NEW YORK — After Wednesday night’s 5-2 loss to the Rangers, Claude Julien did not have a beef about a first-period Lee Stempniak goal that was denied after a coach’s challenge determined Brad Marchand had gone offside. Julien initially argued when he believed the puck hit the netting before Mats Zuccarello opened the scoring at 8:37 of the first, but ceased his contention once video coordinator J.P. Buckley saw the puck had hit the dasher on top of the boards.
But the Bruins coach did not care for a phantom holding call on David Krejci — it was unclear whether Trevor Hanson or Steve Kozari blew the whistle — that led to the Rangers’ second power-play goal, a Derek Stepan strike at 11:39 of the first.
“That was a crappy, [expletive] call,’’ said Julien. “He knows why he made that call. Really disappointed. But we fought back. We had a goal there they decided to call no goal, and it was inconclusive. We got the wrong end there as well. But at the same time, I don’t think we played well enough to win. We seemed out of synch tonight. Those tape-to-tape passes were far and few in between. We needed to be better. That was the disappointing part of our game tonight, a game we really needed to win.’’
Krejci was just as mystified about going to the box.
“I think that was a weak call,’’ Krejci said. “That happens all the time. The guy didn’t even have the puck. I just touched him. I can’t believe he called that. I just can’t believe it.’’
The Bruins had some bad luck, including the Krejci penalty. At 3:35 of the third, Stempniak thought he had closed the Bruins’ deficit to 3-2. But video replay could not confirm whether the puck crossed the line before a diving Henrik Lundqvist gloved Stempniak’s shot.
But the Bruins made their own bad luck. They wheezed on the penalty kill, which allowed two goals on six opportunities. They coughed up the puck. The power play failed on both of its chances. They had no-shows all over the roster, from Jimmy Hayes to David Pastrnak to Ryan Spooner.
The result: their fourth straight loss, which puts them just three points ahead of the Red Wings for third place in the Northeast Division. Following Wednesday’s 8 p.m. start, the Bruins had to scramble out of Madison Square Garden and hustle back to Boston to prepare for Thursday’s critical home showdown against the Panthers, who are ahead by three points in the division.
“We played much better in California,’’ Julien said of the three-and-out during last week’s West Coast swing. “We didn’t play well tonight at all. Whether it was one of those off games, we’ll find out soon enough tomorrow night when we play Florida. Right now, we control our own destiny. Right now, we’re giving teams below us some hope. We’ve got to turn this around quick.’’
It’s possible that Tuukka Rask, Wednesday’s starter, may not be available for Thursday’s game against Florida. Rask lasted just 20 minutes, when he allowed two goals, before he had to bow out because he was sick. Jonas Gustavsson stopped 13 of 15 shots in 40 minutes of relief work.
Rask didn’t practice on Tuesday, which prompted the Bruins to recall Jeremy Smith from Providence on an emergency basis. Smith was sent back to Providence before the game.
“He was feeling great,’’ Julien said of Rask during the day. “He had the morning skate. He said he was ready to go. Even tonight, he was ready to go. But at the end of the first period, it turned the other way around. So we decided to make the safe and the right call.’’
Gustavsson could do nothing about Derick Brassard’s second-period cannon, which gave the Rangers a 3-0 lead. Stempniak punched back with a net-front goal at 9:34 of the second. But J.T. Miller scored a back-breaking goal at 6:32 of the third to give the Rangers a 4-1 lead. Frank Vatrano answered with a goal at 12:06, but Rick Nash ended the night with an empty-netter.
“It’s not a bad thing to be back at it tomorrow,’’ said Patrice Bergeron. “We definitely have to bounce back. We have to learn from tonight and realize it’s not even close to being good enough.’’
