From bad to worse, Bruins knocked down again in New York, this time by Rangers
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Revoltin’ development, Part Deux.
One night after their third-period implosion on Long Island ended in an embarrassing loss, the Bruins suffered a matching shellacking Friday night in Manhattan, falling apart late in the second period and limping out of Madison Square Garden with a 6-2 loss to the Rangers.
The Blueshirts struck twice in a 12-second span late in the second period to move to a 4-1 lead, and then cashed in for two more early in the third en route to handing the Bruins their fourth loss in their last five games.
Ryan Strome (1-2—3) led the way for the Rangers, who also received two points apiece from Chris Kreider, Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren. Six Rangers scored against Tuukka Rask, similar to the night before when seven Islanders each struck for a goal against Jaroslav Halak.
Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand (career goal No. 300) scored for the Bruins.
After a Saturday practice that no doubt will have coach Bruce Cassidy holding court with his charges in front of a replay machine, the Bruins will face the Rangers at MSG again in a Sunday noon matinee.
That nightmare Thursday night in Uniondale? It only grew bigger in Manhattan.
The 12-second meltdown came with just over a minute to go before the second intermission, the Bruins blowing their opportunity to go into the break with only a one-goal deficit.
And then, just like against the Islanders 24 hours earlier, the deluge.
Colin Blackwell provided the 3-1 lead at 18:52, only 10 seconds after Nick Ritchie was whistled off the ice for a ticky-tack tripping call. Parked high in the slot as the puck moved around the box, Blackwell put a tip to Fox’s one-time drive from center point. Once more, the Bruins were in arrears by a pair of goals.
Only 12 seconds after the ensuing faceoff, ex-BC Eagle Kreider bumped it up to 4-1 with his flat-angle wrister from along the goal line, a 15–foot attempt meant only to be a centering pass, that angled into the net off of Charlie McAvoy’s skate.
For the ninth time in the last 11 games, the Bruins failed to carry a lead into the third period.
The Rangers began the night on the right foot when Julien Gauthier wristed in the 1-0 lead at 13:16 of the first period. Set up with a pass by Lindgren, the former Bruins prospect, he connected from near the left wing faceoff dot, thanks in part to Phillip DiGiuseppe setting a screen with Bruins defenseman John Moore near the left post.
Strome, the former Oiler traded to New York for one-time Bruin Ryan Spooner, lifted it to 2-0 with 2:32 gone in the second — with star prospect Alexis Lafreniere picking up his first career assist on the play. Lafreniere, working on left wing, zipped a smooth diagonal feed across the slot and Strome buried it from low in the right wing circle.
The only Bruins goal of the first two periods came less than two minutes later, at 4:02, on Bergeron’s easy doorstep tap into an empty net. Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev overplayed a possible David Pastrnak shot from the left circle, and actually was out of his crease, maybe a foot beyond the left post, when Bergeron received Pastrnak’s pass and popped it into the net for his eighth goal this season.
Combined with the five-goal meltdown in the third period on Thursday, the Bruins entered the third period after having been outscored, 9-1, over their last 90 minutes of work.
Marchand scored the final goal with 12:09 to play.