Rangers-Bruins previews: Can they do it again?
One of the beauties of this divisional format is that teams get to play each often. Under normal circumstances, after a beating like the New York Rangers inflicted on the Boston Bruins, they wouldn’t see each other again for weeks or even months. Now, they get to play each other barely 40 hours later.
That can be good news or bad news. The Rangers will be riding high, knowing exactly what they need to do to win again. While scoring opportunities and manpower advantages will be different, it will be up to the Blueshirts to play with the same physicality and discipline they displayed on Friday night. That’s what’s good about playing so soon, with that memory fresh.
The bad news is that the Boston Bruins were embarrassed Friday night and will be well prepared to get even. You can be sure that their coaches showed them the videos from Friday night and this time, they will be ready. No matter how one-sided the game was, the Boston Bruins are still one of the best teams in the NHL and they will be eager to display why.
It will be an excellent opportunity for the Rangers to show what they are made of. They’ve responded well to such challenges in the past and the hope has to be that they will do so again.
About the Rangers
Saturday, David Quinn confirmed that the Rangers will be going with the exact same lineup that started Friday night. That means Alexandar Georgiev will be in goal for the second straight start for him. It also means that Filip Chytil is not ready to return and Kaapo Kakko is still on the COVID list.
The Rangers wannabes did a great job on Friday night, allowing David Quinn to roll four lines. They got goals from Phil Di Giuseppe, Jonny Brodzinski and Colin Blackwell. For Blackwell, that weas his fourth goal of the season, a career high. He’s done it in ten games. Last season he scored three goals in 27 games for Nashville.
David Quinn has always said that strong play will be rewarded and pretty much everyone in the Rangers lineup played well on Friday night including the goaltender. It’s not like Igor Shesterkin will be getting rusty. The Blueshirts are playing every other day for the next 22 days with two back-to-back games in the mix. It’s going to be a very busy month of March for the Blueshirts.
It”s a noon start and the Rangers won their only matinee this season after going 4-4-3 last season in day games. The game will be on NBC and the Rangers have not won in their two national telecasts going 0-1-1.
The Rangers were lucky to catch the Bruins coming off a bad 7-2 loss to the Islanders and were playing on the second straight night. They will be well rested for Sunday’s rematch.
About the Bruins
The Bruins placed much of the blame for Friday’s defeat as well as their previous loss to the Islanders on injuries to their blueline. It’s true that they are missing Matt Grzelcyk, Jeremy Lauzon, and Kevan Miller and though Grzelcyk practiced Saturday, he is doubtful for Sunday.
To reinforce the blueline, the Bruins acquired veteran defenseman Jarred Tinordi who had been placed on waivers by the Nashville Predators. Tinordi will not be able to play on Sunday due to COVID protocols and travel issues.
In Tinordi that are looking for some of the size they lost when they let 6’9″ Zdeno Chara go via free agency. Tinordi is 6’6″, 230 pounds, almost as big as Chara.
While coach Bruce Cassidy wouldn’t say who would be in net for the B’s, smart money is on Jaroslav Halak. He has been a Ranger killer his entire career and would be the perfection solution to end the Bruins two game losing streak. It should be noted that he gave up seven goals to the Islanders on Thursday night.
The Bruins will have added incentive on Sunday. Washington’s win over the Devils on Saturday dropped the Bruins into second place in the East Division.
3 keys to winning
- Play physical – The Rangers set the tone by playing their most physical game of the season. It was smart physicality as they didn’t take runs, but used tough body checking to keep the Bruins off balance the whole game.
- Win the special teams battle – The Bruins are one of the best at special teams in the NHL and the Rangers turned that upside down on Friday night. Can lightning strike twice? It’s much better for the Rangers to not tempt fate. They need to stay out of the penalty box and if they have the man advantage, they need to shoot the puck. They did it early, but late in the game they reverted to their pass-happy power play.
- Discipline – The Rangers were the team that kept its cool on Friday night. Brendan Lemieux took one undisciplined penalty (a reputation call), but it was Trent Frederic and Jack Studnicka who were the ones lost it. If Friday was any sample, the Rangers heavy hitting got under the skin of the Bruins and took them off their game. It all started on the first shift of the game when Brad Marchand tried to pick a fight with Adam Fox who smartly just skated away.
Kravtsov news
The KHL season ended and Vitali Kravtsov’s Traktor team will be in the playoffs. They being play on March 3 against Salavat Yulaev, ranked fourth in the East with Traktor the fifth seed. Kravtsov finished the season with 16 goals and 24 points in 49 games. He averaged 16:59 minutes of ice time per game and he finished with a plus/minus of +8.
The interesting factor is that if Traktor is eliminated in swept his KHL season will be over on March 9. The last date for the first round is March 15. Of course, they could move on to the second round.
As soon as Traktor is eliminated, Kravtsov is expected to head to North America to resume his career with the Rangers. The Blueshirts will have to navigate some salary cap issues if they expect to add him to the major league roster, while a stint in Hartford is also a possibility.
Defenseman Yegor Rykov’s CSKA team is also in the playoffs, though they are one of the powerhouses in the KHL and are expected to go deep.
Adding a skilled forward like Kravtsov is enticing, but there is always the question of his development and what is best for him. Last season was not a good experience for the first rounder as he didn’t make the Rangers out of training camp and had a bad experience with the Wolf Pack before returning to Russia.
East Division
Scores
Penguins 4, Islanders 3 (OT)
Flyers 3, Sabres 0
Capitals 5, Devils 2
Standings
- Boston 18 11-5-2 24 points
- Washington 20 11-5-4 26 points
- Islanders 19 10-6-4 24 points
- Philadelphia 17 10-4-3 23 points
- Pittsburgh 18 11-7-1 23 points
- Rangers 18 7-8-3 17 points
- New Jersey 16 7-7-2 16 points
- Buffalo 18 6-9-3 15 points
About the game
The game will be a noon start and will be televised on NBC. The radiocast will be heard on ESPN 98.7FM.
Be sure and join the live conversation here at Blue Line Station and talk about the game with your fellow Ranger fans. The live thread should be up just before game time.
light. Related Story. Why being in the East is a good thing