Three-Goal Second Period Fuels Bruins Comeback Over Rangers
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It’s October 5, 2022, and the Boston Bruins have traveled from Massachusetts to the Big Apple to take on the New York Rangers in their sixth game of the preseason. Just eight days prior, these two teams faced off against each other in Boston at the TD Garden where the Bruins were able to come away with a 3-2 overtime win on home ice. Since that game, the Bruins shut out the Flyers in a 4-0 game, but then were shut out themselves by the Devils 1-0 two days later. That put Boston at 4-2 going into this game, looking to get a big win on the road at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers entered this game with a record of 2-1-1 and were looking to defend home ice just like Boston had done to them eight days earlier. Since losing that game to the Bruins they had lost 5-2 to the Devils, and then beat them 2-1 on back-to-back nights. The Rangers were looking to get off to a quick start to get the home crowd into it, and got just what they wanted when Mika Zibanejad scored just 27 seconds into the game off a Kreider cross-crease pass. That momentum didn’t last long though, as Bruins forward Jake Debrusk scored two minutes later when Mclaughlin tipped a pass right in front of the net.
Other than a couple of good scoring opportunities for Boston, the rest of the first period was pretty even until Dan Renouf of the Bruins got called for holding which sent the Rangers to the power play with 2:47 left. That proved to be costly for Boston as Zibanejad scored his second of the game when he tipped in a shot from Zac Jones to take back the lead. Things only got worse for Boston as just over a minute later Rangers forward Kappo Kakko took advantage of a poor Bruins line change and scored on the breakaway. That led to the score being 3-1 Rangers at the end of the first period, even though the Bruins outshot them 14-12.
The Bruins got off to a quick start in the second period when just 36 seconds in, Pavel Zacha scored on the breakaway to cut New York’s lead in half. With about 14 minutes left in the period, the Rangers had a couple of good scoring chances in a row that goaltender Jeremy Swayman was able to stop. The Bruins responded just two minutes later when David Pastrnak one-timed home a pass from David Krejci to tie the game at three. Boston killed off two penalties for tripping and too many men, and followed that up by taking the lead when Krejci scored his own on a one-timer pass from Pastrnak on a 2-on-1. After three more penalties back and forth, the second period ended with the score 4-3 in favor of Boston, but the shots were 24-19 for New York. Overall, the Rangers outplayed the Bruins in the second, but Boston capitalized on three good breaks to come back and take the lead.
The third period started out uneventful until the 13:11 mark when after a scramble in front of the net left Kappo Kakko putting in a loose puck in the crease. This goal tied the game at four and was his second of the game. Both teams went back and forth for a few minutes until Mike Reilly faked a shot at the point and skated to the slot where he put home a wrist shot to give Boston the lead back. The game continued to go back and forth until the Rangers pulled their goalie in the final minutes. They had a couple of good opportunities, but Artemi Panarin hit the post each time. Boston held on to win the game 5-4 despite being outshot 32-26. The game puts Boston’s preseason record at 5-2 with the Rangers at 2-2-1 as both teams go into their final preseason game this Saturday.
