A solid 6-3 win gives hope to the improbable

The New York Rangers took to the ice knowing that the Boston Bruins had lost to the Penguins and that meant a win and they would draw to within four points.  It’s arguable that that was the incentive that they needed, but they did a good job in beating a resilient Buffalo Sabres team 6-3.

Mika Zibanejad notched his third hat trick this season and Kaapo Kakko added two goals as the Rangers withstood every challenge from the Sabres who kept coming back.   To be honest, up by two goals and with the Sabres goalie pulled, when the Blueshirts took a penalty, it was a hold your breath moment. not relieved until Kevin Rooney cleared the puck into the empty net.

David Quinn was concerned yet again with how the Rangers played with the lead. “If anything, we’re entertaining. and we’ve got to learn to do a better job of managing the hockey game and understanding the score. The bigger lead we have the more risks we take…we’ve got to a better job managing leads, especially at this time of year.”.

When asked why it happens, he cited the team’s offensive DNA.   “We’ve got guys who are offensively driven and they see opportunities to create offense and that’s how they judge their game. We’re really good when we manage a game in a manner where we don’t have to force offense and when we find that balance I think we’re a dangerous team.”

Quinn also said that the team was well aware of the Boston loss.  “We’ve got to keep taking each game as it is and keep playing meaningful hockey  until someone tells us these games aren’t meaningful.

Here is a video recap of the game: