Recap: Rangers Routed 10-2 as Two Bruins Score Hat Tricks, Pastrnak Adds 6 Assists

The New York Rangers took a trip north to take on the Boston Bruins. The Bruins entered the game in sixth place in the Atlantic Division, outside of a playoff spot. The Blueshirts were in a similar spot in second to last place, only ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets. This was the second matchup between the two teams, with the Rangers getting the better of the Bruins the first time around. Here is what the lines for the games looked like.

The Rangers got off to a hot start, scoring the first goal, but then allowed six straight. The Rangers couldn't get anything going after the initial goal, and Boston was all gas, no brake from there. The Bruins had two players record their first career hat tricks, and everything that could go wrong for the Blueshirts did.

First Period

The Rangers got off to a hot start, finding their first goal of the game less than two minutes into the game. The Rangers, who had been prone to giving up early goals, found the first one. Mika Zibanejad scored off a one-timer from Artemi Panarin. The two have been hot ever since the Winter Classic and kept it going in Boston.

The Bruins answered very quickly with a goal from Marat Khusnutdinov off the rush. Braden Schneider, back on the first pair, couldn't keep up with Khusnutdinov, and from there it was one-on-one with Jonathan Quick, who couldn't make the save. Khusnutdinov buried the goal with a nice wrister, which tied the game at one goal apiece.

The hot start at the TD Garden continued with a Bruins goal from Pavel Zacha. Zacha came away with the puck in the neutral zone before he carried it in. The Rangers seemed to be in a good position until Will Borgen blew a tire and Zacha had a clean path to the net. Quick got beat for the second time as Zacha found the go-ahead goal and gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead.

From that point, momentum was in Boston's favor as Morgan Geekie nearly made it a 3-1 lead with a shot that rang off the post. The Bruins continued to pepper the Rangers with shots and offensive zone possession. The hot start from the Blueshirts quickly seemed like a fluke.

Play slowed down for a bit, but the Bruins remained in control, dominating shots on goal and puck possession. With a little bit less than two minutes to go in the period, Mika Zibanejad got called for a trip which sent Boston to the games first power play. The Bruins entered the game tied for the fourth-best power play and showed the Rangers why.

45 seconds into the power play, J.T. Miller slashed Charlie MacAvoy, giving the Bruins a 1:15 five-on-three power play. Boston had multiple strong chances, but Jonathan Quick made some incredible saves before the Blueshirts cleared the puck. Braden Schneider appeared to have made a last-ditch effort to keep the puck out of the net, and time expired for the moment.

However, the puck actually crossed the line with 32.9 seconds left in the period, which gave the Bruins a 3-1 lead. Zacha, the goal scorer, found his second of the day in crazy fashion. The Rangers were already in the locker room as the period had expired, but then they had to head back onto the ice for the remaining time.

Boston, still on the man advantage, was unable to convert, but it carried over into the second. After scoring first, the Blueshirts allowed three straight, and the Bruins took a 3-1 lead into the locker room.

Second Period

The Bruins started the period with 49 seconds remaining on the power play. Morgan Geekie did not start the period on the bench for the Bruins as he left the game to attend to a family member. New York killed off the remainder of the power play but had a long task ahead of them.

2:13 into the period, the Bruins scored again off a goal from Fraser Minten. A poor pass from Vincent Trocheck led to the Bruins taking control of the puck. The Rangers then tried to clear the puck but were unsuccessful, and ultimately Boston maintained control of the puck and made it a 4-1 game.

Not long after, Trocheck on a breakaway drew a slash and was awarded a penalty shot, giving the Rangers an opportunity to cut the lead. Jeremy Swayman held strong and made a big save, which kept their three-goal lead intact.

The Bruins answered the penalty shot attempt with an offensive flurry, which resulted in Khusnutdinov's second goal of the day. Schneider failed to clear the puck, and David Pastrnak made a gorgeous pass, and Khusnutdinov buried it, which gave the Bruins a 5-1 lead.

Despite struggling, head coach Mike Sullivan kept Jonathan Quick in the game. The Bruins, and specifically Pavel Zacha, made the most of this as he achieved his first career hat trick. Zacha worked for his first career hat trick by being aggressive on the forecheck, which resulted in a failed Rangers clear. Zacha then got a feed from Cole Mittelstadt and scored which brought the score to 6-1. Following the goal, Quick was pulled, and Spencer Martin stepped on the ice for the first time as a Ranger.

On the ensuing faceoff, Sam Carrick and Mark Kastelic got into a fight, which Kastelic won pretty clearly. Both received majors, and Kastelic also received a misconduct for pulling away from the linesman. Despite losing, Carrick deserves credit for stepping up when the Rangers needed a momentum boost.

Following the fight, the Rangers got their first power play opportunity when Mason Lohrei got called for playing the puck over the glass. The Rangers were active on the power play, with Zibanejad ringing the post early. J.T. Miller also had a nice chance, but Swayman remained strong after giving up the early goal. The Rangers eventually cashed in with a goal from Miller, cutting the score to 6-2. Zibanejad made a really nice pass, and then Miller showed off some nice moves with his hands and stopped the bleeding for the Rangers.

The Bruins answered the Rangers' goal before the period ended with a goal from Sullivan's son-in-law, Charlie MacAvoy. MacAvoy got a nice feed from Pastrnak, who found his fourth assist, and Martin allowed his first goal as a Ranger, extending the score to 7-2.

An eventful second period, mostly for Boston, came to an end with a full period still left to play. The Bruins scored four goals in the second, topping their impressive first period. The Rangers, on the other hand, struggled all day outside of the first two minutes of the game and were presumably looking forward to the end of the game.

Third Period

The third period got off to an uneventful start with both teams trading opportunities, but neither team found the back of the net. That all changed when Khusnutdinov became the second Bruin to find their first career hat trick, and of course it came off a Pastrnak assist, giving Boston an 8-2 lead. The Bruins kept the offense going, and Pastrnak got his fifth assist of the night.

The Rangers got their second power play thanks to a roughing call against Andrew Peeke. Unfortunately, the Blueshirts couldn't capitalize on the man advantage after they previously scored on their first opportunity. Play continued but slowed down heavily in a game that had already been decided. The Bruins piled onto their lead with Minten's goal off, you guessed it, off a sixth assist from Pastrnak, and the Bruins took a 9-2 lead.

"We want 10" chants emerged from TD Garden as the Rangers' beating continued. Pastrnak's six assists were enough to set a Bruins record and brought him within one assist of the league record. All of this displayed how disastrous of a night it was for the Rangers.

A few minutes after the chants, Will Cuylle delivered a strong hit on the boards against Viktor Arvidsson, which sent Boston to the power play. Boston rolled out their fourth line on the power play as 10 goals were within sight. The Rangers held strong, which kept it a seven-goal game as time wound down in the third.

Just out of the box, Cuylle and Mason Lohrei dropped the gloves with 1:36 left to play, the second fight of the night. After the fight, the Bruins found goal number 10 of the game with the fourth goal of the day from Khusnutdinov. Khusnutdinov was wide open in front of the net and did not let the opportunity go to waste.

The game eventually ended with the Rangers being handed their most embarrassing loss of the season losing 10-2 to the Boston Bruins. The Rangers take the ice next on Monday against the Seattle Kraken.