Final, Bruins 2-1: Somehow, the Bruins escape.
Tuukka Rask made 43 saves, and the B’s escape Gotham with the 2-1 win.
Third period, 18:50, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins were able to finally clear their zone without icing it and followed that with a good shift from the second line.
The Rangers’ net is empty.
Third period, 17:30, Bruins 2-1: The Rangers just put a bunch of pressure on in the Bruins end, but the Blue shirts couldn’t get one by Tuukka Rask.
Rick Nash missed the best chance of the possession when he whistled one wide of Rask. However, the Bruins iced the puck in the seconds that followed.
Third period, 13:24, Bruins 2-1: David Krejci just got the best Bruins chance of the period, but he couldn’t bury it.
Krejci stole a puck in the New York end and had a chance in close, but Henrik Lundqvist made the save.
Third period, 10:57, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins are lucky to be leading this game still.
Anton Stralman just ripped a shot from the right point that actually beat Tuukka Rask, but the puck rang the post and deflected to the goalie’s right. So they’re holding onto the lead — for now.
Third period, 7:46, ,Bruins 2-1: The Bruins are probably already counting down the seconds for this game to be over.
The B’s look gassed right now, as they’re limping to the end of the back-to-back. Luckily for them, Tuukka Rask continues to shine. He just robbed Chris Kreider once again as the New York forward tried to jam home an opportunity off of the end boards.
That was even more important given the fact that the David Krejci line was at the end of a very, very long shift.
Third period, 3:13, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins killed off the penalty, but they needed another tremendous save from Tuukka Rask.
The Bruins goalie robbed Chris Kreider to keep the Bruins lead intact.
Third period, 0:52, Bruins 2-1: That’s now how the Bruins wanted to start the period.
Brad Marchand just dropped Mats Zuccharello with a reckless cross-check right in front of the New York bench, and Marchand gets two minutes.
Third period, 0:01, Bruins 2-1: The third period is underway.
End second period, Bruins 2-1: The second period comes to an end with the Bruins leading 2-1.
Second period, 19:00, Bruins 2-1: Another unsuccessful and rather discombobulated power play just came to an end for the Bruins.
That one was better than the one that immediately preceded but still not good enough either way.
Second period, 16:57, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins didn’t score on the power play — it actually looked really, really bad.
But they will get a second chance. Just 19 seconds after leaving the penalty box, Derek Dorsett is going right back. He came out of the box and eventually fell over Tuukka Rask, which was enough to get a goaltender interference penalty.
Second period, 14:38, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins are going to get their second crack at the power play.
Derek Dorsett was called for tripping, and Boston is back on the PP.
Second period, 12:31, Bruins 2-1: And just like that, the penalty killing streak is over.
Derick Brassard just ripped a power-play goal from the left faceoff circle to cut the B’s lead in half, and the PK streak is over at 33.
Second period, 11:30, Bruins 2-0: Now the Bruins’ penalty kill is just showing off.
Daniel Paille just scored a shorthanded goal that came on a great shorthanded effort. Gregory Campbell helped break up the play at the Bruins’ blue line, and Daniel Paille took the puck and banked it off the boards to himself. He eventually outraced the Rangers and scored on a backhander.
Second period, 10:33, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins are going to have to kill off another penalty.
David Krejci was just called for interference, and the B’s will try to make it 34 in a row.
Second period, 6:49, Bruins 1-0: Tuukka Rask is on his game tonight.
Chris Kreider just entered the zone on the left wing with a head of steam, but the Bruins goalie made an aggressive move to come out and take away the angle, which helped him make the save on Kreider.
Second period, 4:58, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins weren’t able to score on the power play despite a couple of good chances, including one from David Krejci that Henrik Lundqvist was able to stop.
Following the power play, things got a little helter skelter and that led to a breakout for Shawn Thornton and Brad Marchand through the neutral zone. Marchand went right to the net, and the Rangers decided to take away the pass. So Thornton ripped a wrist shot from the right wing that beat Lundqvist for the game’s first goal.
Second period, 2:17, 0-0: The Bruins are going on the power play for the first time in this one.
John Moore was just called for interference, and the B’s get their first man-advantage of the evening.
Second period, 0:01, 0-0: The second period is underway with the Bruins looking to gain a few more scoring opportunities than they did in the first period.
Again, they’ll have to do so without Dennis Seidenberg who is out for the rest of the game for a reason we’ve yet to learn.
End first period, 0-0: A pretty interesting first period just came to an end, and the Bruins can thank Tuukka Rask for the fact the game is scoreless.
The Boston goalie made 16 saves in the first period including the stop on the Chris Kreider penalty shot.
First period, 17:30, 0-0: Tuukka Rask is on his game so far.
Rick Nash, in his first game back from an injury, got loose on a partial breakaway down the left wing, and he put a wrist shot on goal from the wing. Rask made the save, though, and the game remains scoreless.
First period, 16:10, 0-0: Dennis Seidenberg, who went down the tunnel in the first few minutes of the game, will not return, the Bruins just announced.
First period, 13:44, 0-0: The Rangers are making a point to get the puck on net and then go from there.
Brad Richards’ flipped an odd-angle shot on net that kind of handcuffed Tuukka Rask at first before he was able to get the puck out of danger. Still, the Rangers are outshooting the Bruins 12-4 with about six minutes to play in the period still.
