The Boston Bruins are lucky to get three out of a possible four points from their back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday against the New York Rangers and Nashville Predators. While the Bruins led for most of both games, their third-period play had fans clutching their seats and wondering whether they would hold on.
In the Rangers matchup, a late Will Borgen goal in the third period tied the game, before Matthew Robertson overpowered Pavel Zacha and slid a goal past Joonas Korpisalo in overtime to take away a point from the Bruins. In the Predators game, Nick Blankenburg tied it late at almost the same time as Borgen the game before, before a beautiful sequence from David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy in overtime gave Boston both points.
Will Borgen from the point ties this one up in the third 🚨 pic.twitter.com/puNdoelTwp
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 27, 2026
The third period against the Rangers was an ugly affair. The teams tied with eight shots on goal, with New York having just two extra shot attempts. However, for most of the period, it felt like the Bruins were just hanging on and hoping to preserve the one-goal lead.
The Rangers have been one of the worst teams in the league this season. If Boston wants to be one of the East's playoff teams, they need to be able to hold on to a lead against a team like New York. During that period, it seemed the Bruins reverted to their old ways and couldn't persevere through adversity.
The Bruins knew they needed a bounce-back, but travel issues left them a fatigued group against the Predators. As they relinquished a powerplay goal late in the second period on a bad penalty from David Pastrnak, it felt like history was about to repeat itself. Boston mustered just one high-danger scoring chance in the third period, while the Predators fired 20 shots towards the net, with Jeremy Swayman stopping 10 of 11.
The legend of Nick Blankenburg continues to grow. Clutch shot here to tie it and give the Predators a chance.pic.twitter.com/YdiQXX7TtD
— Russell Vannozzi (@RussellV_MSP) January 28, 2026
The one he didn't stop was Blankenburg's, and if it weren't for Pastrnak being the hero again, the Bruins would've had a disappointing two points out of the back-to-back. It's getting to the point where Bruins fans have to start dreaming about a playoff berth. If the players continue playing third periods as they did on Monday and Tuesday night, that dream might not become a reality.