Who: New York Rangers vs. Boston Bruins
Where: TD Garden
When: Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM
Watch: NBC-TV
Listen: ESPN-98.7 FM and NewYorkRangers.com
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The Skinny:
Friday afternoon up in Boston the Rangers (16-4-2, 34 pts) look to bounce back from their worst defeat of the season when they face off with the Bruins (12-8-1, 25 pts) in a nationally televised matinee pitting a pair of Original Six teams. Though they have won 11 of their last 13 games, the Rangers have lost twice in the past week. Included in there is the 5-1 loss at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday night which snapped a nine-game home-ice winning streak for New York. Veteran defenseman Dan Girardi admitted that the wheels came off for the Blueshirts in that one, especially during Montreal's quick-strike three-goal third period which kayoed goaltender Henrik Lundqvist from the game in favor of back up Antti Raanta. It will be a highly-motivated Lundqvist who starts Friday in Boston; and past history shows that he almost always follows up a sub-par outing with a quality performance. The rest of the team will need to follow suit, as well. As of late some cracks have emerged in the Rangers game, notably with some sloppy puck management in their own end and failures to create a consistent offensive zone presence. Some recent line juggling by head coach Alain Vigneault failed to provide the desired results against a very good Canadiens team on Wednesday, so there's a good chance AV will make changes to the actual lineup itself on Friday. During practice on Thursday Emerson Etem replaced Viktor Stalberg on the fourth line while Dylan McIlrath skated in Dan Boyle's spot on a defense pairing with Keith Yandle. Neither Etem nor McIlrath has appeared in a game in nearly two weeks. One Ranger who certainly has his game going heading into Friday's matinee is Rick Nash, who has scored five goals in the past three games and who has notched four multiple-point games in his last ten outings, while recording 12 points in that span. A key to Friday's game will be how the Rangers' third-ranked penalty kill can handle the Bruins' NHL-best power play, which has converted at better than a 30 percent success rate this season. Interesting to note, however, is that during Boston's current four-game winning streak--which has equaled the team's season-high--the Bruins have scored only one power play goal, and have been shut out with the man advantage the last three contests. Another interesting stat is that the Rangers own a team goals against average--1.91--which is a full goal less than that of the Bruins---2.91. Banged up at the start of the season, the Bruins are getting healthier; and defenseman Kevan Miller, who has missed four straight games, is likely to return against the Rangers.
Head To Head:
The Rangers and Bruins are meeting for the first of three times this season on Friday. The next two games will be played at Madison Square Garden on January 11 and March 23. In the last 30 head-to-head meetings between the Rangers and Bruins, 27 of the games have been decided by two goals or less, with 22 of those decided by one goal or fewer and eight ending in either overtime of a shootout. Last season the Rangers dropped two of three to the Bruins, losing both games played at TD Garden. Tuukka Rask shut out New York 3-0 on January 15 up in Boston and then the Bruins also skated to a 4-2 home-ice win on March 28. The Rangers have lost three straight at TD Garden, last winning 4-3 in a shootout on February 12, 2013. In three games against the Bruins last season Rick Nash led the Rangers with two goals and three points. Henrik Lundqvist faced the Bruins only once a year ago, the March 28 defeat, but holds an impressive 1.91 GAA, .935 save percentage and six shutouts all time against the Bruins. Up in Boston the numbers are even slightly better as Lundqvist has a career 1.67 GAA and .947 save percentage in 17 career appearances at TD Garden.
Players To Watch:
Rangers-Keith Yandle: Although he has not had a "Wow!" season to date, defenseman Keith Yandle recently was praised by head coach Alain Vigneault for his underrated two-way play so far. Through 22 games the Boston-native leads Rangers defensemen and ranks seventh on the team with 11 points, while his ten assists are second only to Mats Zuccarello, who has 11. Those ten helpers also place Yandle tied for 12th most among NHL defensemen. His stats are good, but both Yandle and the team believe they there is room for a fairly significant uptick. Three times in his career Yandle has notched more than 50 points, including 52 and 53 in the past two seasons and a career-high 59 in 2010-11. He also two other 40+ point seasons on his resume and totaled 30 points in the lockout-shortened 2013 campaign. That body of work more than shows what Yandle is capable of, and why his own expectations--as well as those of the team--are so high. Whether paired with Dan Boyle, Dylan McIlrath or Kevin Klein, Yandle must continue to work within the parameters of not being the top minute-crunching defenseman he was in Arizona, but still producing at a high level, most importantly on the power play where so far he has recorded five points this season. In ten career games against the Bruins Yandle has notched seven points (1-6-7), and enters play with points in four straight against Boston.
Bruins-David Krejci: One of the true underrated players in the National Hockey League, Boston center David Krejci is off to a fast start through the first quarter of this season. Krejci has recorded 23 points in 21 games, tied for ninth-most in the NHL and two points more that his more high-profile teammate Patrice Bergeron for the Bruins team lead. The 29 year-old native of the Czech Republic also leads his team with 15 assists, which is tied for 12th among all NHL players. Quietly effective--to the tune of 432 points in 572 career games, all with Boston--the four-time 60+-point performer was missed terribly by the Bruins last season when injury wiped out nearly half the year for him and Boston ended up failing to reach the playoffs. Healthy again and performing at his best, Krejci has six multiple-point games already this season, including three-point efforts against both Tampa Bay and Arizona back in October.
