NEW YORK — It had been 51 weeks since the Rangers fans had seen their Blueshirts in person at Madison Square Garden, and when the fans returned to the World’s Most Famous Arena, their team put on a show for them.
Playing their second game since their leading scorer and best offensive player, Artemi Panarin, took a leave of absence, the Rangers rewarded their faithful with a spirited 6-2 thrashing of the first-place Boston Bruins Friday night in the opener of a two-game weekend set. The teams go at it again Sunday afternoon at the Garden.
Ryan Strome had a goal and two assists, Chris Kreider had his fourth goal in two games, and Julien Gauthier, Colin Blackwell, Pavel Buchnevich and Jonny Brodzinski all scored against subpar Boston goalie Tuukka Rask to hand the Bruins their second loss in the New York area in two nights. The Islanders had blitzed Boston, 7-2, Thursday.
