The defensive pairing that began the Rangers season opener in the spotlight because of Alberts Smits' debut ended up back in it by the final minutes with Braden Schneider 's blunder.
As the three Blueshirts forwards changed late in the third period of their 3-0 loss to the Bruins on Tuesday, Schneider ended up alone on the rush and got burned by a JJ Peterka deke that went between the defenseman's legs.
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Peterka ripped a shot past Igor Shesterkin , and 52 seconds after Boston broke a scoreless tie, the Bruins doubled their lead — with Schneider's gaffe emerging as one of the lasting images of the night.
"You get that shift and you get caught out there a little too long," Schneider told The Post on Wednesday after the Rangers practiced in Tarrytown. "I get caught with a bad gap, and, I mean, I made a bad read. Not much you can do. He made a good play and just try to move on from it."
It marked a rough start to a critical campaign for Schneider, who was a restricted free agent at the end of last season and returned to the Rangers on a one-year deal.
Next summer, he'll likely be in the same position again, and he expressed a desire to move past his individual woes last season — when he was thrust into a larger role with Adam Fox 's injury and ended up being on the ice for a Blueshirts-worst 63 goals at 5-on-5 — in an interview with The Post's Mollie Walker on Tuesday.
But the Schneider and Smits pairing will continue to face plenty of critique.
Braden Schneider looks to take the puck away from James Hagens during the first period of the Rangers' opening-night road loss to the Bruins at TD Garden in Boston. Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
For Schneider, it'll revolve around his Rangers future still being uncertain.
And for Smits, who skated 16:54 while recording two hits, a blocked shot and a pair of giveaways, it'll be for gauging whether the 18-year-old and No. 5 overall pick in June's draft encounters any growing pains.
"I thought when the game started, it was happening fast for him out there," head coach Mike Sullivan said of Smits, "but I thought as the game went on he settled down. … I think when he gets himself in trouble is when he tries to do a little bit too much. Try to make a soft play to the middle, and that's where sometimes you gotta make a simple play.
"But I think as a young player, you're gonna make those type of mistakes — and you'll learn through those experiences, and our job is to try to help him do that."
Defenseman Vincent Iorio , who was day to day with a lower-body injury, was assigned to AHL Hartford after clearing waivers.
That'll give the Wolf Pack a blue line that includes Iorio, Urho Vaakanainen , Marc Del Gaizo , Dennis Cholowski and Drew Fortescue — a collection of players with 497 combined NHL games between the regular season and playoffs.
When asked about the Rangers having a stretch of five games in eight days to open the season following a condensed training camp, and whether that's a good thing, Sullivan said, "I'll tell you after the five games."
"If we can build some momentum and have some success," Sullivan said, "we're gonna like it, right? … I think it's good in a way that it gets you in the routine right away. You start playing games, and it's hard to simulate that type of competitive action in a practice environment. With a shortened training camp, I think it will give us an opportunity to build more of a conditioning — a fitness foundation for game situations."