Where: TD Garden
When: Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM
Watch: NBC-TV
Listen: ESPN-98.7 FM and NewYorkRangers.com
************************
The Skinny:
Friday afternoon up in Boston the Rangers (16-4-2, 34 pts) look to bounce back from their worst defeat of the season when they face off with the Bruins (12-8-1, 25 pts) in a nationally televised matinee pitting a pair of Original Six teams. Though they have won 11 of their last 13 games, the Rangers have lost twice in the past week. Included in there is the 5-1 loss at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday night which snapped a nine-game home-ice winning streak for New York. Veteran defenseman Dan Girardi admitted that the wheels came off for the Blueshirts in that one, especially during Montreal's quick-strike three-goal third period which kayoed goaltender Henrik Lundqvist from the game in favor of back up Antti Raanta. It will be a highly-motivated Lundqvist who starts Friday in Boston; and past history shows that he almost always follows up a sub-par outing with a quality performance. The rest of the team will need to follow suit, as well. As of late some cracks have emerged in the Rangers game, notably with some sloppy puck management in their own end and failures to create a consistent offensive zone presence. Some recent line juggling by head coach Alain Vigneault failed to provide the desired results against a very good Canadiens team on Wednesday, so there's a good chance AV will make changes to the actual lineup itself on Friday. During practice on Thursday Emerson Etem replaced Viktor Stalberg on the fourth line while Dylan McIlrath skated in Dan Boyle's spot on a defense pairing with Keith Yandle. Neither Etem nor McIlrath has appeared in a game in nearly two weeks. One Ranger who certainly has his game going heading into Friday's matinee is Rick Nash, who has scored five goals in the past three games and who has notched four multiple-point games in his last ten outings, while recording 12 points in that span. A key to Friday's game will be how the Rangers' third-ranked penalty kill can handle the Bruins' NHL-best power play, which has converted at better than a 30 percent success rate this season. Interesting to note, however, is that during Boston's current four-game winning streak--which has equaled the team's season-high--the Bruins have scored only one power play goal, and have been shut out with the man advantage the last three contests. Another interesting stat is that the Rangers own a team goals against average--1.91--which is a full goal less than that of the Bruins---2.91. Banged up at the start of the season, the Bruins are getting healthier; and defenseman Kevan Miller, who has missed four straight games, is likely to return against the Rangers.
Head To Head:
The Rangers and Bruins are meeting for the first of three times this season on Friday. The next two games will be played at Madison Square Garden on January 11 and March 23. In the last 30 head-to-head meetings between the Rangers and Bruins, 27 of the games have been decided by two goals or less, with 22 of those decided by one goal or fewer and eight ending in either overtime of a shootout. Last season the Rangers dropped two of three to the Bruins, losing both games played at TD Garden. Tuukka Rask shut out New York 3-0 on January 15 up in Boston and then the Bruins also skated to a 4-2 home-ice win on March 28. The Rangers have lost three straight at TD Garden, last winning 4-3 in a shootout on February 12, 2013. In three games against the Bruins last season Rick Nash led the Rangers with two goals and three points. Henrik Lundqvist faced the Bruins only once a year ago, the March 28 defeat, but holds an impressive 1.91 GAA, .935 save percentage and six shutouts all time against the Bruins. Up in Boston the numbers are even slightly better as Lundqvist has a career 1.67 GAA and .947 save percentage in 17 career appearances at TD Garden.
Players To Watch:
Rangers-Keith Yandle: Although he has not had a "Wow!" season to date, defenseman Keith Yandle recently was praised by head coach Alain Vigneault for his underrated two-way play so far. Through 22 games the Boston-native leads Rangers defensemen and ranks seventh on the team with 11 points, while his ten assists are second only to Mats Zuccarello, who has 11. Those ten helpers also place Yandle tied for 12th most among NHL defensemen. His stats are good, but both Yandle and the team believe they there is room for a fairly significant uptick. Three times in his career Yandle has notched more than 50 points, including 52 and 53 in the past two seasons and a career-high 59 in 2010-11. He also two other 40+ point seasons on his resume and totaled 30 points in the lockout-shortened 2013 campaign. That body of work more than shows what Yandle is capable of, and why his own expectations--as well as those of the team--are so high. Whether paired with Dan Boyle, Dylan McIlrath or Kevin Klein, Yandle must continue to work within the parameters of not being the top minute-crunching defenseman he was in Arizona, but still producing at a high level, most importantly on the power play where so far he has recorded five points this season. In ten career games against the Bruins Yandle has notched seven points (1-6-7), and enters play with points in four straight against Boston.
Bruins-David Krejci: One of the true underrated players in the National Hockey League, Boston center David Krejci is off to a fast start through the first quarter of this season. Krejci has recorded 23 points in 21 games, tied for ninth-most in the NHL and two points more that his more high-profile teammate Patrice Bergeron for the Bruins team lead. The 29 year-old native of the Czech Republic also leads his team with 15 assists, which is tied for 12th among all NHL players. Quietly effective--to the tune of 432 points in 572 career games, all with Boston--the four-time 60+-point performer was missed terribly by the Bruins last season when injury wiped out nearly half the year for him and Boston ended up failing to reach the playoffs. Healthy again and performing at his best, Krejci has six multiple-point games already this season, including three-point efforts against both Tampa Bay and Arizona back in October.
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