Bruins’ Post-Kessel Era Starts With Preseason Loss to Rangers

The Boston Bruins opened at home without Phil Kessel and got beaten handily by the Rangers 5-2.

The good news is that it doesn’t really count.

The other positives were scarce for the Bruins, who fell behind 2-0 just 7:44 into the first period when Sean Avery beat Tim Thomas.

The Bruins’ netminder stopped just 14 of 19 shots, playing the entire game. Marc Savard scored Boston’s first goal, with Milan Lucic and Drew Fata registering assists. Zach Hammill scored the second Bruins goal, assisted by Max Sauve and Marco Sturm.

Despite the fact that the game doesn’t count toward much, Fata and Steve Begin each registered fighting majors, squaring off against Aaron Voros and Dane Byers, respectively. It was Begin’s second fight of the preseason. Lucic was given a game misconduct in the second period for spearing Michael Del Zotto.