It’s been a tough week for the Rangers. On Monday, they were eliminated from playoff contention and lost their best player to injury after an assault by Tom Wilson. On Wednesday they lost their president, John Davidson, and their general manager, Jeff Gorton, who were shockingly fired. And they brought a four-game losing streak into their final series of the season.
And against the surging Boston Bruins on Thursday, they looked like a beaten down team.
Playing their next-to-last game of the season, on the second night of a back-to-back, with the suspended Pavel Buchnevich out of the lineup and two new Hartford callups dressed for the game, the Rangers offered little resistance in a 4-0 loss to the Bruins at TD Garden. The loss, their fifth straight, dropped their record to 26-23-6, with one game remaining. They will close out the 56-game season Saturday afternoon against the Bruins.
Buchnevich was suspended for one game for his brutal cross-check of Washington’s Anthony Mantha in Wednesday’s 4-2 loss to the Capitals in Madison Square Garden. And forward Julien Gauthier, who was injured in that game, also did not play. They were replaced by Tim Gettinger and Jonny Brodzinski, who were called up from Hartford.
Boston, which started the day in third place in the East Division and is battling to try and get home ice in the first round of the playoffs, got goals from Patrice Bergeron and Long Beach native Charlie McAvoy in the first period, with Jake DeBrusk scoring in the second period and Brandon Carlo scoring in the third against Igor Shesterkin (30 saves).
The Rangers didn’t mount much pressure against Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman. They managed just 15 shots on goal in the game, including four in the first period and three in the second.
