Jeremy Swayman needed to stop only 15 shots for his second career shutout and the Boston Bruins beat a listless New York Rangers 4-0.
The Rangers, in the midst of a tumultuous week that included the firing of the club’s president and general manager, played without a lot of energy from the start and lost their fifth straight. New York had just four shots on goal in the first period and three in the second.
The Blueshirts were without star center Artemi Panarin, who was injured during the Tom Wilson incident that ended his season. They were also without injured defensemen Jacob Trouba and Ryan Lindgren and forwards Chris Kreider and Brett Howden.
In addition, Pavel Buchnevich was been suspended for one game, without pay, for high-sticking Washington Capitals forward Anthony Mantha during Wednesday night’s game. Buchnevich will forfeit $28,017 for the suspension.
Igor Shesterkin had a much busier night than his Boston counterpart, stopping 30 shots and preventing the Ranger from losing by even a greater margin.
The New York Rangers lacked energy after a difficult week
Zac Jones talked about the difficulty of playing this game after all that the Rangers have gone through this week. “It’s definitely tough with everything that has been going on,” Jones stated. “We try to put that in the back of our minds and not think about it. We just go out there and try to do our best and win every game.”
Head coach David Quinn also addressed the difficulties of playing this game in his post-game Zoom conference. “Obviously we understand the situation that we are in,” Quinn said. “Every team has gone through rough stretches of injuries during COVID. It was a challenging night, to say the least. We didn’t lay down. I know the shots were what they were. It was ugly at times but these guys competed their butts off.”
The Rangers will play their final game of the season against the Bruins on Saturday afternoon.