BSJ Game Report: Rangers 3, Bruins 2 — Tuukka Rask injured as B’s limp into bye week taken at TD Garden (Bruins)

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Bruins

BSJ Game Report: Rangers 3, Bruins 2 — Tuukka Rask injured as B’s limp into bye week

By Conor Ryan

Jan 19, 2019 • 11:33 pm

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Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 3-2 loss against the Rangers in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Tuukka Rask exits the game with a concussion

That’s not what the B’s needed ahead of the bye week. Boston suffered a major loss during Saturday’s matchup, as Tuukka Rask exited the contest after a scary collision with New York winger Filip Chytil with 1:28 remaining in the first period. Rask, who remained down on the ice for a few minutes after the hit, was eventually helped off and exited the game. Jaroslav Halak took over netminding duties for the remainder of the night.  

The team announced later in the second period that Rask suffered a concussion on the play.

Rask suffered the injury after Chytil rushed toward the crease, with the winger appearing to make contact with Charlie McAvoy before going airborne and slamming into Rask, who also knocked his head off the post before landing on the ice.  To make matters worse, Chytil scored on the play, negating Danton Heinen’s goal just 1:04 earlier in the period.

It’s a tough break for Rask and the Bruins, with Boston’s starting goalie starting to hit his stride over the past month. In his previous seven outings dating back to Dec. 29, Rask is 6-0-1 with a shutout and a .942 save percentage.

Even with some time off, you’d have to think that Halak will handle netminding duties for the B’s for the time being — a bit of a concern given Halak’s dip in play since a blistering start in October (.947 save percentage).




B’s enter bye week on a sluggish note


While the Bruins have posted a 6-3-1 record so far in January, you’d have to think that Boston is entering its extended time off with a bad taste in its mouth. Whether it be another dreadful showing on the power play (0-for-5) or Rask’s injury, it was a rough outing on home ice for Boston, who have dropped two games this week to both the Rangers and Flyers — two foes that sit way out of playoff positioning. These are points that Boston desperately needs to stockpile, considering how tight the Eastern Conference is right now. While Boston still sits in third place in the Atlantic with 59 points, the club is actually tied with the Canadiens, points-wise, while the Penguins sit just one point behind in the second Wild Card spot in the Atlantic.


THREE UP:


Danton Heinen:
Heinen and Boston’s third line showed some signs of life on Saturday, with the winger beating
Henrik Lundqvist
in tight with a quick shot to tally his second goal in his last 19 games. Nice job by
Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson
leading the up to the goal, with the pivot winning a puck battle with
Brett Howden
and dishing it to Heinen for the tally.




Adam McQuaid:


As expected, McQuaid received a standing ovation and video tribute in his first game back at TD Garden since getting dealt to the Rangers back in September. In nine full seasons with Boston, McQuaid logged 462 games — providing some muscle on the blue line while helping the Bruins clinch a Stanley Cup title in 2011.


McQuaid even inadvertently helped out the Bruins in the third period during the club’s attempted comeback, with his pummeling of
Chris Wagner
giving Boston another two minutes on the power play. However, Boston was unable to cash in.  




Brad Marchand:


Marchand helped wake up a dormant TD Garden crowd with his 19th goal of the season at 3:24 in the third period, finishing off a nice feed from David Pastrnak in tight. With that tally, Marchand is up to a four-game point streak, notching six points (three goals, three assists) during that stretch.


THREE DOWN:


Power play:
Had to figure something was going to go haywire in this game, given how brutal Boston looked on the power play to open Saturday’s game. Gifted with six minutes on the man advantage thanks to a double-minor against
Ryan Lindgren
and a hold by
Jesper Fast
, Boston did little to capitalize in the opening stanza.


By the time Lindgren exited the sin bin, Boston had only managed to only land three shots on goal over those six minutes of 5v4 play, with the Rangers even holding an edge in high-danger scoring chances, 2-1. Not going to win many games with a start like that. Boston finished the game 0-for-5 on the man advantage. 




Charlie McAvoy:




Jaroslav Halak:




PLAY OF THE GAME:




LOOKING AHEAD


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