Recap: Bruins not quite good enough in 2-1 loss to Rangers

Another frustrating result.

After Tuesday’s loss to the Washington Capitals, there were plenty of reasonable takes suggesting that the B’s effort had actually been pretty good in DC, the result just wasn’t there.

Unfortunately, you could say the same about tonight’s game in Manhattan: the Bruins weren’t terrible, controlled play for decent stretches, threw 33 shots on net…and still lost.

The Bruins got goals from Mika Zibanejad and Brett Berard just over three minutes apart in the first period, then held on the rest of the way to earn a 2-1 win.

Jonathan Quick was the standout player for the Rangers, making 32 saves — including a couple of the highlight-reel variety.

Elias Lindholm scored the Bruins’ lone goal midway through the second period.

Zibanejad got the Rangers on the board midway through the first period, tucking in a Reilly Smith shot/pass that looked like it actually might go in on its own. 1-0 Rangers.

Just over three minutes later, Berard beat Jeremy Swayman clean with a nice wrist shot on a 2-on-1. 2-0 Bruins.

Lindholm’s goal came eight minutes into the second period, when he buried a beautiful pass from David Pastrnak to cut it to 2-1 Rangers.

Unfortunately, that was it for offense for the Bruins. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, with the B’s landing 25 shots on net in the second and third periods combined.

It might be a slight stretch to say Quick completely stole the game, but…yeah. He was huge for the Rangers.

The loss was the Bruins’ second in a row, while the win ended a four-game losing streak for the Rangers.

Game notes

• You don’t always want to be the “glass half full” guy, but this wasn’t a bad game from the Bruins. Couple of big saves from Quick, a post here or there…the effort was certainly there, even if the result didn’t follow.
• Of course, that kind of makes the result more frustrating — unlike earlier in the season, when the Bruins had stretches where they looked completely inept, they’ve looked decent in the last two games and still have nothing to show for it.
• This game was played almost entirely at even strength, with just two minors (one apiece). Interestingly, those minors came less than 30 seconds apart, as K’Andre Miller took a delay of game penalty, only to have Pastrnak take a high sticking penalty 27 seconds later. Nice guy, that Pastrnak, sparing us from having to watch a Bruins power play.
• The Bruins leaned heavily on their top guys in this game, with Charlie McAvoy skating more than 25 minutes and Nikita Zadorov, Brad Marchand, and Pastrnak all near or over 22 minutes.
• It would be kind of harsh to say his play with the puck led directly to the Rangers’ first goal, but Swayman’s puck handling still makes me very nervous.

And…that’s kind of it?

It was one of those games where on another night, it may have gone another way, but instead, it’s two losses in a row with a trip to Toronto looming on Saturday night.