Black Friday Beatdown: Rangers feast in Boston and stuff the Bruins in a rout

Black Friday at TD Garden usually belongs to the Bruins—but this year, the Rangers walked in like they owned the place. New York didn’t show a hint of the typical post-Thanksgiving sluggishness. If anything, they looked sharper than they have all trip. From the opening puck drop, it was obvious: Boston wanted a slow, grinding, “work off the turkey” period and the Rangers had zero patience for that plan in a 6-2 rout, for their league-leading 11th road win.

Shaking off the Turkey Legs:

The Bruins tried to settle into a slow, safe first period… and the Rangers said absolutely not.
3:40 in — Will Cuylle forces a turnover, springs Panarin on a 2-on-1, and Breadman goes high glove. 1–0. Panarin apparently just decides to torture the Bruins every year — that's six goals in his last seven vs. Boston.

Boston didn't even get a shot for the first 4:30. They kept trying to shove neutral-zone plays through Gavrikov, and he denied them. He has absolutely erased entries for the entire period.
Midway through the stanza, a Carson Soucy bardown blast made it 2-0 Blueshirts. Everything started with Cuylle winning a hit, Vincent Trocheck winning the 50/50 puck, and Soucy walking into one from the weak side.

The young guys were buzzing too. Brett Berard forced a turnover at the blue line; Adam Edström followed it with one of his own. They looked like the only people in the arena who didn't eat eight pounds of Thanksgiving food. Boston, meanwhile, looked like the tired, bruised bunch missing their stars David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Pavel Zacha trailing 2-0 after a period.

Bruins Push Back, Igor Pushes Harder

The second period flipped for a bit. The Bruins came out heavy — jamming the net, throwing bodies at Igor, and crashing into him every chance they got. The Blueshirts had a couple of ugly breakdowns. Igor had to bail them out more than once, including a huge 2-on-1 stop on Steeves and another scramble after a bad Carrick turnover that Geekie almost capitalized on. Boston's push was real enough that the shot clock, once 11–3 Rangers, suddenly became 12–11 New York.

Then Will Cuylle just did Will Cuylle things again — skating through guys, drawing a penalty, and giving the visitors life. And this is where the tilt flipped right back. On the power play, Panarin bought time, found Zibanejad on the right side, and Mika hammered home a one-timer to make it 3–0.

Less than a minute later, it was déjà vu: Adam Fox initiated the play, Panarin slid it over again, and Mika blasted another one-timer—two goals in 45 seconds, both absolute rockets. Boston didn't record a shot for the final fifteen minutes of the period and were booed off the ice because of it. The Rangers' special teams, structure, and star power completely took over, coasting to a seemingly easy 4-0 win. Yet as everyone knows, a game is 60 minutes, not 40.

Little Chaos Leads to Little Closure

Boston finally showed some life a few minutes in. A scramble in front, bodies everywhere, puck bouncing like it wanted drama, and Casey Mittelstadt eventually taps it home to make it 4–1. Mittelstadt almost had another moment later, but Igor stones him with a ridiculous glove save that felt like a momentum reset.

Head Coach Mike Sullivan clearly saw the sloppiness creeping in. Up 4–1 with 14:16 left, he burns his timeout and absolutely lights into the bench. He was right. The Rangers needed that. The Bruins were buzzing, the building woke up, and the visitors appeared they be slipping into "hold on and survive" mode instead of closing it out.

The timeout didn't calm Boston down, though — their fans, who were booing five minutes earlier, suddenly had a reason to get loud. Off the very next draw, Morgan Geekie tips a Henri Jokiharju shot, and suddenly it's 4–2. TD Garden went from morgue to madhouse. Two goals in 1:42, and the Bruins had all the momentum the Rangers handed them.

Yet they didn't panic. The Blueshirts didn't sit back. They just got back to grinding Boston down. Shot totals started climbing again, the forecheck returned, and eventually Alexis Lafrenière buried the empty-netter to put the game to bed finally. And then, not even half a minute later — with Korpisalo back in the crease — Adam Fox, for his third assist, throws a puck toward the net and Vladislav Gavrikov somehow shows up in front of the goalie to deflect it home. I don't know what business Gavrikov has being net-front, but when it works, it works, making things 6-2. He probably saw the open lane and lazy B's. That's his reward for an absolutely rock-solid defensive game. Meanwhile, Fox is quietly at 25 points in 26 games. Panarin recorded another casual four-point afternoon: a goal and three assists. 

The victory was the Rangers 11th road win of the season — most in the NHL. On the seventh game of a brutal road stretch. In Boston. On Black Friday. Without ever losing their identity, even when the Bruins made their push. This team keeps showing different ways to win. And that might be the scariest part, because eventually they'll get fortunate bounces at home right?