It's becoming routine this season that the Bruins (10-1-2) can usually adapt to any style of game and then almost always end up on top by the end of the contest. Tonight at Madison Square Garden, they blanked the Rangers (4-6-3) 1-0 to sweep their two-game set with their new East Division rival. Boston is 9-0-1 in its last 10 games and they have won their last five games in a row (all on the road). Goaltender Jaroslav Halak (21 saves, 4-0-1) notched the first shutout of the season for the B's and the 51st of his long NHL career. Left wing Nick Ritchie scored the lone goal of the tilt and these clubs are already starting to hate each other as they had a pair of spirited fights in the second period.
Boston's penalty kill unit also deserves plenty of praise since they went a perfect 6-for-6. After a scoreless first period, things heated up in the second quarter with the Bruins outshooting the Rangers 18-6. Ritchie ended the deadlock with a weird goal: his initial backhander was stopped by New York's goaltender Igor Shesterkin (3-4-1, 29 saves) but somehow his forehand followup squeezed into the net at 9:27. His fifth goal of the season was assisted by center David Krejci and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon. One second after the ensuing face-off, Bruins winger Trent Frederic dropped the gloves with Rangers left wing Brendan Lemieux. A few minutes later, Lauzon took on Rangers right wing Pavel Buchnevich who is not a goon by trade.
New York's best player Artemi Panarin was out with an undisclosed injury so clearly his teammates missed his excellent offensive ability. It looks like it will be another forgettable season for the Rangers since they continue to be anchored near the basement of the East Division. As a team, they don't score many goals but then again, they don't allow many either. This loss dropped them to 3-4-3 in their last 10 games with a 3-4-2 record on home ice. Two nights after Tuukka Rask (6-1-1) was forced to make a bunch of quality saves, Halak was not nearly as busy plus he did not face the same type of shots from New York.
The B's are now 6-1-2 on the road in 2021 and they travel to Uniondale, NY tomorrow night (7, NESN) to take on the Islanders (5-4-3) in their first back-to-back outing of the season. Boston will try to avenge it's only regulation loss: a lifeless 1-0 shutout of their own to the Isles back on Martin Luther King Day at Nassau Coliseum. As per usual, the Isles struggle to score but their defense and goaltending keep them in most games. They are also very physical so thus not an ideal opponent to see in the second half of a back-to-back after a chippy affair. Rask is a lock to be in between the pipes after he got the night off. The Bruins will look to build on their lead over second-place Philadephia (8-3-2) in the division.
No comments:
Post a Comment