Bruins Beat Blueshirts At The Garden

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The Rangers finally ended their five-game losing streak on Thursday night with a 6-2 thumping of the Buffalo Sabres. Tonight, however, it was the Rangers on the wrong end of the scoreline, with the Boston Bruins handing the Rangers a 7-4 loss.

Micheal Haley – The lone Rangers goal came way back in the first period from a guy that wasn’t even supposed to be in the lineup. After Jesper Fast was scratched due to personal reasons less than an hour before puck drop, Haley was inserted into David Quinn’s roster for the contest. Haley’s goal came midway through the opening frame when the rugged forward put in the rebound of Brendan Smith’s shot.

Pavel Buchnevich – The young Russian got the second goal of the game for the Blueshirts, finishing off a pretty passing play. Artemiy Panarin bought some time and found Tony DeAngelo in the opposite circle, who fired a pinpoint pass to Buchnevich for the tap-in goal in the third period.

Chris Kreider – It was too little too late, but Chris Kreider scored on the powerplay with about two minutes left in the contest, depositing the rebound of Tony DeAngelo’s point shot. The goal was Kreider’s second in his last two games.

Brady Skjei – The defenseman added his first of the season just 21 seconds after the Kreider tally, making things interesting for the final moments of the contest when he scored on Ryan Strome’s rebound. The goal was Skjei’s first of the young season.

Mika Zibanejad – It was not the night Mika Zibanejad was hoping for in his 500th NHL game. The Swedish center was forced to miss the final two periods after he took a hard hit from Bruins center Patrice Bergeron.

The fact that it isn’t a head injury for Zibanejad is a good sign since the 26-year-old has a long history of concussions. Hopefully, this injury won’t keep Zibanejad out of the lineup for long.

And in case you were wondering how the ice time was divvied up amongst the centers following the injury:

  • Strome: 20 Shifts – 14:07
  • Howden: 19 Shifts – 12:53
  • Andersson: 14 Shifts – 10:02

A Little Help? – When doing my recaps, I like to discuss the goaltending, positive or negative. That being said, however, the duo of Henrik Lundqvist and Alexandar Georgiev didn’t get much help from their teammates. The Rangers allowed 43 shots on goal and had poor defensive zone coverage throughout the contest. Brad Marchand had too much time on both of his goals, Coyle was unmarked on his goal, and Bergeron’s second goal came after the smaller Marchand outmuscled Jacob Trouba for a loose puck. Yes, the first Bruins goal was controversial, but the Rangers looked lost for long periods of time when defending the high-powered Bruins forecheck.

Next Game: The road doesn’t get any easier for the Blueshirts as they host Kevin Shattenkirk and the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night. Puck drops at 7:30!

LETS GO RANGERS!!

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