One of the reasons the Bruins struggled so much last season (besides the fact that they couldn't score, which is kind of a big deal) was the fact that they always played down to competition and struggled to beat the teams that they should handle.
Last night at the TD Garden vs. the New York Rangers was the first instance in this young season that the B's (4-2-0) haven't quite gotten over that disturbing trend. They were lethargic and lost 3-2 to the Rangers (3-2-1).
Tuukka Rask (0-2-0) got his first start in two weeks and it wasn't a good one. He stopped 27 shots but was victimized by two fluke goals in the first period by the offensively-challenged Rangers.
Artem Ansimov (power play) and Alexander Frolov scored 37 seconds apart in the first period, giving New York an early 2-0 lead. It was a strange period based on the goals and all the fighting: Sean Avery squared off vs. Marc Stuart, Shawn Thornton took on monster Derek Boogaard and Milan Lucic and Brandon Prust tangled for a second before it was broken up.
Bruins captain Zdeno Chara answered with a power play goal for the second straight game. With five seconds left in the period, his blast from the point was assisted by Mark Recchi (his partner on the back line on the power play) and Nathan Horton.
Mark Staal scored on a breakaway 48 seconds into the second period and that's all the scoring that the Rangers would need thanks to their star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist (35 saves).
Horton cut it to 3-2 later in the second with his fifth of the season, from David Krejci and Dennis Seidenberg.
The third period went by without any scoring, Boston couldn't find the tying goal and New York escaped with a gift two points.
The B's are off until Thursday when Phil Kessel and the Maple Leafs come to the TD Garden.
Johnny Boychuk left the game last night with a wrist injury after being slashed, so hopefully Chara's defensive partner is ok. He really came into his own in the spring during the playoffs and he would be a big loss.
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