First period, 10:47, 0-0: Derek Dorsett went out of his way to get under the Bruins’ skins last season during the playoffs, and he’s back at it in the two teams’ first meeting since.
Dorsett just dropped the gloves with Gregory Campbell, and the two engaged in a pretty spirited scrap. They also fought in last year’s playoff series in Game 2.
First period, 6:14, 0-0: The Bruins looked like their penalty killing streak was in jeopardy when Johnny Boychuk hooked Chris Kreider on a breakaway.
The Boston College alum was awarded a penalty shot, and with Zdeno Chara still in the box, it would have been a power-play tally. However, Tuukka Rask made a big right pad save to keep the game scoreless.
Moments later, the power play ended and the B’s have killed off 33 straight penalties.
First period, 4:23, 0-0: The Bruins’ penalty kill is about to get its first test of the night, and it’s a doozy.
Zdeno Chara is sent off for high-sticking, and Dennis Seidenberg has gone down the tunnel for the time being at least.
First period, 2:00, 0-0: It didn’t take long for Tuukka Rask to be tested.
Derek Brassard beat Torey Krug to a puck in the corner in the Bruins zone, and he centered it to Dominic Moore who got a quick, one-time chance in front that Rask stopped to keep the game scoreless.
First period, 1:00, 0-0: Worth noting that Patrice Bergeron is playing in his 600th career game tonight. He and his line got the start.
First period, 0:01, 0-0: The game is underway from Madison Square Garden.
7:07 p.m.: According to pregame line rushes, it does appear that Shawn Thornton is indeed back in the Bruins lineup. Not a huge surprise there, as Bruins coach Claude Julien indicated that would likely be the case after Thornton sat Monday night against Carolina. Jordan Caron is back to the press box.
At the other end of the ice, it looks like the Rangers are going to throw Rick Nash right into the fire for this one. The forward was skating alongside Brad Richards and Ryan Callahan during the pregame skate.
Here are the rest of the Rangers’ lines, according to the warmup.
Rick Nash — Brad Richards — Ryan Callahan
Chris Kreider — Derek Stepan — Mats Zuccarello
Beniot Pouliot — Derek Brassard — Carl Hagelin
Dan Boyle — Dominic Moore — Derek Dorsett
7 p.m.: The Bruins and Rangers just took the ice for pregame warmups, and it looks like it will be Tuukka Rask — not Chad Johnson — who gets the start for the Bruins.
That might be a little bit surprising for some after Rask got the start Monday night in Raleigh in addition to starting Friday in Ottawa.
6:40 p.m.: With the 7:30 puck drop, we’re still almost an hour away from the hockey game starting, which is a bummer for obvious reasons.
If you’re looking for tonight’s game and you live in New England, the only place you can find the game is on NESN. So now you know.
1:30 p.m.: Good afternoon, hope your Tuesday is going swimmingly.
We’re about six hours away from hockey in New York in what should be a very interesting hockey game. There certainly are plenty of storylines heading into this game.
Most notably is the fact that Rick Nash is expected to make his return to the Rangers lineup. The All-Star forward has only played three games this season and hasn’t appeared in game action since Oct. 8 against San Jose. That’s when he suffered a concussion that has kept him out since.
For the Bruins, there’s a little more uncertainty when it comes to the lineup. Head coach Claude Julien wouldn’t commit to a starting goaltender. Tuukka Rask got the start Monday night against the Hurricanes, so it wouldn’t be shocking if he gets the night off and Chad Johnson gets the start. We apparently won’t find out until just before the game begins, though. Bruins winger Shawn Thornton is also expected to be back in the lineup after sitting Monday night in Carolina. The Rangers have the ability to be a physical team, so it makes some sense to get Thornton back in there. However, Jordan Caron did play pretty well against the Canes. It’s not entirely implausible that someone other than Caron would sit, especially if Julien really wants to send a message to someone like, say, Brad Marchand. But that’s pure speculation and spitballing at this point.
8 a.m.: The Bruins had plenty of days off in the first month or so of the season, but that’s all started to change recently. On Tuesday, they’ll complete their second back-to-back in less than a week, and they’re hoping this one ends a little better than the first.
The B’s are in New York, where they will take on the Rangers on Tuesday night in the two teams’ first meeting since the Bruins won their second-round playoff series in five games. It will be the B’s second game in as many nights after beating the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 on Monday night in Raleigh.
Boston is hoping for a better showing than its last second half of a back-to-back. After beating Columbus in overtime Thursday in Boston, the Bruins traveled to Ottawa to face the Senators on Friday. They jumped out to an early 2-0 lead before giving up four unanswered goals on the way to losing 4-2. It was fairly evident that fatigue was taking its toll in that one, but so too did poor mental mistakes. They’re hoping to avoid both of those shortcomings Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
It won’t necessarily be easy. After stumbling out of the gates during an eight-game road trip to start the season, the Rangers have been better as of late. New York has won eight of its last 12, as the Rangers start to come around in Alain Vigneault’s first season as head coach. Much of that has been thanks to a resurgence from Brad Richards. After being benched during the playoffs last season, the Rangers decided to keep Richards around, and that has paid off so far. He leads the Blueshirts with 6-10-16 totals so far.
Puck drop between the two Eastern Conference rivals is set for 7:30 p.m. from MSG.
