New York Rangers nip Boston Bruins by 5-3: NHL Update
Both Michael Sauer and Derek Stepan scored late in the final frame while the goal-tender, Henrik Lundqvist, blocked 27 of 30 shots. The combined effort helped the New York Rangers to take a dramatic 5-3 win over the Northeast Division champions, the Boston
Bruins, at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.
Vinny Prospal lit the lamp twice in the middle frame while Brandon Dubinsky scored an equaliser in the third frame for the Rangers, who have won their second consecutive game in the games they have played this season.
With this victory, the Rangers have 91 points and moved into a sixth-place tie with the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference. New York leads the eighth-placed Buffalo Sabres by one point and the ninth-placed Carolina Hurricanes by four points.
“We didn’t want to have to watch and see what Carolina did (Wednesday) night,” Dubinsky said. “We want to keep ourselves in the driver’s seat.”
Daniel Paille and Nathan Horton both tallied first-period goals, while Chris Kelly notched his first goal since joining Boston to enhance the lead to three goals. The goalie, Tim Thomas, surrendered all five goals to the Rangers out of the 26 blocks for
the Bruins, who have dropped two of their previous three games.
The Bruins got the scoring started, with less than five minutes left in the opening stanza. Paille deflected a shot from the defender, Johnny Boychuk that beat the Rangers’ net-minder to make it 1-0 and draw the first blood.
Boston doubled their advantage in less than two minutes later when Horton chipped in a rebound from the middle slot for his 25th goal of the season.
Boston extended its lead to 3-0 in the 11th minute of the middle session. Tomas Kaberle centred a pass to Kelly, who unleashed a wrist-shot from the left circle that dodged Lundqvist for his 13th goal of the season.
The Rangers reduced their deficit to 3-1 in less than two minutes when Prospal whacked in a rebound for his first goal of the game.
With less than two minutes left in the second period, Prospal made it 3-2 for the Rangers with his second goal of the game. Wojtek Wolski grabbed the puck behind the net and made a feed to Prospal, who put it into the wide open net.
New York found an equaliser with less than four minutes remaining in the final period when Dubinsky backhanded a pass from Ryan Callahan behind the goal-tender, Thomas, for his 24th goal of the season.
An excited Dubinsky said after the game, "It gives you goose bumps. It is a feeling you can't describe."
Sauer put Rangers ahead with less than three minutes to go in the third frame. The goal came when Marian Gaborik sent a back-hand pass toward the net where Sauer wristed a shot past Thomas.
Derek Stepan sealed the victory by tipping the puck into the unguarded net with less than a minute to play in the third session.
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