NEW YORK -- Through 20 minutes, the New York Rangers were down two goals to the Boston Bruins, who had the fresher legs despite playing the night before. It didn't seem to make sense, as the Bruins were blanking the Rangers with rookie goaltender Zane McIntyre making his first NHL start.

Forty minutes and five unanswered goals later, the scoreboard made more sense.

The Rangers scored five goals over 14 minutes across the second and third periods and pulled away late in a 5-2 victory at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.

Left winger Brandon Pirri scored twice, the Rangers converted twice on the power play and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist righted himself over the final two periods and stopped 27 shots.

"I think we just felt like we could turn it around," Lundqvist said. "We showed it to ourselves so many times this season so we didn't panic. I'm just happy with the way we responded -- with the way I responded after that start."

Bruins right winger David Pastrnak put his team ahead 1-0 just 10 seconds into the contest when he slipped behind the defense and stashed a shot between Lundqvist's legs. Center Austin Czarnik scored his first career goal with 5:16 remaining in the period to put the depleted Bruins ahead 2-0.

Playing without their top two goaltenders -- Tuukka Rask and Anton Khudobin -- the Bruins were relying on Zane McIntyre one night after Malcolm Subban was yanked during the second period from his start against the Minnesota Wild. McIntyre was sharp in the first period, stopping a pair of breakaways, but crumbled in the second period as he allowed three goals on 14 shots, including a game-tying goal by center Kevin Hayes that was banked off his backside with 3:25 remaining.

Pirri's power-play goal with 35.4 seconds to go in the period put the Rangers ahead 3-2, then Pirri and left winger Jimmy Vesey scored 33 seconds apart early in the third period to put the game away.

The Bruins took four consecutive minor penalties in the second period and weren't able to recover.

"Last two nights, we played well in the first and haven't been able to continue that," Bruins defenseman Torey Krug said. "I think we started off well in the second period but the penalties got away and our discipline wasn't there. If you give a skilled team like that too many power plays, they're going to score."

Bruins coach Claude Julien didn't hang the blame entirely on his inexperienced goaltender.

"I thought he made some real good saves early in the game," Julien said. "In the first half, he was really good. But there were some tough goals that went in on him. I'm not saying it's his fault."

The Bruins (3-4-0) lost three straight -- all without Rask -- after starting 3-1-0. The Rangers (5-2-0) won three straight and continue to get balanced scoring throughout their new and improved forward group.

"Tonight, our power play comes up big for us. They were playing back-to-back so maybe they were a little tired there. We scored those two quick goals (to start the third period). And if you're going to have success in such a tough league where all the teams are so close, you need contributions from throughout your lineup and that's what we got tonight."

There was a scary moment in the second period when Pastrnak crushed Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi in the neutral zone, which resulted in Pastrnak receiving a two-minute penalty for an illegal check to the head. Girardi left the ice but returned soon after, which was a sigh of relief for a Rangers team that has already dealt with Girardi's absence this season.

"All I can say is that I was really happy when I saw him back on the ice," Lundqvist said. "I wasn't sure he was coming back into this game, but that was a great sign. He's playing so well right now. He's blocking shots. He's so solid in front of me, helping me in so many different situations especially defensively, so it was great to see him back out there."

NOTES: Bruins G Tuukka Rask (undisclosed injury) missed his second consecutive game, as did G Anton Khudobin (lower body). Rask is listed as day-to-day while Khudobin is out about three weeks. ... Bruins C David Backes missed his second straight game after having a bursa sac removed from his elbow. The team won't know his timetable to return until after the weekend. ... Rangers C Josh Jooris left the game with a separated shoulder and team is saying he will be out indefinitely. Jooris is scheduled to get an MRI on Thursday. ... Rangers LW Chris Kreider (neck spasms) missed his second game in a row. ... Rangers LW Pavel Buchnevich (back spasms) could return Friday.