New York Rangers: Another night, another tough test

It doesn’t get any easier for the New York Rangers who are in action against the Boston Bruins tonight after being humbled at Madison Square Garden on Monday.

Despite racing into an impressive two-goal lead against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the New York Rangers gave up five unanswered goals as another tally was added to the loss column.

It all seemed a far cry from Saturday night when the Blueshirts mustered up a titanic effort to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in overtime, a victory that came courtesy of Ryan Strome‘s winner and yet another colossal showing from Alexandar Georgiev between the pipes.

There was jubilation on the Rangers bench after snapping a five-game losing streak, with the celebrations masking the fact that a second consecutive season without playoff hockey had officially been sealed.

You can’t rest on your laurels in sports, however, and the Rangers were brought crashing back to earth on Monday with an almighty bump.

Brendan Lemieux and Vinni Lettieri, both handed extra responsibility in the last two games, repaid the faith of Head Coach David Quinn with a goal each in the first period, but the Penguins came surging back to inflict a crushing loss on New York, who are now 17-13-8 at home this season and 2-6-2 in their last ten games overall.

It was the second outing in a row that the Rangers had pitted their wits against a team that will be involved in the postseason, and it doesn’t get any easier tonight.

The Boston Bruins have been a formidable force all year and many have them down as the team that can really give the history-making Tampa Bay Lightning a run for their money.

Although the Bruins were put to the sword by the Lightning on Monday following a third period masterclass from the NHL leaders, they are still firmly locked in an intriguing battle with the Calgary Flames for the second spot overall in the league.

The Bruins have slumped a bit lately, playing .500 hockey over their last eight games.  Before that, they were the hottest team in the NHL.  After losing to the Rangers on January 19, Boston went on an amazing stretch in which they collected at least one point in 19 straight games (15-0-4).

The top line in hockey?

Boasting arguably one of the top lines in hockey, the B’s have seen Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak truly flourish this year with the trio combining for a hugely impressive 241 point haul (98 goals, 143 assists).

Perhaps surprisingly it is Marchand – better known for his tormenting antics and trash talking on and off the ice – who leads the Bruins in points this season with 94 (34 goals, 60 assists), 19 more than line-mate and team lynchpin Bergeron who has missed 15 games with assorted injuries.

There is no doubt that Marchand, who had two tucks against Tampa Bay, has a bucketload of offensive talent and the Rangers will have their work cut out just dealing with Boston’s deadly trio alone.

The Bruins get offensive production from all four lines and their blueline, though, with David Krejci, Torey Krug, Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen and Charlie McAvoy all with 25 or more points.

Boston also has the third best power play in the NHL with a percentage of 26.1, behind only the Florida Panthers and the Lightning.

Make no bones about it, the Rangers are in for another tough examination at TD Garden tonight and it could be another blowout if they commit the same sins as they did against the Penguins on Monday.

David Quinn will want to see a plethora of grit and fight from his team and, although this won’t be popular amongst fans who want more losses in order to improve the lottery standings, the Rangers will be set up to be competitive tonight against a Bruins team very much at the peak of their powers.