By: Liz Rizzo | Follow me on Twitter @pastagrl88
It may have been a quiet TD Garden but for the Bruins, it was anything but silent as they beat the New York Rangers 4-0 on home ice. Boston leads the game series 4-1 against the Rangers as Jaroslav Halak gets his second shutout of the season.
GAME BREAKDOWN
Both teams wasted no time rushing towards the net in a race to get on the board first. There were some early saves seen on either end of ice during an evenly paced first period. David Pastrnak would slap a one-timer off a feed from Brad Marchand, scoring his 12th goal of the season making it 1-0. Marchand would get his 17th assist of the season so far while surpassing Ken Hodge for ninth on the Bruins all-time scoring list with 675 career points.
Boston continued to put pressure on the Rangers net with the offense getting a good amount of zone time. New York attempted to get shots through however the Bruins defense was able to intercept the puck. With a little under three minutes left, Boston would be on the penalty kill as Brett Ritchie was called for tripping on K’Andre Miller. Despite being on the power play, it would the Bruins that took full advantage. With some incredible skating moves from Marchand that sent the puck to Bergeron, the Captain would score a short-handed goal, making it 2-0.
Feeling the shift in the momentum, Jack Studnicka missed a golden opportunity to score another short-handed goal from a love-tap pass by Jake DeBrusk in front of an open Rangers net. Despite being outshot by New York, the Bruins would end the period with a pair of goals.
SCORE END OF FIRST: BOS-2, NYR-0
SHOTS ON GOAL: BOS-9 NYR-14
Looking to build on their energy, the Bruins continued to make plays down in the Rangers zone. Boston got their first power-play of the night as Libor Hajek was called for holding against Pastrnak. Within moments into the power play, David Krejci would score a one-timer off a feed from Matt Grzelcyk, making the score 3-0. It would be his first of the season.
Seconds later (and getting that monkey off his back), Jake DeBrusk scored his second goal of the season from a set-up by Krejci, making it 4-0. The Rangers would switch goalies as Keith Kinkaid took over for Alex Georgiev.
Down by four goals the Rangers had a missed chance to score on an open net forcing Halak to smother the puck in the crease. Craig Smith suffered what looked like an injury to his hand as a Rangers skate blade cut across his glove (Smith returned a few minutes later). New York offense continued to have a hard time against Boston throughout the period.
The B’s had the man advantage with Ryan Lingren getting called for slashing against Trent Frederic. No score as the Rangers killed off the penalty. Lingren had a potential breakaway coming out from the penalty box but the attempt was blocked by Halak. Ritchie would head to the backroom after a collision on the ice but returned to the game. With a little over a minute left, Marchand was called on a hooking penalty against K’Andre Miller. The power play would carry over into the third period.
SCORE END OF SECOND: BOS-4, NYR-0
SHOTS ON GOAL: BOS-7, NR-3
The Rangers opened the final period on the power play but were unable to score. Bruins defense continued to handle the puck and keep New York at bay. Trying to create some spark, the Rangers has another potential breakaway goal forcing Halak to get low in goal. Marchand was seen going to the locker room after a little collision on the ice however returned shortly to the bench.
A brief spurt of energy from New York was cut short by Boston’s defense. With nine minutes left to the period, Pastrnak would be sent to the box on a holding penalty on K’Andre Miller. No score for either team during the power play as the Bruins held off the Rangers by blocking shot attempts. New York would be on their fourth power play of the night as Nick Ritchie was called on a tripping penalty against Brendan Lemieux. The Rangers would scramble around Boston’s net but were unable to score as the Bruins beat them for the fourth time this season. Jaroslav Halak would get his second shutout of the season and fifth career shutout against the Rangers.
END OF GAME: BOS-4, NYR-0
TOTAL SHOTS ON GOAL: BOS-27, NYR-27
NEXT GAME: Saturday, March 13th versus New York Rangers with puck drop at 1:00 pm. TD Garden. NESN, NHLN, MSG+
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