BOSTON – (Wire Service Preview) – After their Thanksgiving dinner tasted even better on the heels of Wednesday victories, the Boston Bruins will host the New York Rangers in their first meeting of the season on Friday afternoon.
The Bruins just spent 10 days completing a four-game road trip that spanned from California to New York, ending it on a high note with a 3-1 win over the Islanders on Wednesday. Friday will mark Boston’s first skate on home ice since Nov. 17, and another will follow against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night to complete a back-to-back.
“We came into the trip wanting to at least be .500 on it, and felt like we left some points in California in a couple of those games,” Bruins forward Tanner Jeannot said. “We knew we wanted to come out and play (Wednesday’s) game really hard, finish off the road trip and head back home for Thanksgiving. The boys battled hard.”
Alex Steeves, who played on a new-look fourth line with Sean Kuraly and Mikey Eyssimont, recorded the first two-goal performance of his NHL career. Jeannot scored the eventual game-winner in the second period in between Steeves’ tallies, the latter of which came on a short-handed rush with 9:39 left in regulation.
“I’m not thinking I’m David Pastrnak or anything all of a sudden, but it definitely gives me confidence,” Steeves said.
Fraser Minten also played a key role in Boston’s latest victory, providing the only assist on both the tying and winning goals.
Goaltender Jeremy Swayman could be in line for his fourth consecutive start after making a career-high 44 saves against the Islanders. He is 7-2-0 with a .935 save percentage across his last nine starts, giving first-year coach Marco Sturm an easy decision of late.
“That’s why he was back in,” said Sturm, whose team was outshot 45-14. “We had that feeling (before the game) that we can’t get him out of the net because he’s playing that well — and he showed it. How calm he was, that gives us, I would say, a little bit of extra juice. We don’t have to worry about what’s behind us.”
The Rangers have followed up a four-game skid with back-to-back wins — including a 4-2 road win against their Metropolitan Division rival Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday — to move above the .500 mark at 12-11-2.
“We’re playing with more structure,” New York coach Mike Sullivan said. “I think we’re playing with better intentions. We’ve got numbers back. I think that’s the game that’s going to give us the best chance to win.”
In an unusual trend, the Rangers are 10-4-1 on the road and just 2-7-1 at Madison Square Garden, where they will return for a Saturday date with the Tampa Bay Lightning. They had just one road loss on the season prior to the recent skid.
A pair of third-period goals proved to be the difference in Wednesday’s game for the Rangers, who were at a 38-18 disadvantage in shots and withstood five Carolina power plays.
Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist, while Vincent Trocheck scored the deciding goal 45 seconds into the final frame. Those efforts helped make a winner out of Igor Shesterkin (36 saves).
“I don’t think we were at our best, but we found a way to win and I thought the third was our best period,” New York captain J.T. Miller said. “It’s funny, you go through the first 15 games of the year, how many games we thought we should have won. This is one of those that hopefully can help even some of those out.”
–Field Level Media