NEW YORK RANGERS left wing Rick Nash (61) and Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (40) watch as a Rangers shot glances off the goal post in the third period of their NHL hockey game at Madison Square Garden in New York on Tuesday. The Bruins defeated the Rangers 2-1.
Tuukka Rask had his busiest game of the season, just how he likes it.
Rask, playing on a second straight night, stopped all but one of the seasonhigh 44 shots the Boston Bruins allowed and lifted his club to a 2-1 win over the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
Rask gave up just a rare power-play goal to Derick Brassard in the second period, but made the offense provided by Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille stand up as the Bruins earned their sixth win in seven games.
The Rangers put extra heat on the Bruins, who played most of the game with only five defensemen after Dennis Seidenberg was injured early in the first.
Rask was up to the task, and he set the tone when he stopped Chris Kreider’s penalty shot.
Kreider recorded four shots in the game to earn Third Star honors. All he had to show for it was an assist on Brassard’s goal.
The Bruins (14-6-1) finished a 2-1 road trip, after winning at Carolina on Monday, and spoiled the return to the Rangers lineup of star forward Rick Nash.
Henrik Lundqvist stopped 20 shots, but most of the action was at the other end. The Rangers have only two goals in three games, splitting a pair of 1-0 decisions in the previous two. New York has dropped three in a row at home.
Lundqvist has held opponents to two goals or fewer in nine of his 15 starts, but he is only 6-9 overall and 4-5 at home.
The Rangers had won 11 of 15 against the Bruins, who knocked them out of last season’s playoffs. The teams have played one-goal games in 20 of the past 25 meetings.
Rask was still sharp in the third period when the Bruins killed a crosschecking penalty against Brad Marchand, who shoved Mats Zuccarello from behind into the boards in front of the Rangers bench.
Nash skated well and had several scoring chances in his return from a 17-game absence caused by a concussion sustained in New York’s third game of the season on Oct. 8. He finished with five shots on goal.
The Bruins recorded only seven shots in the second period — compared to 17 for the Rangers — but cashed in on two to take a 2-0 lead. Thornton broke the seal on the scoreless game at 4:58 when he sent a rising wrist shot over Lundqvist’s glove for his third goal.
The Rangers (10-11) got a chance to get even a few minutes later when they went on their second power play against the vaunted Bruins’ penalty killers, successful in 33 consecutive short-handed situations. Not only did Boston hold New York at bay, Paille gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
