The Boston Bruins played one of their better games of late on Saturday when they dominated the New York Rangers and then followed it up with another strong home performance.
The Rangers bounced back from their rough showing at Boston by pulling off a rare third-period comeback.
Now, two teams vying for one of the two wild-card spots in a jammed Eastern Conference will face off for the third time this season Wednesday night when the Bruins visit the Rangers.
The teams split the first two encounters with starkly different results. The Rangers earned a 2-1 home win on Jan. 2 by scoring twice in the first period, however, but the Bruins rolled to a 6-3 victory behind two power-play goals and a hat trick from David Pastrnak in their game on Saturday.
Pastrnak has 10 goals in his past 11 games and 24 points in an 11-game points streak.
Boston is 7-3-1 over its past 11 games since dropping six straight (0-5-1) from Dec. 31-Jan 9. The Bruins have scored at least three goals seven times in that span and are attempting to win three straight for the second time this season.
The Bruins are heading to New York after defenseman Charlie McAvoy and forward Trent Frederic scored in the second period to support a 35-save shutout from Jeremy Swayman in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over the Minnesota Wild. McAvoy also scored Saturday and has two goals in three games since missing over two weeks due to injury.
“Everyone’s fighting for points and it’s our job to rise to the occasion and make sure we’re getting important points down the stretch,” Swayman said.
The Rangers also are attempting to build momentum after following up their 10-game points streak (7-0-3) by getting outscored 15-7 in a three-game losing skid.
New York bounced back from its ugly showing by rallying for three goals in the third period of a 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.
New York is taking the ice after J.T. Miller practiced for the first time since returning to the team in Friday’s trade with the Vancouver Canucks. Miller set up power-play goals by Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin during the comeback.
“You can see that he’s a great player,” Panarin said of Miller. “He actually goes pretty hard on the forecheck, battles hard in front of the net, so it’s really important for our team.”
Miller will be in a lineup that is missing Adam Edstrom for at least 2 1/2 months due to a lower-body injury after getting hurt on Saturday. Edstrom played in every game until the injury and was part of an improving fourth line that will now include Jimmy Vesey for the time being.
“It’s his size, it’s his physicality, it’s his speed,” New York coach Peter Laviolette told reporters after Tuesday’s practice about Edstrom. “You take that out, you’re going to miss it, but it’s a great opportunity for anybody else who steps into the lineup.”
–Field Level Media
