Rangers vs. Bruins: Lineups, storylines eye payback for embarrassing loss
Too often during this disappointing season, the New York Rangers failed to start on time or play with a distinct sense of urgency. That shouldn’t be the case Monday night at Madison Square Garden, when the Rangers host the Boston Bruins.
If ever this season the Rangers should be fired up to face a specific opponent, it should be this game. Just 16 days ago, the Bruins embarrassed the Rangers 10-2 at TD Garden. In a season full of low points, this was their most lopsided and ugly defeat. So, you’d think that the Rangers will come with their best effort Monday.
Though the revenge angle is real, the bottom line is that this game is far more important to the Bruins than the Rangers. Boston (30-20-2) hold the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, and is one point behind the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres for third place in the competitive Atlantic Division.
The Rangers (21-25-6) are last in the East, and the only team in the conference with a points percentage (.462) below .500. Their goal differential (minus-23) is also worst in the conference, and they’ve only won five games on home ice, tied for fewest in the entire League.
Interestingly, the Rangers and Bruins were equally disappointing over the first three months of the season. Each was a fringe threat in the playoff race; the Bruins had 44 points through the end of December, one more than the Rangers (43).
Since the start of the new year, these Original Six rivals took divergent paths, however. The Bruins are 9-2-0 in January, highlighted by a six-game winning streak which included that romp over the Rangers. They come off a pair of hard-fought 4-3 wins over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday and Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
Conversely, the Rangers are 2-7-1 in January and lost eight of their past nine (1-7-1) entering play Monday. They were swept on a three-game California road trip last week, that ended with a 3-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Friday. Things are so bad that general manager Chris Dury publicly announced his intention to retool the Rangers roster 10 days ago.
Despite that horrific loss up in Boston, the Rangers have much recent success against the Bruins. They’ve won six of their past eight meetings against the Bruins, including 6-2 at TD Garden on Black Friday in late November.
3 storylines when Rangers host Bruins
1. Rangers must have ‘readiness from drop of the puck’
The past two games — and far too often this season — the Rangers simply don’t match the urgency of the opposition at the start of the first period. From coach Mike Sullivan to captain J.T. Miller on through the rest of the lineup, no one can pinpoint why the Rangers allowed 14 goals in the opening five minutes of a game this season, including seven times in the month of January.
After the Rangers allowed a pair in the opening 3:08 against the Sharks (after giving up one 18 seconds into the game against the Los Angeles Kings earlier in the week), Miller stressed that they were ready to play, but lacked the urgency that their opponent showed.
Sullivan was more pointed in his assessment.
“I think we have to have a readiness from the drop of the puck,” he said Friday. “Lately, we haven’t had the best starts, so I’ve got to do a better job preparing them for it.”
The Rangers are 5-20-4 when allowing the first goal and 4-12-3 when trailing after the first period. Though it should be pointed out that they scored first, shortly after puck drop, in what ended up to be that 10-2 loss in Boston. So, the Rangers are fragile no matter what, it’s safe to say.
2. Pasta is cooking
David Pastrnak is once again among the NHL scoring leaders, currently tied for sixth with 64 points (21 goals, 43 assists) in 47 games. The Bruins star forward has nine of those points (two goals, seven assists) during his current six-game point streak.
Pastrnak loves piling up points against the Rangers. He had a career-high six points (all assists) in that most recent game against the Rangers, after missing the first meeting the day after Thanksgiving with an injury.
In 38 games against the Rangers, Pastrnak has 18 goals and 46 points. The 29-year-old is three points shy of 900 in the NHL and his 897 points are one away from tying former Rangers forward Rick Middleton for sixth most in Bruins history.
3. Back to work after snow day
The Rangers didn’t hold a morning skate Monday with everyone still digging themselves out after the serious snowfall all day Sunday. Since they last played Friday, the Rangers traveled home from San Jose ahead of the storm.
The Bruins headed to New York immediately after their home game Saturday against the Canadiens. So there’s zero issue about them traveling on the day of the game.
Prior to the contest Monday, there’ll be another Centennial Celebration, featuring a pregame ceremony honoring the Legendary Blueshirts from 1991-94. Unfortunately, the Rangers Alumni Classic game, scheduled for Sunday at MSG, was postponed due to the storm.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Gabe Perreault — J.T. Miller — Mika Zibanejad
Artemi Panarin — Vincent Trocheck — Alexis Lafreniere
Brennan Othmann — Noah Laba — Will Cuylle
Anton Blidh — Sam Carrick — Taylor Raddysh
Vladislav Gavrikov — Braden Schneider
Carson Soucy — Will Borgen
Matthew Robertson — Scott Morrow
Jonathan Quick
Spencer Martin
Rangers vs. Bruins: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Boston Bruins
When: Monday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
How to watch: MSG
