Rick Nash continued his Hart Trophy candidacy scoring his league best 32nd in a 3-2 win over the Bruins.
AP Photo by Kathy Willens/Getty Images

On Rivalry Night, the Rangers finally got the best of the Bruins. A thorn in their side the past few years, Boston again looked to get the better of New York. But after they scored two goals in a 1:52 span to close the first period up one, the Rangers responded with a big second scoring twice to pull out a hard fought 3-2 win at MSG.

The win snapped a four-game losing streak in the regular season to the Bruins. In fact, dating back to Boston’s five-game series win in 2013, it was the Rangers’ first victory in regulation against them 3/4/12- a 4-3 home win. That’s how long it’s been since they defeated the Bruins in 60 minutes. Their other wins came in overtime and a shootout. To say this was important for team psyche would be accurate.

They did it by outskating the Bruins with superior team speed and world class skill. As usual, Rick Nash was front and center scoring another breathtaking goal 5:50 in on a breakaway. His league-leading 32nd was a beauty. After Kevin Klein cleared the zone, Martin St. Louis made a perfect outlet sending the Hart Trophy candidate in on Tuukka Rask. Nash patiently waited before deking and tucking a sweet backhand in.

For a good portion of the first, the Rangers dominated with their speed. They were the better team outshooting the Bruins 10-2. Only Rask prevented further damage robbing Carl Hagelin, who was set up perfectly by budding rookie Kevin Hayes. The 2013-14 Vezina winner kept his team in it.

The Bruins were able to capitalize on two glaring mistakes from struggling top tandem Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi. On the first one, Alain Vigneault kept his fourth line out against Boston’s top unit. The end result was David Krejci and Reilly Smith combining to set up Milan Lucic for his 11th evening the score at 13:37. Even though the fourth line was victimized, it fell on Girardi and McDonagh who didn’t take Lucic. Lately, this has been a common occurrence.

Further illustrating it, Loui Eriksson took advantage of a St. Louis giveaway blowing through the neutral zone and setting up a wide open Patrice Bergeron for an easy finish past Cam Talbot giving Boston a 2-1 lead with 4:31 left. Again, it was the inability of McDonagh and Girardi to take Bergeron leaving too much of a gap. At some point, Vigneault must break them up. The Rangers are winning in spite of them. Even though they’ve won three in a row, they won’t go anywhere until our captain and Danny G straighten out.

Despite a bad finish to the period, they were able to respond with a strong second outscoring the Bruins 2-0. Getting back to their greatest asset, the Rangers pushed the pace. Able to take advantage of their slower more deliberate foe, they turned the game around.

One of the keys was Mats Zuccarello. Since Vigneault switched lines, he’s been more noticeable. On a line with Derick Brassard and Chris Kreider, a good forecheck from Zuccarello allowed Kreider to recover a puck and feed an open Brassard in the slot for his 13th evening the score at 6:41. It was Brassard’s first goal in six. With an assist, that extended Zuccarello’s point streak to three (1-3-4). Kreider also extended his to four with a goal and three helpers.

The Bruins came back with some chances of their own but were thwarted by Talbot. In for an injured Henrik Lundqvist, who’s day-to-day with a neck injury, he was solid making 18 saves. About what you’d expect from one of the NHL’s best backups. Even though he wasn’t peppered, Talbot made timely stops allowing the Rangers to counter.

One of those quick counters led to the game-winner. On a rush started by Girardi, Nash gained the zone drawing defenders before passing for an open Derek Stepan, whose wrist shot from the left circle beat Rask at 16:56. A pretty passing play completed by the team’s number one center. When Stepan hits the score sheet, it’s usually a good sign.

There weren’t many penalties. Each side had two power plays with the Bruins given one big opportunity early in the third when Carl Hagelin off for a slash. Despite several good looks, they were unable to cash in. Partially due to hustling Blueshirts who got out to block shots or intercept passes.

The Rangers had their own chance when Dougie Hamilton went off for interference. But they also couldn’t increase their lead despite some close calls. Notably St. Louis who might’ve grazed the post.

For the most part, they protected the one-goal lead well defending solidly. The Bruins got one dangerous scoring chance on a point shot with traffic but a sharp Talbot kicked it out. One of the differences in the win was Boston was unable to get to rebounds and crash the crease. That’s always been part of their strategy against us. The Rangers did a good job boxing out.

With under a minute left, someone missed an empty net. I forget who. It might’ve been Brassard. Thankfully, there were only 24 seconds left and the Rangers defended perfectly to preserve the win.

NY Puck 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Chris Kreider, NYR (assist, 2 SOG, 4 hits, +1 in 18:09-another strong game)

2nd Star-Derick Brassard, NYR (goal-13th of season, 5 shot attempts, 3 hits, +1 in 18:22-very active)

1st Star-Rick Nash, NYR (league-leading 32nd, assist, 4 SOG, +1 in 15:41-MVP caliber)

Notes: Rangers improved to 19-6-0 when Nash scores a goal. … Bruins dominated faceoffs winning 30 of 45 (67 percent). Bergeron went 17 for 23. Hayes was the Rangers’ best winning 5 of 9. … Rangers outhit the Bruins 34-26 led by Jesper Fast’s seven. Chris Kelly paced the B’s with seven. … The Original Six rivals combined for 38 blocked shots with the Bruins holding the slight edge 20-18 led by Adam McQuaid’s five. Kevin Klein blocked four the New York.

… Rangers (30-15-4) are up to 64 points but remain third in division. They trail the Islanders by one and the Penguins by two. Pittsburgh moved back into first with a 2-0 win over Edmonton. … They are off the next two days before a big weekend back-to-back with a visit at Nashville Saturday and back home for Dallas Sunday. Nice schedule. 😛