Rangers-Bruins previews: Can they do it again?
By Steve Paulus
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.