Game Preview: Rangers hope to rebound against the Boston Bruins

Win one for the birthday boy

Headed into last game, who was going to be in goal was a mystery until the very end. Tonight there is no such drama as Georgiev has been penciled into the start for days. Georgiev has generally performed well after long stretches off. Earlier this season he recorded a shutout in his first game after months without any real game action. And, as noted, it is his birthday, so hopefully a birthday win is in order.

Per @Vzmercogliano, minus the change in net, David Quinn will bring the same line-up to the match-up tonight

This should not be much of a surprise. The team was playing well, and played well against the Islanders in losing effort, so why change what has been successful. That said, Mika Zibanejad could quickly find himself with new line mates if his struggles continue. With just one point in his last eight games, he resembles nothing of the center Rangers fans have enjoyed watching over the past two seasons.

The defense remains the same, with Libor Hajek and Anthony Bitetto anchoring the third unit. This is in part due to their effectiveness, even though Hajek was guilt of a costly turnover. And in part due to the injury status of the veterans. Both Jack Johnson and Brendan Smith are still unavailable, though Smith is getting close.

New York Rangers special teams is a mixed bag right now. The penalty kill sits just outside the top 10 with a 82.05% success rate while surrendering 7 goals and scoring one short handed goals on the season. Conversely, the power play has gone cold and fallen to 25th in the league, converting at a lowly 13.64%. David Quinn acknowledged the issues saying the were being “too methodical, we’re too slow, we’re too predictable, and I think we’re overthinking it.”

The coach and team may believe they know why they have failed on the man advantage, but now must show they can adapt. One change will be seeing rookie sensation K’Andre Miller on the second unit. More changes should be expected, especially if the team does not begin converting on its chances.

The Boston Bruins are loaded for Bear

The Bruins come into tonight’s Garden match up riding a three game winning streak and having won seven of their last eight games. The injury bug that plagued the team early has slowly faded away and the team charges forward with its stars playing like stars. New captain Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand lead the way with 15 points each in 11 games. They are reunited with David Pastrnak who has recorded eight points in just four games, including five goals.

David Krecji and Nick Ritchie each have nine points in 11 games giving the Bruins a deeper look. The Bruins lost both Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug to free agency during the off season, but their defense hasn’t missed a beat. The Bruins are currently tied for second fewest goals against (24) and have the fifth lowest shot attempts against at 424, fewer than 40 allowed per game on average.

Charlie McAvoy now leads the team from the backend with 10 points in 11 games played and is tied for the team lead in assists with nine. The Bruins power play ranks sixth in the league, operating at a success rate of one goal for every three times on the man advantage. If that were not impressive enough, their penalty kill ranks second in the league at a 87.80% kill rate, having surrendered just five goals on the season.

Tukka Rask is expected to start in net.

Three keys to winning

1 – Score first – The Bruins are a defensive gem of a team. If the Rangers thought it was difficult to gain offensive momentum against the Islanders, it will be much harder versus the Bruins. The Rangers cannot afford to be chasing the game.

2 – Play a disciplined game – The Bruins special teams are tops in the league. The Rangers would benefit greatly from playing the game at even strength as much as possible.

3 – Tie it up at the dot – The Bruins have won better than 56% of their draws on the season. Only Charlie Coyle has a sub 50% winning percentage among their regular centers at the dot. The Rangers centermen simply cannot compete at this part of the game. Rather than trying to win faceoffs, especially in the defensive end, the New York Rangers centers need to tie up their opposing centers and allow their wingers to help. Keeping away from clean faceoff losses is a must.

East Division:

Scores / Schedule

No East Division games were played last night and tonight’s Rangers vs. Bruins match up is the only divisional game scheduled

Standings:

1- Boston             11    8-1-2   18pts
2- Philadelphia    13   8-3-2    18pts
3- Washington    12   6-3-3    15pts
4- Islanders          11   5-4-2    12pts
5- Pittsburgh        11   5-5-1    11pts
6- New Jersey        9    4-3-2    10pts
7- Buffalo              10   4-4-2    10pts
8- Rangers             11  4-5-2     10pts

About the Game

Puck drop is 7pm and the game will televised NBCSN.   The radiocast will be on ESPN 98.7FM.

Blue Line Station’s live conversation will be active during the game, come join in, its the next best thing to actually being at the game. The live thread will be up just before puck drop.