New York Rangers battle struggling Bruins
Classic rivals both stuck in neutral heading into Monday matchup
There as a time when both the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins were atop the NHL and battling one another for supremacy. Nowadays, both teams find themselves battling inconsistency in an up-and-down season.
Last time the Rangers saw the ice, it epitomized the entire season for the Blue Shirts. They fell behind division rival Washington, trailing 2-0 after two periods of play. Then, in the first half of the third period, they finally came to life scoring three times unanswered to take the lead into the twilight of the game.
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Eyes On Isles
But in Rangers fashion typical to this season, it as not to be. Nicklas Backstrom knotted things up with just four seconds left to go and Alex Ovechkin tallied his 499th career goal a minute and a half into the overtime session, capping off a frantic Capitals comeback.
The last time these two met, back on November 27th, David Krejci tallied the game-winner to give the Bruins the victory. Both teams are middling at the moment, each side having gone 4-5-1 over their last 10 games.
The Bruins find themselves in a bit of an unfamiliar position as opposed to years past. The transition to a more youth-oriented group has created some growing pains. Goaltender Tuukka Rask has had his ups and downs, defenseman Zdeno Chara finally looks his age and Krejci has missed chunks of time due to injury.
Meanwhile in the Big Apple, things don’t seem any clearer. There are still questions about on the defensive end, goalie Henrik Lundqvist has yet to look like himself and the offense can’t seem to find the back of the net consistently.
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Thankfully, the way the rules work, someone has to come out on top. The Rangers have managed to win the odd game here and there, but find themselves back in a slump before long. Getting back on the winning track against their longtime rivals from Beantown might be the thing they need to finally get going with some consistency.
Injuries
The Rangers are totally healthy now that Chris Kreider is set to return to the lineup after dealing with a hand injury the past two games. In his stead, Oscar Lindberg will be scratched despite earning points in his last two contests. He will be joined on the scratched list by Dylan McIlrath.
Over in the black and gold, injuries are becoming an issue. Krejci and Adam McQuaid are both out with upper body injuries while Chris Kelly is out with a broken left femur.
Keys
Freshen things up: Scratching them probably won’t happen, so maybe giving a little less ice time to the clearly struggling Dan Girardi would be a good place to start. It’s not the clearest answer in the world, but everything they’ve been doing hasn’t been working.
Make it easy: Lundqvist hasn’t looked like himself in a good long while and making him have to stand on his head is probably not the way to get him going again. Clear the front, make smart decisions with the puck and give him easy looks. Let him find a grove again and build some of that confidence back up.
Top line production: This season has been a bit bipolar for top players like Rick Nash and Derick Brassard. They’re hot, they’re not. Rinse, repeat. Getting them going again would go a long way towards an extended run of success.