It was good Black Friday for the Rangers in Boston. They defeated the Bruins 6-2 in an NHL On TNT exclusive this afternoon to win their their straight game.

Artemi Panarin led the way with a four-point game. After scoring the first goal of the game, he set up three more to put the Rangers up 4-0 through two periods. That included two primary assists on a pair of Mika Zibanejad power-play goals, which were nearly identical in the second period.

After Will Cuylle stole the puck to set up Panarin’s eighth at 3:28, the Rangers took early control against the shorthanded Bruins, who played without David Pastrnak, Pavel Zacha, and Charlie McAvoy. They also opted to start backup Joonas Korpisalo and save starter Jeremy Swayman for Saturday when they take on the Red Wings.

It was the Rangers who carried most of the play in a strong first period that saw them score twice. The second goal came from Carson Soucy. He finished off a play started by Panarin. Vincent Trocheck made a nice feed to set up a quick Soucy blast that beat Korpisalo top shelf for a 2-0 lead with 7:58 left.

Before the period concluded, with Cuylle off for tripping Hampus Lindholm, the Bruins came very close to making it a one-goal game. But leading finisher Morgan Geekie fanned on a shot with a wide open net. Geekie would miss on another chance in the second period when the Bruins were coming on.

Over six minutes into the second, Noah Laba was caught with a high hit from Mason Lohrei. After he made a drop pass, Lohrei leveled him with a high shoulder that caught his head to send him down. It could’ve been called a penalty. Laba was able to get up and go back to the locker room without any assistance. He had to be checked by a concussion spotter to see if he was okay. Fortunately, he returned to the bench before the end of the period.

A strong shift from the fourth line swung the period in the Rangers’ favor. The trio of Sam Carrick, Adam Edstrom, and Taylor Raddysh did a good job tiring out the Bruins’ defense on the forecheck. After forcing Korpisalo to make a couple of tough saves, they were able to make a full change for the Panarin line. A quick transition didn’t allow the Boston to change. Eventually, that led to Trocheck drawing a penalty on Marat Khusnutdinov. It was ruled high-sticking, but the replay showed that he accidentally caught Trocheck with the thumb sending his head back.

Korpisalo made three strong stops to keep the Bruins in it temporarily. After denying Zibanejad, he robbed both Cuylle and Jonny Brodzinski on the doorstep. With time winding down on the penalty, Lindholm got his stick up on Brodzinski to draw blood behind the net. The four officials got together and made the appropriate call for a high-sticking double minor, which put the Rangers on a 5-on-3 advantage for six seconds.

On it, J.T. Miller won a key offensive draw back to Adam Fox. He and Panarin combined to set up Zibanejad, who was able to beat Korpisalo from a tough angle to the short side to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead at 14:22 just as the two-man advantage expired.

Still on a two-minute power play, it was again the combination of Fox and Panarin who set up Zibanejad in the left circle for a one-timer that made it 4-0 only 45 seconds later.

By the time the period concluded, the Bruins heard boos from the hometown crowd after getting outshot 17-5. They changed the boos to cheers at the start of the third period.

Boston played much more aggressively in the third. They constantly had the puck in the Rangers’ zone, applying pressure. On an Elias Lindholm shot that took a funny hop, Casey Mittelstadt put in the rebound to make it 4-1 at 4:07.

Urged on by the crowd, who suddenly were awake, the Bruins kept coming in waves. When Shesterkin made another stop in which his team suddenly looked like they stopped playing, head coach Mike Sullivan had seen enough, and called timeout. He was very animated at the bench with some choice words. It got their attention, but it didn’t come right away.

On the ensuing faceoff, Lindholm beat Trocheck to get the puck back for an Henri Jokiharju shot that Geekie somehow redirected with one hand past Shesterkin to suddenly make it a 4-2 game with 14:11 remaining.

For a while, it looked like the Bruins would come all the way back. Despite an edge in play, they didn’t create enough high quality chances to beat Shesterkin anymore. The Rangers bent, but didn’t break.

Eventually, with Korpisalo lifted for an extra attacker, Alexis Lafreniere scored an empty netter with 3:24 left in regulation. Scott Morrow picked up the lone assist for his first point as a Ranger. He came over as part of the K’Andre Miller sign and trade with Carolina. Hopefully, Morrow will continue to progress. He was back in the lineup after a paper transaction that saw the Rangers remain cap compliant by recalling Connor Mackey for a game. Will Borgen missed another game. Morrow paired up with Matthew Robertson while Braden Schneider moved up to work with Soucy.

With the game out of reach, Vladislav Gavrikov deflected a Trocheck shot for his fourth with 2:58 left. It gave him five points (2-3-5) in the last four games. Aside from being a shutdown defenseman, he’s provided offense while logging over 23 minutes a night. The more he plays, the better he looks. So far, so good for the Rangers’ top free agent signing.

It was a light day for Shesterkin, who only had to make 19 saves on 21 shots to pick up his 10th win. When asked before the game if Dylan Garand could make his Broadway debut, Sullivan was undecided about tomorrow’s matinee against the Lightning, who have been red hot climbing up to the East’s top spot. Perhaps Shesterkin will get the second game due to the lighter workload.

After hosting Tampa Bay tomorrow to end November, the Rangers don’t play again until next Tuesday against the Stars at Madison Square Garden.

Fox Picks Apples

With three more assists today, Fox continues to pick up apples. He has a five-game point streak, with all nine points assists. He’s up to 25 points (3-22-25) in 26 games. That ranks second among all NHL defensemen, trailing only Avalanche world beater Cale Makar (9-22-31).