Running out of gas in the third period last night in Long Island and losing 7-2 to the Islanders (10-6-3) after giving up five goals in the third period was one thing but tonight at Madison Square Garden, the Bruins (11-5-2) fell apart one period earlier in a humbling 6-2 defeat to the Rangers (7-8-3). After goaltender Jaroslav Halak had to play the entire game vs. the Isles, goaltender Tuukka Rask (28 saves, 7-3-1) was up next to absorb an ugly loss for the B's. Boston has dropped four of its last five games and in all of those losses, they have scored exactly two goals. It's tough to complain about much since they got off to such an incredible start to this season but truth be told, they were probably due for a market correction around this time.
To New York's credit, they stepped on Boston's throat from the beginning and never really let up. Something called Phillip Di Giuseppe opened the scoring for the Rangers as defenseman Julian Gauthier's shot deflected in thanks to the puck hitting the left wing while he was parked in a screening position on Rask. Former Bruins prospect Ryan Lindgren provided the secondary assist on Di Giuseppe's first goal of the season at 13:16 of the first period. New York doubled its lead early in the second period when center Ryan Strome whipped in a snap shot (his 6th goal of the season) from rookie left wing-and No. 1 overall pick-Alexis Lafreniere and BC's Chris Kreider at 2:32.
The Bruins showed a bit of a pulse before a quick flurry by the Rangers put this one to bed. The captain Patrice Bergeron re-directed a pass from right wing David Pastrnak and left wing Brad Marchand. Bergy's eighth goal of the season came at 4:02 and it cut the Rangers' lead down to 2-1. Two local guys scored 12 seconds apart to make New York's advantage way bigger heading into the third period. Harvard's Colin Blackwell tipped in a shot by his former Crimson teammate defenseman Adam Fox for a power play goal. The St. John's Prep alum's fourth goal of the season also featured a helper by Strome at 18:52. I'm guessing that Kreider's goal (his 9th of the season) at 19:04 is the one that Rask would most like to have back. Kreider didn't have much of an angle to shoot from and it wasn't a great shot but nonetheless it still went in the net with Strome registering the lone assist.
The entire third period was garbage time as far as I'm concerned and the B's played like it was since Rangers right wing Pavel Buchnevich and center Jonny Brodzinski each added a goal to make the final score even more impressive or depressing depending on who you root for. Boston's top line got the final goal as Marchand was rewarded for going to the net and sticking his large nose into the mix. His team-leading 10th goal of the season was also the 300th of his NHL career and he became only the seventh Bruin ever to reach that lofty mark. The B's will have a light practice tomorrow before a Sunday afternoon matinee (12, NBC) back at MSG. I couldn't tell you which Bruins goaltender will start but I feel like we could see Rangers goaltender Alexander Georgiev (31 saves, 3-2-2) again after he helped beat the Black and Gold tonight. B's defenseman Matt Grzelcyk is on this trip so there's been talk that he could return on Sunday. Their defense could certainly use any help that it can get as they try to avoid an 0-3 road trip (Celtics style!).
