There were some positives, but unfortunately that’s not enough to survive the Blueshirts’ assault.
Remember, it’s only pre-season.
1st Period
Things didn’t start ideal; the B’s got dinged with two penalties back-to-back and in rapid succession, and well…it made itself evident when Adam Fox got the opening goal, as he hammered home an extremely juicy rebound to put New York up 1-0.
You could drive a pretty reasonably sized SUV through that hole in coverage.
But! Things improved as Brett Harrison was the lucky recipient of a Morgan Geekie pass in the middle of the period, and he hustled his way to take Jonathan Quick off his line and slide it through his five hole to tie the game at 1!
Morgan Geekie’s pass was incredible, but let’s give Harrison some credit on doing all that with a Ranger trying to basically cling to him like a salamander.
Unfortunately, the good times couldn’t last; late in the period the Rangers got a bullet of a shot put on Brandon Bussi by Jacob Trouba, and Chris Kreider tipped it home to once again put the Rangers up by one goal. 2-1 NYR.
I don’t even have anything for that. That was just a really nice goal.
And then, a little bit of buyer’s concern just before the period ended!
What the f#!k was that, Nikita?
Anyway, the period ended with the score settled at 3-1 NYR.
2nd Period
Johnny Brodzinski started the period with a goal after New York re-established possession both in the defensive and offensive zone, sent it into the middle, it bounced up off the goalpost, and then Brodzinski batted it in. 4-1 NYR.
Things did improve however! Late in the period, Drew Bavaro threw a shot in from the point, and Mark Kastelic tipped it down to catch the Rangers off-guard and score. 4-2 NYR.
Nothing further, and we move to the final period.
3rd Period
I will give the Bruins this; after two periods of anemic offense, they did try to settle the game down and attempt to put more shots on net than there had been previously. Unfortunately, they were not able to find a way to solve Jonathan Quick a third time, they tried pulling Bussi, and were rewarded with an empty net goal-against.
With that, the game ended with the Bruins losing 5-2 to the Rangers in this preseason contest.
Game Notes
- Your TOI leader for this preseason contest was Charlie McAvoy, who logged 23:56 in total.
- This was a…difficult game for the Bruins system both young and old. If there was a single word I could apply regarding the team’s performance, it would be “struggle”. They struggled to do much of anything with any of the (late) power play opportunities they got, they struggled to hold the puck for any reasonable amount of time, and largely got filled in at even-strength. Whatever; it’s pre-season, and that’s perfectly fine. Still, there were some real head-scratchers. Adam Fox’s goal was a comedy of errors, Brodzinski’s goal was the direct result of two out-musclings, Othmann’s was a direct result of Zadorov completely whiffing on a pass to the point…it was rough, and the score accurately reflects the effort on display.
- Brandon Bussi finished his night with an .875 SV%. I think it can both reflect his play; which wasn’t exactly great. he struggled BADLY with rebounds and gave the Rangers second chances nearly single-handedly against a MUCH more talented squad…but he also had nearly no help as the Bruins had nearly allowed 30 shots onto him through 40 minutes…and all of the penalty trouble happened in the first period. You’re only as good as the support you get, and Brandon Bussi was not put in a position to succeed, and he did not overcome the handicap placed on him whatsoever.
- As for positives? Well, Mark Kastelic definitely seems to want to stick around; tapping down a real nice feed from Drew Bavaro, Morgan Geekie still remains a pretty solid hand on the boards and fed Brett Harrison for a strong push to the net to get Jonathan Quick off his game and score, Matthew Poitras definitely seemed to like playing with Zacha and Pastrnak, even though they didn’t add a point to their night.
- To a number of players, I have only this to say; get ready to learn where to park at the Amica Mutual Pavilion. Cuts are probably coming soon.
- Whatever. It’s preseason; let’s just forget this ever happened and start over on Saturday against Philly. Sound good?
As previously mentioned, preseason rolls on with a game against the Philadelphia Flyers. That game is on NHL Network (for some reason) and will drop the puck at 7pm EST.
See you there!