The Boston Bruins outplayed the New York Rangers for long stretches on Saturday evening, but in the end it didn’t matter.
The B’s fell into an early 2-0 hole at TD Garden, but they battled back to tie the game and force overtime.
While Boston did earn a point, they wouldn’t be able to collect the full two as Mats Zuccarello beat Tuukka Rask in overtime to give New York the Original Six win.
The Bruins fell to 15-10-5 with the loss, while the Rangers improved to 18-12-3.
Here’s how it all went down:
NOT SO FAST BRUINS
Boston thought it got on the board early against the Rangers when Ryan Spooner appeared to score less than five minutes into the game. Brendan Smith hesitated and allowed the B’s to get behind him and Torey Krug hit Spooner who poked one past Henrik Lundqvist.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, though, the goal was reviewed and disallowed as the officials ruled that Jake DeBrusk was offside on the play.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, NEW YORK
New York got on the board late in the opening period thanks to a gift from Rask.
Michael Grabner split the Bruins’ defense and launched a shot high off the glass. The puck hit Rask in the back off the bounce, stuck his skate and slid into the net to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
RANGERS STRIKE
The Rangers extended their lead early in the second period after going on the power play when David Krejci was sent to the box for high sticking.
Boston’s penalty kill wasn’t on point during the two-minute stretch, as J.T. Miller got behind the Bruins’ defense, took the lead pass and buried a backhander past Rask at the 2:26 mark.
NOT DEAD YET
The B’s finally got on the board near the end of the second period when Danton Heinen tipped in a Zdeno Chara blast from the point to get the Bruins within one.
EVEN STEVEN
Boston had struggled on the power play all night, but finally broke through early in the third period.
Brady Skjei was sent to the box for holding, and less than two minutes later the game was tied. David Pastrnak found Brad Marchand with a slick cross-ice pass, and Marchand ripped a shot past Lundqvist at the 5:38 mark.
POWER RANGERS
The two sides battled for the remainder of the third period, but neither were able to break through as both Rask and Lundqvist made countless saves to send the game to overtime.
During the sudden-death period, the B’s got caught with too many men on the ice and the Rangers made them pay.
Zuccarello smoked a shot past Rask at the 1:56 mark to give the Rangers the win.
UP NEXT
The Bruins will hit the ice again Monday when they face the Columbus Blue Jackets. Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
