It was a memorable night in Boston for Artemi Panarin and Jonathan Quick. In what proved to be a statement game, the Rangers took down the number one overall Bruins 5-2 at TD Garden on Thursday night.

Facing their old Original 6 rival, they defeated them for the third time to sweep the season series. In three games, the Rangers outscored the Bruins 14-6. They were the better team in each matchup. Whether that translates to the postseason, time will tell. A lot can happen between now and then.

By prevailing over the Bruins, the Rangers maintained their two-point Metropolitan Division lead over the Hurricanes, who refused to lose by edging the Flyers 3-2 in overtime. It looks like the race for first place will go down to the wire.

The Bruins are in a close race for first in the Atlantic Division. They still lead the Panthers by three points. Florida lost to the Predators 3-0. Boston leads the league with 97 points. That’s one more than the Rangers, who are in contention for the President’s Trophy.

To be honest, I don’t care about it. While clinching home ice for the entire playoffs is nice, there’s no guarantee it’ll work out. As evidenced by the record-breaking Bruins last year, it meant nothing when they were upset by the Panthers in the first round.

There’s plenty of pressure on whoever earns the number one overall seed. It’s better to be healthy and to be  playing well going into the postseason.

For the Rangers, who are without Jacob Trouba and Ryan Lindgren, they continue to win games. Credit must be given to both Zac Jones and Chad Ruhwedel for how well they’ve played since entering the lineup. Jones has especially opened some eyes with his mistake free hockey. He’s making a case to be in the lineup full-time.

Rangers coach Peter Laviolette will have to determine if they’re better off with Jones over his favorite veteran, Erik Gustafsson. Gustafsson has had a good season. He picked up a primary assist on Adam Fox’s go-ahead goal in the third period, which answered a Justin Brazeau goal 40 seconds earlier.

The assist gave Gustafsson 30 points in 69 games this season. While he’s been a reliable player who stepped up to pair with Fox in Lindgren’s absence, there’s a case to be made that Jones might be the better overall player. His defense has improved. Sometimes, Gustafsson has some hiccups. But he’s part of the second power play unit that now features Alex Wennberg, along with Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, and Jack Roslovic.

While all of this is interesting, the biggest story was Quick tying Ryan Miller for the most wins by an American-born goalie all-time with the 391st of his career. In particular, he was especially good during the first period when the Bruins had the better of the play.

Quick stopped 13 of 14 shots in a busy opening period. A few came from directly in front. He also delivered in the clutch to deny Brad Marchand on a one-timer from the slot with the Bruins trailing by one in the third period. That pad save helped ensure that he would tie Miller for the American record. He finished the game with 24 saves.

Where would the Rangers be without Panarin? Certainly not as high in the standings. He continues to score at a high clip. By netting his third hat trick of the season, Panarin eclipsed the 40-goal mark for the first time in his career.

That included him getting a pair during a better second period by the Rangers. After falling behind on a Jake DeBrusk goal following a Bruins power play with 11:56 remaining in the first, they picked up their game in the middle stanza.

Starting to use their speed and skill to dictate the terms, they outshot the Bruins 13-6. The puck mostly belonged to the Rangers. They were quicker to pucks and generated better attack time.

Unlike the first when the only line that was visible was the third line of Alex Wennberg, Kaapo Kakko, and Will Cuylle, there were fewer passengers in the second. That produced better results.

If there’s one observation to make from this recent stretch, it’s that both K’Andre Miller and Braden Schneider are flourishing. Since being put together, they’ve been a staple on the blue line. Miller works better with Schneider, who’s a quicker skater than Trouba. There’s a serious case for them to remain intact when Trouba returns in a couple of weeks.

Still down by a goal, Schneider made an instinctive play that led to Panarin getting his 39th goal. His pinch kept the play alive in the offensive zone. Lafreniere tipped the puck in the direction of Panarin, who finished the play in front to even the game.

With the game still tied and less than a minute left in the period, an aggressive Wennberg made a subtle play that forced a turnover behind the Bruins’ net. That allowed the puck to come right to Panarin, who had his centering pass bank in off DeBrusk for number 40 with 35 seconds remaining to put the Rangers ahead 2-1.

Early in the third period, the Bruins got the equalizer. On some hard work behind the Rangers’ net started by Jesper Boqvist, Marchand moved the puck towards the net where Brazeau positioned himself on Miller to steer in a rebound past Quick at 3:17.

The tying goal came with the fourth line stuck out. It marked the return of Matt Rempe. He was effective in limited action (5:11), even nearly setting up a goal on a power move. However, he was caught on with Barclay Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey for Brazeau’s goal. In truth, it was a good play by the Bruins’ trio of forwards.

Before you could look up, Fox put the Rangers back ahead just 40 seconds later. On a good forecheck from Jack Roslovic, he moved the puck to Mika Zibanejad. Zibanejad then passed it to Gustafsson. He then fed a pinching Fox, who fooled Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman by firing a wrist shot short side for a new career high 13th goal. His previous best was 12 last season.

The Bruins didn’t get many good looks following the goal. They were outshot 9-6. It was more due to how disciplined the Rangers were defensively. They did a great job shutting down David Pastrnak. One of the game’s best players, he was kept off the score sheet. His most dangerous opportunity came when he missed a one-timer from the left circle with his team trailing by one.

Quick wasn’t required to make many difficult stops. The only tough one came when he stoned Marchand in front with a right pad save. That was it.

With over two minutes left in regulation, Swayman went to the bench for an extra attacker. It didn’t take long for Vincent Trocheck and Chris Kreider to combine to work the puck over to Zibanejad for an empty netter. That came with 2:03 left.

When Bruins coach Jim Montgomery lifted Swayman again, that allowed Fox to pass the puck up for Panarin, who sent it into the vacated net for his third hat trick of the season. It’s been a special one. The three goals gave him a career best 98 points. He needs two more to hit the century mark.

Even better, the milestones for Quick and Panarin came in Laviolette’s 1,500th career NHL game behind the bench. It’s been a very successful first season for Laviolette on Broadway. We’ll see if it can get even better.