New York Rangers squeak by Boston Bruins in overtime 4-3.

The Bruins sadly lost their first game tonight, falling a 4-3 decision in overtime. It still gave them a point, and every point counts in this shortened season. The Bruins didn’t look the Black and Gold we knew in the first period. Marian Gaborik had himself an incredible game tonight, scoring three of the four goals and earning the Rangers their first hat trick of the season. Two of those goals came early in the first period and forced the Bruins to work hard to make up those efforts. The Bruins had two opportunities with power play in the first but couldn’t make anything connect.

Sometimes, the Bruins will do whatever it takes to change the momentum and flow of the game. This time it was Adam McQuaid‘s turn to get the B’s turned around. McQuaid’s last fight was against the Providence Bruins’ Bobby Robbins. McQuaid lost that fight, and made up for that defeat with gusto. His opponent, Brian Boyle is a 6’7″ monster. That McQuaid went in there fighting someone outside his weight class gave the Bruins the boost they needed to get back into the game.

The Bruins got back on the power play early in the second period thanks to a slashing penalty on the Ranger’s Marc Staal.  A great series of passing between Rich Peverley, Dougie Hamilton, and then to Brad Marchand got the Bruins their first power play goal of the year. It was also Hamilton’s first point in the NHL. (As I have them both on my fantasy team, I was happy on multiple levels.) The Bruins fought back. Halfway thru the second the Bruins turned on the power and got aggressive. Another series of passes went from Zdeno Chara, to David Krejci, and finally Milan Lucic who put his second goal of the season in. Sadly, Taylor Pyatt got a goal past rask forty six seconds later to have the Rangers up 3-2 at the second intermission.

Once again, the refs were calling the game tight, and some plays led to the Bruins being down at pivotal moments. Aaron Johnson got called for tripping on Hagelin. Then McQuaid got called for boarding, forcing the Bruins to deal with a short sided 5 on 3. Enter Patrice Bergeron. Bergeron, Chara, and Johnny Boychuk were the three men tasked to defend against the Rangers for ninety seconds. They didn’t shirk or disappoint. They tied up the Rangers on the entirety of the penalty kill, remaining flawless in that department. At one point, Bergeron took a one on three play all the way to Lundqvist and came within an inch of winning it for the Bruins.

On a personal note, I think the ref totally botched the combo call on Chris Kelly and Rick Nash. Nash grabbs Kelly, throws him to the ground, and only gets two minutes. Furthermore, Kelly had done nothing to warrant an interference call, and it took the wind out of the Bruins sails.

Nathan Horton. Two years ago, Horton was the wizard that brought the Bruins wins over impossible odds. At 15:37, Gregory Campbell sent a pass to Horton and he let it go. It went right past Lundqvist and tied it up at three. The look of pure joy on Horton’s face was evident. So much had been built up on Horton since his injury last January that took him out of the game for the rest of the 2011-12 season. That he made the shot and the goal and got Boston back in it…..the relief and happiness was shared by the whole team.

Rask did not have the best game of his life, but the Rangers were playing really well, and in Tuukka’s defense he still played a solid game. He still has a .922 save percentage for the season, and Tuukka is one of those people that uses a setback to propel them forward.

We still got a point, and we’re still in the hunt Bruins Nation. Good effort team, and let’s go Bruins!