BOSTON _ In the closing moments of the March 19 game against the Detroit Red Wings at the Garden, as the Rangers tried desperately to score the tying goal, Pavel Buchnevich fired a shot from the high slot that Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard saved, prompting Buchnevich to collapse to the ice in frustration. The Red Wings would get an empty net goal, and though Brendan Smith scored in the final seconds for the Rangers, the Blueshirts ultimately lost their fifth consecutive game.
That left Buchnevich visibly distraught after the final buzzer.
"We'd just lost too much games at that point _ five in a row, or something like that," Buchnevich recalled Wednesday morning, after the Rangers held an optional morning skate before playing the Bruins in TD Garden. "I was just tired of losing... I just wanted to win that game. Losing every time is a downer."
