Rangers lose third straight, waste J.T. Miller’s two-goal return with 6-3 loss to Bruins

NHL: New York Rangers at Buffalo Sabres
Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images

The Boston Bruins spoiled J.T. Miller’s homecoming with the New York Rangers, taking care of them with a comfortable 6-3 win on Saturday at TD Garden. Miller looked phenomenal in his Rangers return, scoring two goals, but it was not enough to prevent New York from losing its third in a row.

Both are in a pile of teams fighting for the two wild-card positions. Boston (26-22-6) entered Saturday up four points on New York (24-23-4) and exited the building extending that cushion to six. The Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2 overtime losers to the New York Islanders, are even at 58 points — but the Bolts own the second wild-card spot because they’ve played three fewer games. 

David Pastrnak stole the show with a hat trick, including the empty-netter to put the game on ice, and an assist to lead the Bruins. Brad Marchand and Matthew Poitras each had two assists.

Aside from Miller’s two-goal performance in his first game with the Rangers in nearly seven years, Jonny Brodzinski was the only New York player to score; he had his fourth of the season midway through the third period to make it 5-3. Igor Shesterkin allowed five goals on 24 shots and has surrendered 13 goals in his past three games. The Rangers’ penalty kill ultimately helped do them in. The Bruins entered the day with the 30th-ranked power play, but scored twice in three tries with the man advantage.

The second period went a long way in deciding the late afternoon showdown. The Bruins scored two goals to take a 4-1 lead into the third, while the Rangers managed just two shots on goal.

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Boston Bruins 6 – New York Rangers 3

Perhaps fueled by the extra rest or the excitement in the wake of the Miller trade on Friday night, the Rangers started the first period by carrying the play. They controlled the puck in the Bruins zone for the first minute and had two quick shots on goal. Boston responded with an effective shift of its own, but the game remained scoreless nearly halfway through the opening period.

Miller started his first shift back in a Rangers sweater strong, taking a pass from Mika Zibanejad and shooting it off of Jeremy Swayman’s pads for the first of his four first-period shots on goal.

The Bruins got the first power play of the afternoon as Urho Vaakanainen went to the box at 11:41 for cross-checking. The penalty kill did its job, even producing a shorthanded chance for Reilly Smith. New York held the Bruins to just one shot attempt, but with 14 seconds remaining on the power play, Ryan Lindgren committed a cross-checking penalty of his own.

Two seconds after Vaakanainen’s penalty expired, Charlie McAvoy snapped a one-timer over Shesterkin’s right shoulder at 10:21, giving the Bruins a 1-0 lead.

However, New York answered back quickly. Miller scored the equalizer 34 seconds later after Panarin forced a turnover on the forecheck, deflecting a pass by Brandon Carlo. The puck sputtered out to Miller who stepped into it and ripped a one-timer to even up the score at 10:55. It was Miller’s first goal as a Ranger since Feb. 25, 2018.

Miller, who was traded to New York less than 24 hours prior, already earned a spot on the first power play unit for the Rangers, which got a chance to take the lead after Morgan Geekie hooked Lindgren at 14:33. Chris Kreider was sent to the second unit, where a glove save from Swayman erased a smooth shot from the longest-tenured Ranger.

Boston killed the penalty to Geekie and quickly regained the lead. Poitras easily spun away from Fox behind the net and centered for Pastrnak, who deposited it behind Shesterkin at 17:09 for his first goal of the game and 12th since Jan. 1.

The Bruins doubled their lead 3:39 into the second period. ​​Andrew Peeke fired a slap shot from just inside the blue line, and Charlie Coyle got his stick on the puck to deflect it by Shesterkin. The two-goal hole seemed insurmountable for New York, still the only team in the NHL this season without a multi-goal comeback victory.

New York put up a disappointing performance in the second period, generating just two shots on Swayman. The Rangers’ best look came at 7:06, when Matt Rempe momentarily had the puck and a good look at the net out front, but could not convert.

Boston made it 4-1 at 17:10 with its second power-play goal, this one with Will Borgen in the penalty box. A broken play saw the puck bounce off Lindgren’s skate and directly to Pavel Zacha, who flipped it past Shesterkin.

NHL: New York Rangers at Boston Bruins
Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

The Rangers opened the third with carry-over time from a Brad Marchand penalty, and 35 seconds into the final period, Miller scored his second of the day off a beautiful feed from Zibanejad.

But any excitement was short-lived. Pastrnak pushed the Bruins lead back to three at 1:21, 46 seconds after Miller’s second goal. 

A bench minor for too many men at 4:17 gave the Rangers a chance to get back within two goals, but while they had numerous solid chances, they couldn’t beat Swayman. The best opportunity came when a shot from Miller rebounded to Kreider in front, but his attempt was just barely turned aside as frustration began to boil over for the Rangers.

Still, the Rangers did not go away. Lindgren found a cutting Brodzinski, who redirected the puck on the fly into the net for a highlight-reel goal at 10:47, cutting the deficit to two.

The Rangers kept the intensity up on the Bruins for the remainder of the period but failed to get the lead down to one. New York pulled Shesterkin for an extra skater with 3:30 remaining, but the Bruins won the ensuing face-off, setting Pastrnak up to score his third of the day and the 18th hat trick of his career.

New York won’t have long to stew on this one; the Las Vegas Golden Knights come to Madison Square Garden on Sunday for a 6 p.m. start. After that, the Bruins come in on Wednesday to start a stretch of three games in four nights before NHL takes a break for the inaugural 4 Nations Face-off. Three straight losses have erased much of the progress the Blueshirts made in getting back in the playoff race, meaning they need to start earning points to keep up in the crowded race for the postseason.

Ben Leeds is an intern for Forever Blueshirts. He attends Marist University, majoring in communication with a concentration in ... More about Ben Leeds
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