The praise of the Rangers themselves begins to sound empty.
The Rangers came out on the wrong start of a black-and-blue clash with the Bruins, who increased their streak of points to 10 games with a 1-0 victory in the field on Friday night, just two days after Boston sent the Blueshirts. at a waste of overtime.
Without the scoring skill of their top producer, Artemi Panarin, who was ruled out with a lower body injury he suffered on Wednesday, the Rangers lost a third straight game and fell even further into the basement of the Eastern standings. .
It was the third time the Rangers have been shut out this season and the second time in their last three games.
The Rangers have continued to highlight the degree of presence of the games, how many positive aspects must be taken away and that there are only a couple of steps left to share everything.
But the fact is this: the shortening of the 2020-21 season is almost a quarter of the way.
Tuukka Rask, in charge of Bruins, gave the Blueshirts a chance Wednesday night, and former Islander Jaroslav Halak did the same on Friday. Boston has lost in regulation only once this season, on Jan. 18 against the Islanders, and is arguably one of the most complete teams in the entire league.
The Rangers, however, proved they could skate alongside this Bruins physical team when they forced overtime at Wednesday’s meeting. Offensive noise, smart decisions and balanced play were not there this time.
Jacob Trouba made a sloppy penalty less than two minutes from the third. A two-on-two confrontation with Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere was easily broken before neither of them got a shot. And when the Rangers received a powerful play in the last minute of the game by a six-on-four advantage, they lost the match and were unable to get a single shot on goal.
After a first period without scores, the hockey of old history entered 2021. Both teams combined 13 penalties in the central frame, with 36 minutes in total to fight or to grind.
The Rangers may have gotten their punches, but they allowed the Bruins to punch where it mattered: on the score sheet. Nick Ritchie broke the scoring drought at 9:13 after filling the record in front of Shesterkin, while Boston outscored the Rangers 13-10 in the second.
For the first 20 minutes, the Rangers limited the Bruins to all areas of the ice, while Lafreniere’s new line, Kakko and Ryan Strome, not only put pressure on the offensive zone, but dismantled Boston in the ‘other end of the ice.