Marco Sturm and the Bruins knew their Black Friday matinee against the Rangers was going to be a difficult storm for the club to manage.

Instead, the Bruins were down by two through 20, down by four through 40, and ultimately booed out of the building in a 6-2 loss to the Blueshirts at TD Garden. It was Boston’s worst loss in their annual Black Friday home game since taking a 5-1 loss to the Hurricanes in this spot back in 2006.

Here’s a look at the 985TheSportsHub.com 3 Stars of the game…

3rd Star: Casey Mittelstadt

Oct 30, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Bruins center Casey Mittelstadt (11) skates with the puck during the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/Imagn Images)

Not a lot to like from the Bruins in this contest. But, hey, how about a tip of the cap to Casey Mittelstadt? Out of action since taking a leg-on-leg hit from the Senators’ Jake Sanderson back on Nov. 6, Mittelstadt was activated off the injured reserve and thrown right into the fire of today’s contest without having a single real practice back with the team since suffering the injury.

Now, Mittelstadt is not completely new to the Bruins, so it’s not like he’s being dropped in from a plane with zero clue as to how the team and his teammates play. But skating by yourself is a lot different than game speed, and Mittelstadt actually did his part to try and help the Bruins in this contest.

Deployed for 17:14 (second-most among all Bruins forwards), Mittelstadt got the Bruins on the board in the third period of play with a net-front jam, and even collected wins in two of his three battles at the dot. In a game where not much went the Bruins’ way, especially from an offensive point of view, Mittelstadt seemed to have the attack mentality a sans Pastrnak lineup needs.

2nd Star: Mika Zibanejad

Nov 28, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Igor Shesterkin (31) is congratulated by Alexis Lafrenière (13) and Mika Zibanejad (93) after their win over the Bruins. (Winslow Townson-Imagn Images)

Already down by two and swinging blindly hoping for something to beat Igor Shesterkin, it was Mika Zibanejad who ultimately took the shovel to the Bruins with a pair of power-play goals in a 45-second span in the second period. That first power-play goal would hold as the game winner for New York.

The two-goal outing was Zibanejad’s first of the season (and his first since scoring two golas in last year’s season finale), and the Swedish forward is now up to 13 goals and 24 points in 32 games against the Bruins since joining the Rangers in 2016. Only nine players have recorded more points against the Bruins over that span, and with all of them with the exception of Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby playing in Boston’s division over that span. 

1st Star: Artemi Panarin

Nov 28, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Rangers left wing Artemi Panarin (10) is congratulated at the bench after scoring against the Bruins at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson-Imagn Images)

Just a casual four-point day at the office for Rangers winger Artemi Panarin.

The crafty Russian wasted no time getting started in this one, either, as he put the Rangers on the board with their second shot of the game at the 3:28 mark.

Panarin would then come through with a secondary assist on Carson Soucy’s bomb through Joonas Korpisalo, and had the primary helpers on both of Zibanejad’s power-play tallies. Ultimately, Panarin was on the ice for five of the Rangers’ six tallies on the Black and Gold in this contest.