The Boston Bruins will be facing off with the New York Rangers for the second straight game tonight. They’ll be looking for their fifth consecutive victory after downing the Rangers in overtime by a score of 3-2 on Wednesday.
The last meeting between these two teams, just two days ago, was a relatively even matchup. New York had the better first period, as they took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission. However, the B’s would win the middle frame, scoring the only goal in the period and bringing a 1-1 game into the second intermission.
The third period saw both teams score a goal as the game was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation. However, overtime wouldn’t last long as Brad Marchand would call game just 36 seconds in.
Overall, the Black and Gold need to get off to a quicker start tonight. They didn’t find their legs until the second period and were lucky that the Rangers’ high-powered offense didn’t take advantage of a sleeping Boston team.
Boston Bruins at New York Rangers projected lineups.
Boston Bruins
Record: 9-1-2 (20 points)
The Bruins will be forced to make a change to their lineup once again because of injury. After returning last game from a lower-body injury, defenseman Matt Grzelcyk will miss tonight with a lower-body injury. Connor Clifton will be in his spot as he has before.
Expect the Bruins to look like this tonight:
Marchand – Bergeron – Pastrnak
Ritchie – Krejci – Smith
DeBrusk – Coyle – Bjork
Frederic – Kuraly – Wagner
Lauzon – McAvoy
Clifton – Carlo
Zboril – Miller
Halak (Rask)
Tuukka Rask played extremely well last game, bailing out the B’s several times. However, with Boston set to play the New York Islanders tomorrow, Jaroslav Halak gets the start tonight and Rask will start tomorrow night.
New York Rangers
Record: 4-5-3 (11 points)
The Rangers will also be forced to make a lineup change tonight because of injury. Star winger Artemi Panarin will miss tonight’s game with a lower-body injury. Rookie first-overall pick Alexis Lafreniere will be taking his spot on the Rangers’ second line.
Expect the Rangers to look like this tonight:
Kreider – Zibanejad – Buchnevich
Lafreniere – Strome – Kakko
Lemieux – Howden – Di Giuseppe
Blackwell – Rooney – Gauthier
Lindgren – Fox
Miller – Trouba
Hajek – Bitetto
Shesterkin (Georgiev)
With Alexandar Georgiev starting last game, Igor Shesterkin looks like he’ll be getting the nod tonight.
Where and when to watch Boston Bruins at New York Rangers.
Time: 7 PM EST
Location: Madison Square Garden
TV Broadcast: NESN, MSG+, NHL Network, TVAS, SN
Radio Broadcast: 98.5 The Sports Hub
As I mentioned earlier, the Bruins cannot come into this game sleep walking. They need to be awake from first puck drop. Although the Rangers will be missing Panarin tonight, they still have a dangerous offensive team that can make you pay for not putting on enough pressure offensively and being lackadaisical defensively.