BSJ Game Report: Rangers 5, Bruins 2 - Another third-period letdown dooms B’s on Black Friday

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 5-2 loss to the Rangers with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

SHORT SHIFT

Once again, the Bruins were handed a prime opportunity to prove their mettle against a potential powerhouse in the East.

And once again, the Bruins came up short — relinquishing three goals over the final 20 minutes of play en route to a 5-2 loss to the Rangers on Friday afternoon. 

Craig Smith and Patrice Bergeron scored for the Bruins, who fall to 10-7-0 on the season. Jeremy Swayman stopped 26 of 30 shots in the defeat.

The Bruins dominated in the first period, outshooting the Rangers by a 17-5 margin and taking the lead at 14:46 off of a slot snipe from Smith — but New York answered back in the final seconds of the frame. 

A lax shift from the Reilly-Zboril pairing and Boston’s fourth line allowed New York to counter, with Ryan Strome cashing in on a slick feed from Artemi Panarin to tie things up with 5.8 seconds to go in the opening period. 

Bergeron once again gave Boston the edge at 6:51 in the second, knocking a puck past Igor Shesterikin off of a crisp passing sequence with Brad Marchand and Matt Grzelcyk. 

But even with a strong period of netminding from Swayman (including a ten-bell stick stop on Mika Zibanejad), a rebound did him in at 12:33 — with Dryden Hunt knocking it home to knot the game up at 2-2.

The Rangers took their first lead of the afternoon at 11:35 in the third, with a defensive breakdown between Brandon Carlo and Derek Forbort leading to Panarin’s fifth tally of the season.  

Alexis Lafreniere buried a 2-on-1 chance less than five minutes later to ice the matinee matchup, with Jacob Trouba adding an empty-netter at 19:23. 

ONE UP

Nosek Line: They didn’t necessarily pepper the net, but this revamped third line did manage to put together some extended O-zone shifts thanks to simple, hard-nosed forechecking efforts. Smith was rewarded with his second goal of the season, which was generated off of a heads-up O-zone play by Jake DeBrusk.

FOUR DOWN

Erik Haula: Bumped down to the fourth line after failing to drive play with Smith and DeBrusk, Haula did little to flip the narrative about his plummet down on the depth chart. On both of New York’s first two goals of the afternoon, Haula was out of place in his D-zone coverage, giving both Strome and Hunt the space they needed to light the lamp. 

Carlo-Forbort pairing: After being on the ice for 21 shot attempts against during their 15:52 of 5v5 ice time on Wednesday against the Sabres, Boston’s new-look second D pair did little to inspire more confidence in their play on Friday — with a breakdown leading to Panarin’s third-period strike. So far, finding the right fit on that second pair has been one of the more confounding issues for the Bruins this season. Can’t say that I expected that.

Jakub Zboril: To make matters worse on the back end for Boston, Zboril put together his first real stinker up with the NHL club this year — with a poor pinch springing the 2-on-1 chance that ended with Lafreniere's tally in the third period. 

David Pastrnak: Bergeron might have buried a goal in the second period, but Boston’s big guns were once again plagued by a reluctance to put pucks on net — with Pastrnak one of the primary culprits when granted some Grade-A looks in the slot. At this point, you’ve got to stop settling for the perfect scoring chance. 

LOOSE PUCKS

B’s still looking for a statement win

The Bruins have some tomato cans coming up on the schedule (Sunday vs. Vancouver, especially), and while it’ll all be well and good if the B’s can pile up some points over the next week — this team is still going to be plagued by the narrative that it can’t topple clubs sitting atop the standings. 

So far, that narrative seems to be pretty justified — with Boston’s lone “statement” win coming at home against the Panthers back on Oct. 30. Meanwhile, their seven losses this season have come against the Panthers, Hurricanes, Oilers, Flames, Maple Leafs, Flyers and Rangers. 

Barring some season-shifting development, it’s fair to assume that at least six of those clubs will be in the playoff picture come the spring. The Bruins need to start proving that they can hold their own in these games.  

PLAY OF THE GAME

PARTING THOUGHTS

LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will be back at it with another Sunday-night matchup at TD Garden, with the B’s set to battle the cellar-dwelling Vancouver Canucks. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.