Rangers Drop Bruins
NY Rangers 5, Boston 2
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Where: Madison Square Garden, NYC
Attendance: 18006
NEW YORK — (Wire Service Report) – Through 20 minutes, the New York Rangers were down two goals to the Boston Bruins, who had the fresher legs despite playing the night before. It didn’t seem to make sense, as the Bruins were blanking the Rangers with rookie goaltender Zane McIntyre making his first NHL start.
Forty minutes and five unanswered goals later, the scoreboard made more sense.
The Rangers scored five goals over 14 minutes across the second and third periods and pulled away late in a 5-2 victory at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. Left winger Brandon Pirri scored twice, the Rangers converted twice on the power play and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist righted himself over the final two periods and stopped 27 shots.
“I think we just felt like we could turn it around,” Lundqvist said. “We showed it to ourselves so many times this season so we didn’t panic. I’m just happy with the way we responded — with the way I responded after that start.”
Bruins right winger David Pastrnak put his team ahead 1-0 just 10 seconds into the contest when he slipped behind the defense and stashed a shot between Lundqvist’s legs. Center Austin Czarnik scored his first career goal with 5:16 remaining in the period to put the depleted Bruins ahead 2-0.
Playing without their top two goaltenders — Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin — the Bruins were relying on Zane McIntyre one night after Malcolm Subban was yanked during the second period from his start against the Minnesota Wild. McIntyre was sharp in the first period, stopping a pair of breakaways, but crumbled in the second period as he allowed three goals on 14 shots, including a game-tying goal by center Kevin Hayes that was banked off his backside with 3:25 remaining.
Pirri’s power-play goal with 35.4 seconds to go in the period put the Rangers ahead 3-2, then Pirri and left winger Jimmy Vesey scored 33 seconds apart early in the third period to put the game away.
The Bruins took four consecutive minor penalties in the second period and weren’t able to recover.
“Last two nights, we played well in the first and haven’t been able to continue that,” Bruins defenseman Torey Krug said. “I think we started off well in the second period but the penalties got away and our discipline wasn’t there. If you give a skilled team like that too many power plays, they’re going to score.”
Bruins coach Claude Julien didn’t hang the blame entirely on his inexperienced goaltender.
“I thought he made some real good saves early in the game,” Julien said. “In the first half, he was really good. But there were some tough goals that went in on him. I’m not saying it’s his fault.”
Bruins Injury Report: Backes
BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – The Boston Bruins recalled forward Austin Czarnik from Providence of the American Hockey League on Wednesday and forward David Backes remained out with an elbow injury. Czarnik was available for Wednesday night’s game at the New York Rangers. Bruins general manager Don Sweeney also announced an update on Backes.
“David Backes underwent the removal of the olecranon bursa from his elbow on Monday, October 24. His condition will be updated after the weekend,” Sweeney said in a statement.
Backes, signed by the Bruins to a five-year, $30 million contract this offseason, has recorded two goals and two assists with 12 shots on goal in five games.
David Backes
Czarnik has skated in two games with Boston in 2016-17 — his first two career NHL games — and recorded two penalty minutes. He has skated in two games with Providence this season, posting one goal and two assists.
Czarnik, 23, appeared in 68 games with Providence in 2015-16, tallying 61 points (20 goals, 41 assists) with a plus-17 rating. The 5-foot-9, 167-pound forward ranked seventh in the AHL in points and 11th in assists in his rookie season with Providence. The Washington, Mich., native signed an entry-level contract with the Bruins on April 1, 2015, after a college career at Miami University (Ohio).
NHL Teams Up With Fanatics
NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The NHL and Fanatics announced a new agreement that expands the scope of Fanatics’ relationship with the professional hockey league. Fanatics will become the official manufacturer of a broad range of NHL apparel and headwear, including replica jerseys, along with merchandise for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The deal begins with the 2017-18 NHL season.
Fanatics will operate on-site retail stores and point-of-sale stations at numerous NHL marquee events, while powering the NHL’s auction web site and extend its relationship as the ecommerce operator for the League, which began in 2005.
“Our new long-term business partnership with Fanatics is a reflection of the growth and evolution of the consumer products and e-commerce business,” said NHL Executive Vice President and Chief Branding Officer Brian Jennings. “After a rigorous process, Fanatics emerged as an optimal choice given their commitments to expanding their already best-in-class capabilities in the e-commerce space, including building a sales and distribution infrastructure in Canada, and to produce lines of replica jerseys and apparel products that will excite NHL fans and drive sales for NHL retail partners.”
The agreement expands the relationship between the two sports industry giants, while also leveraging Fanatics’ innovative mobile, merchandising and production capabilities. With technology, mobile and social media all contributing to a surge in the speed at which fans consume the latest gear, the agreement will allow fans to have access to a broad assortment of products.
Nightmare: Fans Say “Boo” to Bruins
Minnesota 5, Boston 0
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 17,565
BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – Charlie Coyle and Chris Stewart broke a scoreless tie with goals 12 seconds apart in a four-goal second period, and Devan Dubnyk stopped 27 shots, leading the Minnesota Wild to a 5-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.
With the Bruins playing emergency goaltender Malcolm Subban because of injuries to Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin, the Wild (4-2-1) poured three goals past Subban and one past Zane McIntyre on nine shots in the middle period.
Defenseman Ryan Suter and Jason Zucker also scored in the second and Jason Pominville scored in the third. Zucker posted two assists, Joel Eriksson Ek three and Suter one as the Wild, 8-2-0 all-time at TD Garden, made it 1-1-1 on their current three-game road trip.
Dubnyk, who came in 0-5 with a 5.20 goals-against average against the Bruins in his career, wasn’t severely tested in pitching his 20th career shutout. He raised his season record to 3-1-1.
Devan Dubnyk
Subban, a first-round draft pick in 2012, yielded three goals on 16 shots and has now allowed six goals on 22 shots in two NHL starts — the other one in 2014. He was 0-3-1 with a 4.50 goals-against average with Providence this season, getting pulled in two of his four AHL starts.
At St. Louis in his first career start, he yielded three goals in 4:21, while he allowed three in a span of 5:29 Tuesday.
The Bruins, whose failure to play well at home last season led to them missing the playoffs for the second straight year, went 1-2 and scored just four goals on their first homestand of the season.
McIntyre made his NHL debut for Boston (3-3-0) and saved 15 of the 17 shots he faced.
The game ended with a chorus of boos raining down from what was left of the sellout crowd.
