New York Rangers silence Boston Bruins, 4-3 – NHL Recap
There seems nothing stopping New York Rangers as they cleared another hurdle on their way to glory after beating the defending Stanley Cup Champions, Boston Bruins, on Sunday, March 4, 2012, at Madison Square Garden, New York, New York.
Both teams went neck and neck, but Rangers held their nerves and Derek Stepan scored his 14th goal of the National Hockey League (NHL) present season to give his team the decisive edge in the final period. The final score settled at 4-3.
Pleased Rangers’ coach, John Tortorella, said after the game:
"I feel even better about it. I do. We're playing our third game in two-and-a-half days. They're not always going to be pretty. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the guys in there, how hard they had to work just to get something accomplished and
score one more than they did."
Rangers are leading the Eastern Conference with 91 points after 64 games.
They were aggressive right from the start and got two goals early in the game to stun the Bruins.
At 5:05 in the first period, Ruslan Fedotenko scored the first goal of the game. The shot was actually fired by Anton Stralman, but the puck got deflected off Fedotenko and went into the net.
After around a minute, Rangers doubled their lead.
Carl Hagelin fired a wrist shot from 12 feet to get the goal at 6:15.
Bruins were not late to hit back. At 7:57, they reduced the deficit to one goal.
Benoit Pouliot managed a goal in the first period, while Jordan Caron scored the only goal of the second period to level the score.
Rangers were indeed taken aback by the comeback registered by Bruins, but they once again extended their lead in the final period.
At 3:14, Marian Gaborik scored his 32nd goal of the season, but was responded equally well by David Krejci, who provided an equaliser at 11:42.
However, within the next minute, Rangers got another goal and then managed to retain the lead.
Stepan snapped a shot from 39 feet from the left circle and gave Rangers the decisive advantage.
Bruins’ coach, Claude Julien, said after the game:
"We were a pretty dominant team today in my mind. We spent a lot of time in the offensive zone and that's what matters. So maybe on the scoreboard it might not have been a victory, but I think mentally our guys still feel pretty confident with the game we
played today."
It was second straight defeat for the Bruins, who are ranked at second spot in the Eastern Conference with 79 points after 64 games.
They are going to face Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, while Rangers will take on New Jersey Devils on the same day.
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