Meh, Rangers lose 3-1 to the Bruins

About the game

The Rangers played the Bruins pretty evenly in the first period, outshooting the Bruins 12-10  The Blueshirts’ forecheck kept Boston hemmed in for extended periods, but Ullmark made some excellent saves to keep the Rangers off the scoreboard.   The Rangers had one power play oportunity while the Bruins had two.

Pastrnak scored with just 35 seconds left in the period, off a nice transition play started by Hampus Lindholm.  The Rangers were caught up ice and Pastrnak was wide open for the one-timer at the side of the net.

The second period was much more one-sided in the Bruin’s favor in the second period.  Boston got off to a great start when Taylor Hall scored just 67 seconds into the period for the 2-0 lead. It came off a bad turnover in the Rangers zone when Adam Fox tried an ill-advised pass that was intercepted, giving Hall the breakaway that Shesterkin couldn’t stop.  That jumpstarted the Bruins who had 11 of the next 14 shots on goal.

Igor Shesterkin did his best work as the Bruins poured it on and he made some key saves to keep the Rangers in the game as Boston outshot New York 18-10.

The Rangers came to life in the third period and finally got on the scoreboard when they were handed back to back power plays. Ullmark took the first penalty when he shot the puck into the stands.   When Brandon Carlo hooked Alexis Lafreniere, it led to a Rangers goal as the disorganized Bruins defense allowed the power play goal on a point blank shot from Mik Zibanejad.

The goal came at 2:58 and the Rangers had a life.

The Rangers had another full two minute power play, but they never got organized and wasted the man advantage.   New York continued to apply pressure, but at 9:37, Trent Frederic scored the backbreaker after a series of breaks for the Bruins.  The Rangers had two excellent shifts in the attacking zone and the Bruins got the puck and fired it down the ice.  The puck skipped off Charlie McAvoy to negate an icing.  As the puck bounced off the end boards,  Craig Smith took a one-timer slap shot that Shesterkin stopped, but the puck rebounded right to Frederic who shot it.

Shesterkin got a piece of it, but it trickled into the net.  Puck luck though the Rangers forwards did not do a great job getting back.

The Rangers had several excellent scoring opportunities including excellent looks by Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano, but they couldn’t put one past Ullmark.

They pulled Shesterkin with over three minutes left in the game, but they couldn’t score.

Here is an extended video recap of the game: