The Boston Bruins lost to the New York Rangers in the overtime of their fourth preseason game. With their 4-3 loss, Boston’s record sits at 2-1-1 in the preseason.
This was the second consecutive preseason game that the B’s utilized a single goaltender for the entire game. On September 30, they saw 60 minutes of Jeremy Swayman and on October 2, they relied on Linus Ullmark. In his second exhibition start, Ullmark looked shaky. He saved only 15 shots and gave up four goals, yielding a .789 save percentage. In his previous game, Ullmark played mediocre as well. He posted a .846 save percentage, but he split time with Kyle Keyser in that matchup.
The Rangers’ tandem of netminders played well. Alexander Geoergiev and Tyler Wall combined for 33 saves on 36 shots. Georgiev played the first two periods, giving up three goals on 22 shots. Then, Wall finished off the win by giving up zero goals on 11 shots. Wall has been dominant against the Bruins and saved 26-of-27 shots he’s faced against the Boston.
Each team recorded one powerplay goal and one shorthanded goal each. The Bruins started off dominating the Rangers, netting one power play, even strength and a shorthanded goal in the first period. They led 3-1 with six and a half minutes left in the first thanks to their top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak.
The Bruins looked fantastic, but the flame died out quick. Sammy Blais scored with less than a minute to go in the first period, but Boston still had the lead. In the second period, no one scored and the Bruins looked in good position since they outshot New York 10-5. Kevin Rooney scored the only goal in the third period and Alex Lafrenière scored the game-winner in overtime.
Though they outshot the Rangers 36-19, the Bruins still lost in an embarrassing performance from Ullmark. However, Ullmark isn’t all to blame because they just played their fourth preseason game and they have ZERO goals in the third period. Though it’s the preseason, having an offense fail to hit the back of the net is troubling.
The Bruins will play their next game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday, October 4.