Bruins lose to Rangers, lead for third in East cut

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins had their lead for third place in the MassMutual East Division reduced Saturday after a 5-4 loss to the New York Rangers at TD Garden.

David Pastrnak scored his 200th NHL goal, and Tuukka Rask allowed five goals on 23 shots for Boston (32-15-7), which was 5-0-1 in its prior six games, including a 4-0 win here Thursday.

The Bruins, who have clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, lead the fourth-place New York Islanders by one point after New York defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-1 later Saturday. Boston can finish no higher than third after the second-place Washington Capitals defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 in overtime.
The Bruins have one game in hand on the Islanders. The Pittsburgh Penguins will finish first in the eight-team division.
Boston was outscored 4-3 in the third period.
"Not good from the blue line in for everybody in the third period," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "It's kind of odd after you have two good periods and the game [Thursday] night, we were very good in front of [goalie Jeremy] Swayman, gave them nothing. So five really good defensive periods.
"Uncharacteristic of our team. Obviously we'll have to look at some things and correct some things. But that's what I saw. I think everyone can take their share of responsibility for the way we played in the third period."
Mika Zibanejad scored two goals, including his 200th in the NHL, and Pavel Buchnevich had three assists for New York (27-23-6), which won its final game of the regular season after losing five straight.

Keith Kinkaid, playing his first game since March 28, made 28 saves before leaving with an injury at 8:50 of the third period. Igor Shesterkin made seven saves in relief.
"Especially in the third, I thought we played really well," Zibanejad said. "And obviously it's a really good team that we're playing against, and I thought we got better as the game went on. Got the win and got to finish the season somewhat in a nice way. "
K'Andre Miller scored at 6:21 of the second period to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Nick Ritchie tied it 1-1 at 18:12.
Pastrnak gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead 21 seconds into the third period.
The Rangers then took the lead with three goals in a span of 4:14.
Zibanejad scored at 5:22 to tie it 2-2, before Alexis Lafrenière gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead at 7:25, and Vitali Kravtsov made it 4-2 at 9:36.
"Obviously a tough start in the third period," Pastrnak said. "I think they definitely came up hard and felt we [weren't] ready, which is obviously unacceptable. You know, we played a great 40 minutes. It was a tough lesson, but we're going to learn and move on and we need to be 100 percent ready for the next week (playoffs)."

Brad Marchand scored a power-play goal to get the Bruins within 4-3 at 14:08. Zibanejad scored his second at 18:07 for a 5-3 lead. Patrice Bergeron cut the lead to 5-4 at 18:39 with Rask pulled for an extra skater.
The Rangers won for the first time since president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton were fired Wednesday and replaced by Chris Drury.
"There's so much that's gone on and that might get lost in all of this," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "It's a great opportunity for [Drury]. I know all of us and our players were very happy that we were able to get him his first win as a general manager."
NOTES:Rangers forward Justin Richards played 10:11 and had an assist in his NHL debut, and Buchnevich returned after not playing Thursday because of a one-game suspension he received for high-sticking. They replaced forwards Kaapo Kakko (undisclosed) and Jonny Brodzinski. … Bergeron extended his goal streak to five games and his point streak to six games (five goals, two assists). … Pastrnak scored his 200 goals in 437 games, the fewest needed to reach the mark with the Bruins (Bobby Orr held the record with 200 goals in 502 games). ... Zibanejad scored his 200 goals in 604 games.