The Rangers already were facing a problem of depth — the Bruins have it and they lack it.
Things didn’t get any better in Tuesday night’s 2-1 loss to the Bruins in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal at the Garden, dropping the Rangers into a 3-0 series hole and to the brink of elimination.
With just under seven minutes remaining in the second period, defenseman Anton Stralman was slammed into the backboards by burly Bruins forward Milan Lucic, dazing Stralman to the point where he could hardly defend Nathan Horton in front of the net as he rang one off the crossbar. Stralman returned for one more shift in the second period but was not on the bench to start the third, and his status going into tomorrow night’s Game 4 is unknown.
“It’s huge,” coach John Tortorella said of Stralman’s loss, both of the Bruins’ goals coming in the third period after he went down. “He has played so well. That’s a big blow to us as far as [matchups] and just our depth within our game.”
PHOTOS: RANGERS LOSE TO BRUINS
* Defenseman Marc Staal skated Tuesday morning, but was not made available to reporters and missed his seventh straight game with his right-eye injury. His possible availability is questionable, at best, as he hasn’t had much full-team practice as of late and has played in just one game — Game 3 of the first round — since suffering his injury on March 5.
After Staal on the depth chart would be Roman Hamrlik or Matt Gilroy.
* A scary moment happened with 14:55 remaining in the third period when rookie forward Chris Kreider was nailed in the face with the stick of Tyler Seguin. He went to the ice in a heap and didn’t return.
Though trainers were working on his left eye, it seemed Kreider avoided serious injury with just a cut on his forehead.
* Forward Darroll Powe skated with the team in the morning for the fourth straight day after suffered what is presumed to be his second concussion of the season in Game 3 of the first round.
* Brad Richards played a career postseason low of 8:10, just 5:58 at even strength.
“I’m not going to dissect it,” Tortorella said before the game. “You can pile on this guy all you want, but he has made some plays along the way. I’ll go that far.”