Bruins score three goals late, blank Rangers in season opener

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins scored three times in a span of 1:15 late in the third period en route to a 3-0 win against the New York Rangers at TD Garden on Tuesday.

It was the season opener for each team.

Fraser Minten gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead with 3:46 remaining, beating Igor Shesterkin stick side from the slot. JJ Peterka made it 2-0 with 2:54 remaining after stickhandling the puck between Braden Schneider’s legs on the rush and burying a wrist shot.

Mark Kastelic then scored an empty-net goal 23 seconds later for the 3-0 final.

“Mason (Lohrei) was skating up the ice and made a nice pass into some space,” said Minten, who also had an assist. “And I was with (linemate Marat Khusnutdinov) and thought about giving it to him, but I was inside the dots, not a lot of time left, so I just let it rip and thankfully it went in.”

Jeremy Swayman made 24 saves for his 19th shutout in the NHL.

Shesterkin made 20 saves for the Rangers.

“Both are highly touted goalies in the League, and you’ve got to make your best shot to beat them, and we knew that coming in,” New York captain J.T. Miller said.

Peterka made his Bruins debut after being acquired from the Utah Mammoth on June 26 for the No. 23 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and a conditional first-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft.

“It was crazy,” Peterka said of the crowd’s reaction to his goal. “They were so loud already when we got introduced, so fired up. And then scoring a goal like that in a building like that was just unbelievable.”

He played on the Boston’s top line, along with newly appointed captain David Pastrnak and center Elias Lindholm. 

“It’s fun,” Peterka said. “We tried to look for each other a lot today, and we’re playing with so much speed, so much poise with the puck and (Pastrnak) makes a lot of great plays. It was awesome and we had a lot of fun together and hopefully we can click in the future a few times more.”

Swayman was impressed with his new teammate’s ability to score.

“He’s silky. I’m glad he’s on our team now. That was a goal-scorer’s goal,” Swayman said. “Obviously, the crowd’s still buzzing from (Minten’s) goal, but we still had a job to do. It’s a credit to (Peterka) and shows what kind of player he can be.”

Through two scoreless periods, Swayman made 15 saves while Shesterkin posted 14. In the third period, the goalies exchanged highlight-reel saves.

“A world-class goalie,” Swayman said of his counterpart. “It’s fun to go back and forth with a goalie like that, and it felt like we both had grade A (save) after grade A (save). It wasn’t a ton of shots, but it was fun watching that and it keeps you in the game and makes it a good time.”

At 9:05 of the third, the Rangers produced two quality scoring chances, but Swayman made consecutive saves on Pavel Dorofeyev and Miller, respectively. Less than two minutes later, Shesterkin answered at the other end, stifling Casey Mittelstadt on a 2-on-1 with a glove save.

Miller said he liked the way the team played and believed New York created enough chances, especially in the third.

“It’s Game 1. If we had won the game I would be saying the same thing,” he said. “We’re going to get better as we go here. We did some good things tonight as a team that we can build off of, but we just gave up a little too much easy offense for the other team. And if you give them enough, they’re going to capitalize at some point.”

Defenseman Alberts Smits, 18, made his NHL debut for the Rangers. The No. 5 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft was minus-1 in 16:54 of ice time.

“As the game went on, there’s a lot of stuff I would like to take back, especially in the first period,” Smits said. “As the game went on, everybody got better. We had that feeling and got on the right track. We just need to make the right decisions from now on (and) keep going.”

NOTES: It's the first time in Rangers history they've been shut out in a season opener in back-to-back years; they lost 3-0 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 7, 2025. ... New York coach Mike Sullivan, a Boston native, coached his 1,000th NHL game. He became the third American head coach in NHL history to reach the milestone, joining John Tortorella (1,628 games) and Peter Laviolette (1,594). … Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy served the first of a six-game suspension for slashing Buffalo Sabres forward Zach Benson during Game 6 of the Eastern Conference First Round last season. … Defenseman Will Borgen was plus-2 in 17:43 in his Bruins debut after playing 126 games with the Rangers (2024-26). He was acquired for a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft and a conditional third-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft on July 1.