BSJ Game Report: Rangers 5, Bruins 4 - Defensive breakdowns plague B's in frustrating loss

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 5-4 loss to the Rangers in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

HEADLINES

David Pastrnak reached a new scoring milestone and Nick Ritchie took home some well-deserved hardware, but a porous defensive effort did the Bruins in on Saturday at TD Garden — with the Rangers burying four goals in the final 20 minutes of regulation en route an eventual 5-4 loss for Boston.

Ritchie, Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron all scored for Boston, while Tuukka Rask finished with 18 saves on 23 shots.

Through the first 41 minutes of action, it appeared as though the Bruins were well on their way to handling a depleted Rangers roster, with Ritchie and Pastrnak both lighting the lamp and the B's holding an absurd 53-14 edge in shot attempts during 5v5 play during that stretch. But be it some rough defending from both the Reilly-Carlo duo or the Lauzon-Miller pairing, a lackluster outing from Rask or a lack of structure in front of him, the Rangers suddenly found plenty of space in Grade-A ice as the minutes ticked down in the third, scoring three goals in a span of 4:14 to take a 4-2 lead with 10:24 remaining.

Boston did try to make a game of it off of third-period tallies from Marchand and Bergeron, but Mika Zibanejad snapped home his 24th goal of the season at 18:07 to put the Blueshirts ahead for good.

Despite the loss, the Bruins still sit in third place in the East — but things could get dicey if the Islanders beat the Devils later tonight and win in their head-to-head matchup with Boston on Monday, requiring the B's to then beat Washington on Tuesday to stay in third place. If the Capitals don't win their final two games in regulation, the Penguins will lock up the top seed.



Nick Ritchie takes home 7th Player Award

After a disastrous first couple of months in Boston during the 2019-20 campaign, Ritchie continue his redemption tour on Saturday when he was announced as the recipient of the 2021 7th Player Award — handed out annually via a fan vote to the Bruin who exceeded the expectations of fans during the season. Ritchie, the lone Bruin to play in every game thus far this season, has tallied 15 goals and 26 total points through 54 games — and put Boston on the board Saturday by knocking home a puck down in the crease during the second period.

It was easy to write Ritchie off this season given how last year ended, but the winger has rewarded Boston time and time again — be it keeping the B's power play afloat in the opening month or playing a part in the third line's revival over the last few weeks.

Past recipients of NESN's 7th Player Award currently on the Bruins include Charlie Coyle (2020), Chris Wagner (2019), Charlie McAvoy (2018), David Pastrnak (2017, 2015), Brad Marchand  (2016, 2011), Tuukka Rask (2010) and David Krejci  (2009). A pretty good company to be a part of.

https://twitter.com/NESN/status/1391123309169942534

THREE UP

David Pastrnak: With his third-period tally on Saturday, Pastrnak became just the third active player in the NHL to tally both 200 regular-season goals and 20 playoff goals under the age of 25. The other two active players? Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. Not too shabby.

https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1391138679754829824

Nick Ritchie: Ritchie complimented his 7th Player Award announcement by potting his 15th goal of the season in the second period — marking a new career-high in goals for the B's power forward. While that third line is still missing Charlie Coyle, a revamped trio of Ritchie, Sean Kuraly and Jake DeBrusk have been very solid over the last two games — with the grouping combining for seven high-danger scoring chances.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1391132254341148679

UMass Hockey: A nice moment during Saturday's contest, as the 2021 NCAA champion UMass Minutemen were honored at TD Garden after capturing their first D-I title back on April 10. UMass head coach Greg Carvel and a crew of his players were on site at the Garden for the video tribute and standing ovation, while UMass product Zac Jones — who was dominating in the collegiate ranks just a few weeks ago — logged 17:34 of ice time and recorded an assist for the Rangers tonight.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1391117369704161289

THREE DOWN

Reilly-Carlo pairing: While early returns looked promising regarding a second D pairing featuring both Reilly and Carlo - boy, it was far from promising on Saturday. During their 16:16 of ice time together on Saturday, 71.43% of that pairing's faceoffs were set in the offensive zone. And yet, despite those favorable starts, Boston was outscored, 3-0, during that stretch.

The entire defensive structure: Sure, the Reilly-Carlo stand at the forefront here, but man — Boston's entire defense just completely imploded over that final 20 minutes of play. Aside from a Grzelcyk-McAvoy pairing (Boston outscored New York, 3-0, during their TOI together), just about every line or pairing had a number of breakdowns in this one.

"Uncharacteristic of our team," Bruce Cassidy said of the third-period breakdowns. "I think everyone can take their share of responsibility for the way we played in the third period."

Tuukka Rask: Sure, his defense certainly didn't help him in this one - but you'd still like it if Rask was able to at least stop the bleeding at some point during that third period. Tough to ignore what was a .783 save percentage on the afternoon.

PLAY OF THE GAME

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1391145002626072576

PARTING THOUGHTS: What a guy.

https://twitter.com/ConorRyan_93/status/1391105555482218496

QUOTE OF THE DAY

https://twitter.com/mattyports/status/1391156155662192644

LOOKING AHEAD: The Bruins will close out their final homestand of the regular season on Monday when they host the Islanders. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.