The Bruins Don't Bother To Show Up In A Lifeless 4-0 Shutout Loss At The Garden Vs. The Rangers

 

    I'm told that there was a hockey game this afternoon at the TD Garden but what we all witnessed on NESN was far from it as the Rangers (11-12-13) turned the tables on the Bruins (14-7-4) and blanked them 4-0, the same score that Boston had beaten them by on Thursday. Woof, B's fans should just be happy that nobody was allowed in the building to watch this garbage, what a pathetic performance by the home team. Boston had a season-low 18 shots on goal which were all stopped by New York's third-string goaltender Keith Kinkaid (1-1). The Black and Gold's normally incredible top line had a terrible outing and Boston's power play was 0-for-5 so it's pretty hard for them to win when both of those things happen in the same tilt. 

    Left wing Jake DeBrusk was a last-minute scratch due to Covid-19 protocols, the perfect follow-up to what we hoped was a slump-busting goal in Thursday's victory. New York really needed a win and they played with that type of desperation from start to finish unlike the Bruins who played like they didn't want to be there. Defenseman K'Andre Miller wired home a strong wrist shot from the point at 3:06 of the first period for a 1-0 New York lead. Right wing Pavel Buchnevich and center Mika Zibanejad provided the assists on his second goal of the season. Up 1-0 after the first period, NY doubled its lead in the second period as BC's Chris Kreider crushed a one-timer from Zibanejad and defenseman Jacob Trouba. It was the team-leading 14th goal of the season for the Boxford, MA native and it came at 5:42. 

    Boston got outshot in every frame so expecting a comeback on this day was simply not a reasonable possibility. Today was Rangers star left wing Artemi Panarin's first game since February 20 (no worries, he was just dealing with the Russian mob trying to blackmail him) and he made an impact as he found center Ryan Strome for another one-timer that ended up in the back of Boston's net. That increased New York's lead to 3-0 at 8:03 of the third period with Harvard's Colin Blackwell picking up the secondary assist on Strome's 10th goal of the season. The final goal for the Rangers was called "a gift" by NESN's color commentator Andy Brickley and I have to agree with his pissed off homer assessment. A lazy turnover right in front of Bruins goaltender Jaroslav Halak (29 saves, 6-3-2) allowed Buchnevich to pad his stats with his eighth goal of the season, assisted by Kreider at 16:12.

    As you would expect, the Bruins get a day off tomorrow to recharge their bodies and minds before a very busy week that includes four road games in six days. First up, Boston plays a back-to-back in Pittsburgh (17-9-1) on Monday (7, NESN) and Tuesday (7, NESN). The Penguins have won their last five games in a row and they are three points ahead of the B's for third-place in the East Division but at least Boston does have two games in hand. That will be tough, especially since goalie Dan Vladar might have to make his NHL debut in one of those games if Tuukka Rask is still out dealing with back injury that is not getting nearly enough attention. The end of the week is guaranteed to be easier as the B's get their first two matchups of the season against the Sabres (6-16-4) aka the worst team in the NHL. Their best player BU's Jack Eichel is out for awhile dealing with a neck injury while his hapless team is 0-8-2 in its last 10 games. Boston visits Buffalo on Thursday (7, NESN) and Saturday afternoon (1, NESN). The Black and Gold typically own the Sabres therefore nothing less than four points from those two contests will be acceptable.