Vincent Trocheck summed up the feeling in the locker room following a 10-2 drubbing the Rangers suffered against the Bruins this afternoon in a Boston Massacre that would’ve made Paul Revere proud.

“We should be embarrassed right now and I think we are.” Mollie Walker, NY Post.

Despite getting the game’s first goal from Mika Zibanejad (5 goals over the last 4), who was nicely set up by assist machine Artemi Panarin, they were pitiful defensively by committing 20 turnovers in a one-sided match, which told the story. They made an abundance of mistakes in coverage to turn a 1-0 lead into a 3-1 deficit by the conclusion of the first period.

It was a comedy of errors from defensemen that allowed the Bruins to do whatever they wanted in a lopsided period. The Rangers seemed to be stuck in quiksand against Boston’s relentless forecheck that wreaked havoc. The Bruins took advantage by outskating and outhustling a disjointed team who looked like their heads were elsewhere.

Marat Khusnutdinov scored the first of four goals in a memorable performance for the 23-year-old forward. He went completely around an out of position Braden Schneider and beat Jonathan Quick with a wrist shot that tied the game. Following Schneider’s horrible coverage, Will Borgen fell down to allow Pavel Zacha a clean look for his first goal of three on the day. Two Bruins recorded their first career hat tricks, with Khusnutdinov and Zacha combining for seven of the 10 goals.

The Rangers spent way too much time in their zone defending. They had trouble on breakouts due to bad passes that wound up on Bruin sticks for scoring chances, which Quick turned away. That included stopping consecutive breakaways. He kept his team in it for as long as possible until the roof caved in completely.

With Zibanejad already off for tripping Casey Mittelstadt, J.T. Miller took a very undisciplined slashing minor on Charlie McAvoy to give the Bruins a two-man advantage late in the period. After Quick made a couple of great saves, including two on David Pastrnak from point blank range, play continued after another close call on another attempt.

Following Quick committing highway robbery on Morgan Geekie, time expired. But with the Rangers already off for the locker room, they were called back due to a video review confirming that Zacha had his rebound completely cross the goal line before Schneider had kept it out. With ABC already in an intermission segment, they went back to Ray Ferraro who provided an update on what happened. The refs put 32.9 seconds back on the clock. The score remained 3-1 with the Bruins still on the power play to start the second.

A couple of minutes after Pastrnak just missed on the five-on-four, Fraser Minten finished off a Viktor Arvidsson pass to make it 4-1. Borgen was again the culprit on the goal. It was part of a rough afternoon for him and Matthew Robertson, who were victimized on three goals. Head coach Mike Sullivan’s move to team them up didn’t have positive results, eventually leading to him going back to Carson Soucy and Borgen while Robertson shifted down to play with Scott Morrow. Nothing worked. It was a nightmare.

Trailing by three, Trocheck got behind the Boston defense for a breakaway before getting slashed from behind by McAvoy to lead to a penalty shot. However, he was unable to convert with Jeremy Swayman able to get his right pad on Trocheck’s attempt to keep his team ahead by three.

Shortly after, the Bruins top line skated circles around the Rangers fourth line, leading to Pastrnak setting up Khusnutdinov for his second of the game. Schneider and Vladislav Gavrikov were caught behind the net, leaving Matt Rempe in front. He was too late on the coverage, allowing Khusnutdinov to make it 5-1.

Demonstrating how futile the effort was, Tanner Jeannot hit the goalpost on the next shift. In between all the scoring, the Bruins’ toughest players went at the Rangers during scrums, which included Nikita Zadorov having words with Miller. He also said something to Rempe at the end of another shift. Nothing materialized.

Using Morrow as a screen, Zacha completed the hat trick by zipping one past Quick to increase the Boston lead to 6-1. That ended Quick’s day. He was replaced by Spencer Martin.

Following a delay due to all the hats on the ice, Sam Carrick had enough and challenged the bigger Mark Kastelic at center ice. A scrappy player who never backs down, he took a big right at the end of the fight from Kastelic, who looked like he wanted more. If more players had Carrick’s heart, maybe the Rangers wouldn’t be where they are. A flat out soulless team without any identity. Similar to the 75th-year anniversary, they’ve disgraced the jersey in their 100th year.

Miller made it 6-2 on the power play. He took a Zibanejad feed in front and beat Swayman for his 11th goal. Trocheck drew the secondary helper.

Rather than build on it, Will Cuylle was unable to hit the net from directly in front. Instead, his miss led directly to another defenseless sequence that resulted in McAvoy being left wide open to bury a Pastrnak feed that made it 7-2. He got behind Panarin for an easy goal.

The third period was basically a glorified exhibition. Khusnutdinov was given too much time and space in the middle of the ice to tip in a Pastrnak shot pass for the hat trick. Frustration boiled over with Carrick going after Andrew Peeke, who got an additional roughing minor that put the Rangers on a power play.

Pastrnak later set up another goal when he pulled up on Trocheck and found a cutting Minten to make it 9-2. Borgen didn’t pay attention and was victimized. Equally as bad was seeing Alexis Lafreniere lose his balance. Like many teammates, he was a complete no-show, finishing minus-4. All 18 Rangers skaters were a minus in the game, managing to outdo the Devils in their 9-0 shutout loss to the Islanders.

With fans urging on the Bruins by chanting, “We Want 10!”, Khusnutdinov rewarded them with his fourth of the day.

Sean Kuraly went after Cuylle for a hit from behind on Arvidsson a few minutes earlier. Cuylle ate some rights from Kuraly, who stood up for his teammate. The Bruins not only dominated the Rangers. They humiliated them in every possible fashion.

If this wasn’t an eye-opener for Chris Drury and James Dolan, there’s no hope. It was one of the worst losses they’ve had. As bad as the teams were in the Dark Ages (1997-04), they usually pushed back in bad losses. The 2025-26 Rangers are gutless. Changes need to be made now. But will they come Monday? The cap limits what they can do. Don’t expect anything.

Laba Returns

After missing the past two games, Noah Laba returned to center the third line. He played with Gabe Perreault and Taylor Raddysh. They actually were the best line due to only being on for one goal against.

In 19 shifts (14:48), Laba had a shot, three attempts, and went 5-for-11 on faceoffs. He, Perreault, and Raddysh spent more time in the offensive zone. Considering how bad the rest of the forwards played, keeping them together for the next game makes sense when the Kraken visit MSG on Monday.