How good are the New York Rangers?
They came to the TD Garden tonight and totally sucked the life out of the Boston Bruins in a 3-0 win.
New York (37-13-5) has now beaten Boston (34-18-2) both times they've played so far this season and they are nine points ahead of the Bruins for first-place in the Eastern Conference. The B's were blanked for the third time in their past six games which is not a good sign with their longest road trip (6 games in 11 days) starting tomorrow.
You're kidding yourself if you don't think the Rangers are the team to beat right now in the East. Meanwhile, Henrik Lundqvist (season-high 42 saves; 27-11-4, 7th shutout of the season) looks like the best goaltender on the planet.
Boston outshot New York 42-20, including 32-8 over the final two periods but it didn't matter as the Rangers clogged shooting lanes, blocked shots and made the most of their limited scoring chances.
Tim Thomas (17 saves; 23-11-0) took the loss for the Bruins although you can't really put the blame on him.
New York essentially won it in the first period as they scored twice; you're not going to comeback on the Rangers from down two with the way they're playing. Ryan Callahan (23rd of the season) made it 1-0 on the power-play at 10:09. Michael Del Zotto and Marian Gaborik assisted as Callahan drove to the net and was able to tap in Del Zotto's pretty feed.
The backbreaking goal was Ryan McDonagh's (6th of the season) unassisted tally with 12 seconds left in the first. Intentional or not, he banked it in off Zdeno Chara.
The Bruins had plenty of chances, including one insane sequence in the second where Lundqvist was sprawled on his back and he stopped Chara's shot with his shoulder while he wasn't even looking.
Artem Anisimov (10th of the season) aka the clown who did the machine gun goal celebration on 24/7 put it away at 2:53 in the third. Brandon Dubinsky and Anton Stralman assisted Anisimov, who waited patiently then put it in the far side over Thomas' leg pad.
The Rangers will host the Bruins twice (March 4, April 1) at Madison Square Garden. Let's hope Boston can find a way to turn the tables on New York next time. I'm sick of seeing New York teams beat Boston teams.
The Black and Gold will not return to the Garden for two weeks (a day after the trade deadline). They'll go to Montreal, Winnipeg, Minnesota, St. Louis, Buffalo and Ottawa. It's a particularly grueling stretch against either playoff contenders or bitter rivals. Let's not forget that one of the crucial parts of last season was a 7-0 road trip around this time. I'm not predicting another perfect run but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see the B's shake the cobwebs off and find their groove on this trip.
The Bruins play the Canadiens tomorrow night. Boston has won the last three meetings with the Habs after losing the first two (in October). Savor it since tomorrow is the final meeting of the regular season between the Bruins and Canadiens. Montreal has shown a little life lately but I still doubt they'll even sniff a playoff spot.
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