Mittelstadt Scores in Bruins 6-2 Loss to Rangers 

BOSTON –– The Boston Bruins fell 6-2 to the New York Rangers on Friday afternoon at TD Garden.​

It was a shorthanded showing for the B’s, who were without David Pastrnak, Pavel Zacha and Matěj Blümel. Head coach Marco Sturm said Pastrnak and Zacha are dealing with day-to-day injuries, while Blümel was placed on long-term injured reserve.

“Obviously, we know the firepower that we lost, but at least for me, games like this are an opportunity for a lot of guys to step up and seize opportunity, and that’s how you kind of make it in this league. I think up and down the lineup we didn’t show up to start the game,” Morgan Geekie said. “It’s just not a very acceptable effort today.”

​Georgii Merkulov was recalled from Providence because of those absences, and was on the second line with Casey Mittelstadt and Marat Khusnutdinov.

“It was probably really fast for him, if you ask him,” Sturm said of Merkulov. “It is a hard league. He was definitely not the issue today.”

​The Rangers took a 2-0 lead in the first period. Artemi Panarin opened the scoring with a snapshot from the right circle at 3:28 before Carson Soucy blasted one in at 12:02 to widen the gap.

New York capitalized on its two power plays in the middle frame to double the advantage. Mika Zibanejad logged both goals. His first was a slapshot from down low at 14:22, and the ensuing tip-in at 15:07 made it 4-0.

Mittelstadt – who was skating in his first game since Nov. 6 after dealing with a lower-body injury – got the Bruins on the board in the third period. The B’s created chaos in front of the Rangers’ net, and Mittelstadt knocked the loose puck past Igor Shesterkin for the 4-1 scoreline at 4:07. It was his fifth goal of the season.

​“Of course, you want to win, but it definitely felt good to be back. You miss it when you’re gone, for sure. Sometimes you forget – it is hard to watch your teammates play and not be able to help,” Mittelstadt said. “Would’ve liked a better result, but get ready to go tomorrow.”

Boston pulled within two at 5:49 with Geekie’s 18th goal of the year, which is tied with Nathan MacKinnon for most in the NHL. The forward stationed himself in Henri Jokiharju’s shooting lane and deflected the defenseman’s rocket from the point in to make it 4-2.

​The late comeback, though, was not enough. Alexis Lafrenière potted an empty-net goal at 16:36, and Vladislav Gavrikov’s tally at 17:02 brought the contest to its final 6-2 standing.

“We knew it was going to be hard coming back from the road. I think that was the biggest thing. Knowing maybe a few guys are missing, too. But this is not an excuse,” Sturm said. “I think to survive those kinds of games and stretches, you have a lot of injuries, a lot of guys have to step up. And a lot of guys didn’t.”

The Bruins play the second game of their back-to-back on Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden.