The Rangers’ self-praise begins to sound empty.
The Rangers came out on the wrong end of a black-and-blue game with the growing Bruins, who extended their points streak to 10 games with a 1-0 victory at Garden on Friday night – just two days after Boston sent Blueshirts at a waste of overtime.
Without the outstanding skill of their top producer, Artemi Panarin, who was ruled out with an injury he suffered on Wednesday, the Rangers lost a third game in a row and fell even further into the bottom of the Eastern standings.
It was the third time the Rangers had been shut down this season and the second time in the last three games.
The rangers continued to point out how close the games were, how many positive aspects are to be taken and that they are only a few steps away from sharing them all.
The fact is this: the shortened season 2020-21 is almost a quarter of the way.
Tuukka Rask, the master of Bruins, gave the Blueshirts matches on Wednesday night, and the former islander Jaroslav Halak did the same on Friday. Boston has lost only once in regulation this season, on January 18 against the Islands and is probably one of the best round teams in the entire league.
However, the Rangers proved they can skate with this Bruins physical team when they forced overtime at Wednesday’s meeting. The heavy offense, the smart decisions and the balanced game were simply not this time.
Jacob Trouba executed a careless penalty less than two minutes into the third. A double run with Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere was easily broken before anyone could get a shot. And when the Rangers received a power play in the last minute of the game for a six to four advantage, they lost the match and could not get a single shot on the net.
After a first period without a score, the old hockey took place in 2021. Both teams combined for 13 penalties in the center, with 36 minutes in total served either for fighting or for hardening.
The Rangers may have landed their fists, but they allowed the Bruins to take shots where it mattered: On the score sheet. Nick Ritchie broke the drought at 9:13 after filling the puck with Shesterkin, while Boston beat the Rangers 13-10 in the second.
In the first 20 minutes, the Rangers limited the Bruins to all areas of the ice, while Lafreniere’s new second-line appearance, Kakko and Ryan Strome not only reduced the pressure in the offensive zone, but dismantled Boston on the other. end of the ice.