Rangers Conclude Season Series with Bruins

               The Rangers will conclude the season series with the Boston Bruins where they look to extend their winning streak to five games (3:30 P.M. ET, NBC).

               Friday night, the Rangers concluded the second half of a back-to-back with a crucial win against the Columbus Blue Jackets to keep their playoff hopes alive. With a win, the Rangers moved within seven points of each wild card team with two games in hand on each. Alex Georgiev, who started against the Wild on Thursday in a winning effort, got the nod against the Blue Jackets and made 36 saves on 37 shots. Pavel Buchnevich was once again on the scoresheet and Chris Kreider continued his strong play and found a winner late in the third period.

               “To me, the story of the night was our special teams,” said head coach David Quinn. “Our penalty kill was immense.” The Rangers were shorthanded for just four minutes throughout the game, but all four minutes were consecutive after Buchnevich received penalties for holding and an unsportsmanlike penalty. Late in the third, Columbus were caught with too many men on the ice and Kreider capitalized with the winner as the power-play expired.

               “It’s a big step in the right direction for us. But we’ve still got a long way to go,” said Kreider.

               The Blueshirts will now face a big task in taking on the Boston Bruins in the season series finale. The Bruins defeated the Rangers in both meetings this season by the scores of 7-4 and 3-2 (OT). Boston played Saturday night and defeated the Red Wings 4-1.

Tuukka Rask played against the Red Wings which means Jaroslav Halak will get the start in Madison Square Garden. Halak was a former member of the New York Islanders and is very familiar with playing in MSG. Halak is 14-6-6 with a 2.36 goals against average and holds a .921 save percentage.

The Blueshirts will have to keep the Bruins top line in check to give themselves a good chance of winning the hockey game. David Pastrnak continues to keep scoring as he is tied with Auston Matthews for the most goals scored this season with 42. Pastrnak currently has 82 points and only trails Leon Draisaitl in points. The other offensive winger on the Bruins top line is Brad Marchand who is tied for sixth in points with 73. To round the line off, centerman Patrice Bergeron who has played in 50 games this season has 49 points.

However, the Rangers have a top line of their own that has been very dangerous over the past ten games. Kreider, Buchnevich, and Mika Zibanejad have tallied 35 points over the past ten games including 19 goals. Each player has at least six goals and 10 points in that span.

The Rangers will likely turn to Alex Georgiev for a third straight game. Georgiev has been sharp the last two games in the absence of Shesterkin. Georgiev won his only career start against the Bruins last season. Georgiev was credited with a defeat when he came in relief for Lundqvist in the first meeting this season. However, Quinn may elect to start Shesterkin if he is deemed healthy. Shesterkin was named the number one goalie prior to suffering an ankle injury against Winnipeg.

         The Blueshirts will likely stick with the same lineup as they did against Columbus if Tony DeAngelo is unable to play for a second straight game.

Projected Lineup

Kreider-Zibanejad-Buchnevich

Panarin-Strome-Fast

Di Giuseppe-Chytil-Kakko

Lemieux-McKegg-Howden

Skjei-Trouba

Lindgren-Fox

Staal-Smith

Georgiev