The New York Rangers, as much as any other team in the National Hockey League, appeared ready to give the dominant Bruins a good test on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.
Since Dec. 5, they were the second hottest team in the league behind the B’s with a record of 14-3-2. And not only were they catching the B’s on the second half of a back-to-back, their guests lost steady defenseman Brandon Carlo early in the second period with a lower body injury.
But in the end, the Rangers were just another mangled piece of Bruin road kill. The B’s got a goal in each period to beat the Blueshirts, 3-1, to push their mind-boggling record to 36-5-4.
Goaltending has been very much a part of the B’s story in this season, and that was true on Thursday, with Jeremy Swayman (31 saves) making some huge saves when the game was in doubt to complete the New York sweep f the Islanders and Rangers.
The Bruins enjoyed early control of the game and took a quick 1-0 lead, but squandered chances to extend that lead in the first period.
On the second shift of the game, Pavel Zacha notched his eighth of the year at 1:19, his third in three games since signing his contract extension. David Krejci grabbed control of the puck out by the left point and carried it along the blue line before playing it to himself off the right boards. After the puck caromed off the boards, Krejci blasted it into the slot where Zacha was there to deflect it past Igor Shesterkin.
The B’s were in charge at that point. On one shift, they had the Rangers scrambling and Trent Frederic had Shesterkin out of the net but he could not get it past Adam Fox. The snake-bitten Taylor Hall was also thwarted by Shesterkin on a partial break-in off a David Pastrnak set-up.
But the big blown opportunity was a 5-on-3 that lasted 1:42. Their chances were either blocked by the Ranger skaters or missed the net
As you might expect, the big kill provided energy for the Blueshirts, but the Jeremy Swayman made several big saves. None were bigger than the one on Artemi Panarin, who streak down the right wing alone but Swayman got his glove on Panarin’s offering.
The B’s had to kill off a penalty late in the first and early in the second, which they did – but at a cost. Brandon Carlo, who has been a major part of the B’s league-leading penalty kill, had to leave the game after blocking a Mika Zibanejad shot, hobbling to the dressing room.
While that was going to make it a long night for the remaining five defensemen, the B’s pushed the lead to 2-0 at 4:42. Patrice Bergeron, who was questionable after taking a puck to the face on Wednesday, was given the go-ahead when x-rays proved negative. He made his presence felt. After an excellent puck-hunting shift from the top line, Bergeron finished it off with his 17th of the season, receiving a Brad Marchand pass and snapping it over Shesterkin’s shoulder from the slot.
Meanwhile, Swayman continue to excel. He made two more in-tight saves on Panarin and then later stoned him on a breakaway.
Late in the second period, Connor Clifton was called for delay of game, but the B’s were able to kill it off and, when he popped out of the box at the start of the third ,he made it 3-0 just 28 seconds in. After the Rangers turned it over at the Boston blue line, Marchand broke out on a 2-on-1 with the newly freed Clifton and the defenseman buried it shortside for the 3-0 lead.
The Rangers finally got one past Swayman when Ben Harpur’s seeing-eye shot from the left point found its way home, snapping Swayman’s shutout streak at 158:47.
