Bruins Stunned By Struggling Rangers

The Boston Bruins began 2025 the same way they ended 2024.

Coming off a frustrating loss on New Year’s Eve, the Bruins arrived in Manhattan on Thursday for a matchup with the struggling New York Rangers.

However, it was the Bruins who struggled at Madison Square Garden, as they hit the back of the net just once in a 2-1 loss.

“Sometimes, you want to look at the positives,” David Pastrnak told reporters in New York. “But now we’re 0-2 on this road trip, so it’s tough to look at some of the positives right now.”

With the Rangers entering play shouldering the weight of a four-game losing streak, it was imperative for the Bruins not to give them any hope and get out to a lead early.  Instead, the Bruins quickly found themselves down by two after the first period and only had themselves to blame.

After the Bruins lost a draw in the attacking end, Charlie McAvoy and Nikita Zadorov tracked backward into the neutral zone as the Rangers cleared the puck by lifting it into the air.

As both defensemen attempted to play centerfield, they collided with one another, giving a numbers advantage to the Rangers entering the Boston zone. Before the Bruins could sort themselves out, Mika Zibanejad put New York on the board.

First goal of 2025 for the Rangers? Mika Zibanejad 👀 pic.twitter.com/bRgBzLPOSW

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 3, 2025

Minutes later, New York stretched its lead to 2-0.

With the Bruins in the attacking end, Mason Lohrei tried to hold the puck in zone by pinching along the side wall. But all that did was  create an odd-man rush for the Rangers that Brett Berard took full advantage of by burying a wrister past Jeremy Swayman from the right faceoff circle

The Bruins were much more composed the rest of the night and generated plenty of scoring chances from dangerous areas. But for as good as the Bruins were, Jonathan Quick was that much better in net for the Rangers.

It’s been a few years since Quick was considered among the game’s elite netminders, but he turned back the clock against Boston. As the Bruins fired a barrage of 33 shots at him, the veteran robbed them with several acrobatic saves reminiscent of the days when he was regularly in the running for the Vezina Trophy.

“It’s a pretty cool moment, seeing vintage Quicky,” said Swayman, who had 25 saves of his own on 27 shots. “He’s a guy that’s had success in this league because of the work he’s put in and the kind of human being he is. He’s someone I wanted to be when I grew up. I think he’s well-deserving, it’s nice when and good for him. I love watching him play.”

It wasn’t until 7:57 of the second period, when David Pastrnak set up Elias Lindholm for his seventh goal of the season with an excellent pass from behind the net, that the Bruins finally put a shot past him.

It was the only shot they put past him.

In a winnable game in the third period, the Bruins made things hard on themselves.

They were disjointed and disconnected. Even when the Rangers provided little resistance, the Bruins chose to make the easy play rather than the right one.

“We have to be more direct,” Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco said. “Sometimes we have a tendency to overpass and look for the better play, and that’s something we’re going to talk about further. But, for the most part, unfortunately, we’re just not putting the puck in the back of the net.”

The Bruins have now lost two games in a row, scoring a combined two goals between them.

They’ll try to avoid a third straight loss on Saturday night against the Maple Leafs in Toronto.

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