The Bruins have been comfortable away from home this year, posting a 6-1-0 road record so far. The Rangers also haven't been particularly strong at home with a 4-5-1 record at MSG. But the Rangers have won three straight, including their last two on home ice, and come into this matchup with plenty of momentum of their own.
The Bruins and Rangers always seem to play tight, low-scoring games, and this one promises to be no different as the Original Six rivals are sure to slug it out all the way down to the wire.
When and Where
Boston Bruins (9-5-1, 19 points) at New York Rangers (10-7-1, 21 points)
Nov. 17, 7 p.m. (NESN)
Madison Square Garden, New York
Head to Head
This is the second of four meetings this season between the Original Six rivals. The Rangers won 3-2 in Boston on Oct. 23 and also won three of the four clashes last year, but Boston holds a 282-236-97-6 edge in the all-time series. The Rangers do have the advantage in New York, where the Bruins are just 117-138-55-2.
Goaltending Matchup
Tim Thomas continued his spectacular start with a 28-save shutout on New Jersey on Monday. He's now 9-1-0 with a 1.32 GAA and a .960 save percentage, but he's just 3-6-3 with a 2.64 GAA and a .912 save percentage against the Rangers in his career. Tuukka Rask is still looking for his first win of the season at 0-4-1 with a 2.75 GAA and a .923 save percentage, but he has had success against the Rangers with a 2-2-0 record, 1.76 GAA, .944 save percentage and a shutout.
For the Rangers, Henrik Lundqvist is the workhorse. He's 7-5-1 with a 2.61 GAA, .921 save percentage and two shutouts this year, but he seems to save his best for the Bruins. Lundqvist is 14-4-2 with a 1.42 GAA, .951 save percentage and four shutouts against Boston. Martin Biron is a more-than-capable backup, with a 3-2-0 record, 2.21 GAA and .915 save percentage this year.
Stat Sheet
Bruins
- Bruins coach Claude Julien will be coaching his 500th game in the NHL on Wednesday. He comes in with a 261-169-10-59 record in eight seasons with Montreal, New Jersey and Boston. Julien is 142-83-0-36 behind the Bruins bench.
- The Bruins have been outshot in each of the last eight games but have managed to go 4-3-1 in that span. They were outshot just twice in the first seven games of the season, but won each of those games. Overall, they've been outshot 509-464 this season.
- Thomas already has four shutouts in just 11 starts this season. He's never had more than five shutouts in one season in the NHL, reaching that total in each of the last two years. Thomas did have 15 shutouts in just 54 games for Jokerit in Finland in 2004-05 and nine shutouts in 43 games for Providence in 2003-04.
Rangers
- Don't expect this one to be decided until the final whistle. Since the St. Patrick's Day Massacre, when the Rangers routed the Bruins 7-0 on March 17, 2007, the Bruins and Rangers have met 14 times. Twelve of those games have been decided by one goal, including last month's 3-2 Rangers victory, while the other two were each 3-1 decisions. The overall results in that span are extremely close as well, with the Bruins going 6-5-3 in those games.
- The Rangers and Edmonton Oilers kept the penalty box attendants busy on Sunday, when the two teams combined for 154 penalty minutes, 10 fighting majors, five misconducts and four game misconducts. All but six of those minutes came in the third period, with things particularly exploding after Sean Avery initially declined an invitation to go from Ladislav Smid, then sucker punched the Oilers' defenseman.
- The combination of Marian Gaborik, Alexander Frolov and Erik Christensen collected five goals and six assists for 11 points and were a combined plus-15 in Sunday's 8-2 win over Edmonton.
Infirmary Report
Bruins
- Center David Krejci (concussion) has been cleared for practice, but remains out.
- Defenseman Johnny Boychuk (fractured left forearm) could return on Wednesday.
- Center Marc Savard (post-concussion syndrome) is out indefinitely.
- Left wing Marco Sturm (knee surgery) is expected to be out until at least early December.
- Center Trent Whitfield (ruptures Achilles) could miss the entire year.
Rangers
- Forward Chris Drury (broken left index finger) is on injured reserve.
- Center/left wing Vinny Prospal (right knee surgery) is on injured reserve.
- Defenseman Michal Rozsival (shoulder) is expected to miss his fourth straight game.
- Forward Derek Boogaard (hand) is questionable.
Familiar Faces
The Rangers have a strong New England flavor with forwards Drury (Trumbull, Conn./Boston University) and Brian Boyle (Hingham, Mass./Boston College) and defenseman Matt Gilroy (Boston University). Coach John Tortorella (Concord, Mass.) and assistant Mike Sullivan (Marshfield, Mass.) also have local ties, and Sullivan also played for the Bruins in 1997-98 and coached them from 2003-06. Rangers director of player personnel Gordie Clark also played, coached and scouted for the Bruins, while assistant director of player personnel Jeff Gorton was an assistant GM and interim GM for Boston.
Fight Card
The Bruins and Rangers engaged in three fights in their first meeting, with Avery instigating a scrap with Mark Stuart, Shawn Thornton battling the 6-foot-7 Boogaard and Milan Lucic slugging it out with Brandon Prust. Lucic was not happy the linesmen jumped in early on that one or that Prust appeared to claw at his eye, so that duo may bear watching in the rematch. Prust leads the Rangers with seven of their 17 fighting majors, while Boogaard has five and Avery two. The Bruins have 18 fighting majors in 15 games, with Stuart, Greg Campbell and Adam McQuaid leading the way with three each and Thornton and Lucic each adding two.
Outlook
The Bruins continue one of their busiest stretches of the season as they head to New York on Wednesday, then return to the Garden to face Florida. They shouldn't mind getting right back to work this time after the strong performance they put together Monday against the Devils. They'd like to carry that momentum into this game, but the Rangers represent a far stiffer challenge than the Devils this year, so this won't be an easy one for the Bruins.
