The B's, hot off their 2-1 overtime win over the Flyers at the Winter Classic on Friday, were unable to hold off the Rangers in the Big Apple, despite a promising comeback push.
Boston popped a pair of goals in the final five minutes to tie things up before Christopher Higgins and the Rangers took back the lead for good.
Rangers 3, Bruins 2
Madison Square Garden, New York, N.Y.
Jan. 4, 2010
Headliner: Rangers left winger and New York native Christopher Higgins broke a 2-2 tie with 1:29 to go in regulation to give the Rangers just their second victory in their last five games. It was Higgins' first tally at MSG as a member of the Blueshirts and at 18:31 in the third period, was the latest game-winning goal for the Rangers this season.
Grinder: Brandon Dubinsky assisted on the Rangers’ first two goals and now has 13 assists and 20 points on the season.
Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist improved his career record to 12-3-2 against the Bruins by kicking aside 26 of 28 shots. The Rangers backstop was roughly five minutes away from his fifth career shutout against the B's before the visitors' offense woke up.
Blake Wheeler, who assisted on Matt Hunwick's tally, tied things up at two apiece with his eighth goal of the season with four minutes left in regulation.
Weak Link: The Bruins' power play continues to struggle as the B's have now gone nine straight road games without a power-play goal.
Patrice Bergeron headed off the bench and into the X-ray room after taking a Dennis Wideman shot off his right hand in the second period and did not return.
Key Moment: Erik Christensen gave the Rangers their second goal of the contest roughly eight minutes into the second period with a nifty one-handed shovel shot as he fended off a defenseman along the right side of Tuukka Rask (32 saves). The play started with a long pass from Michael Del Zotto in his own end to Dubinsky, who touch-passed it to Christensen just outside the B’s blue line.
What’s Next: The B’s stay on the road as they head up to Ottawa on Tuesday to take on the Senators, a team that's hot on their heels in the Eastern Conference with 48 points.
Boston took down the Sens 2-0 in their last meeting on Dec. 21 in Ottawa thanks to goals by Patrice Bergeron and Marco Sturm. Tim Thomas kicked aside all 29 shots he faced for his fourth shutout of the season.
Milan Michalek leads the Sens attack with 16 goals while Mike Fisher — the future Mr. Carrie Underwood — has a team-high 32 points while Daniel Alfredsson is close behind with 31 points of his own. Goalies Brian Elliot (10 wins, 2.70 GAA) and Pascal Leclaire (11 wins, 2.95 GAA) have split time between the pipes this season
