SECOND INTERMISSION
SCORE
NYR - 2
BOS - 2
SHOTS
NYR - 21
BOS - 24
It's 2-2 after two at TD Garden where the Bruins and Rangers are all knotted up.
New York opened the scoring 1:31 into the middle frame just nine seconds after a Bruins power play expired. Joe Corvo got caught deep in the offensive zone. New York rushed the puck up the ice and Callahan -- fresh out of the box -- beat Rask to make it 1-0.
Boston responded less than three minutes later. David Krejci found a rushing Andy Ference in the slot. The B's d-man scored his second goal in as many games when he beat Henrik Lundqvist with a backhander.
At the 14:30 mark, the Rangers regained the lead. A puck popped out to Marian Gaborik, who promptly sniped his 24th of the season to make it 2-1.
With 49 ticks to go, Boston tied things up once again. Adam McQuaid got the puck and came in below the dot. His shot deflected off Boyle, who was attempting to make a block, and over Lundqvist's shoulder to make it 2-2.
Mike Rupp and Shawn Thornton dropped the gloves in the opening minute of the period. With a wealth of lefthanded jabs and a few heavy rights, we'll give the Rangers forward the decision -- even if Thornton did get the takedown.
FIRST INTERMISSION
SCORE
NYR - 0
BOS - 0
SHOTS
NYR - 8
BOS - 8
Twenty minutes are in the books at TD Garden where the Bruins and Rangers are scoreless.
It was a highly entertaining and quite physical first period between the two clubs fighting for first place in the conference, kick-started by a jolting hit on the opening shift by Brian Boyle (Hingham, Mass.) on Brad Marchand.
All in all, New York held a 14-5 edge in hits in the opening frame.
Boston had two-plus power plays in the first period and will begin the second on the man advantage. It took until literally the final second of play for the B's to put a shot on goal during 5-on-4 play.
That, of course, shouldn't come as much of a surprise against a Rangers club that ranks third in the NHL at 87.0 percent on the penalty kill. New York gave the Bruins zero time to make plays in the offensive zone and had two shorthanded odd-man rushes.
The B's best chances came early in the period. Boston had the Blueshirts hemmed in for nearly all of the first three minutes after the opening faceoff.
PREGAME NOTES
Here are today's pregame notes (courtesy of the Boston Bruins):
STARTING GOALTENDERS: Rask (11-4-1, 1.61 GAA, .946 Save %)
vs.
Lundqvist (20-10-4, 1.93 GAA, .936 Save %). Rask is 2-3-0
with a 1.62
GAA and .946 Save % with one shutout in five career games
against New
York, and he currently leads the league in goals against
average and
save percentage. Lundqvist is 16-5-2 with a 1.50 GAA and
.947 Save %
with five shutouts in 23 career games against
Boston.
108 AND COUNTING: Entering today’s game, the Bruins
have sold out
their last 108 home games at the TD Garden, including
regular season and
playoffs.
BRUINS WHITE HOUSE VISIT UPDATE: On Monday, January 23rd,
President
Obama will welcome the six-time Stanley Cup Champion Boston
Bruins to
the White House to honor the team and their 2011 Stanley Cup
victory. In
addition to the full roster, coaching staff, management and
ownership,
three other members of last year’s Cup winning team
are expected to be
in attendance as Mark Recchi, Shane Hnidy, and Tomas Kaberle
will be
making the trip.
ALL-STAR UPDATE: Coaching assignments for the National
Hockey League's
mid-season showcase were announced by the NHL on Friday:
Head coach
Claude Julien and his assistants (Doug Houda, Doug Jarvis
and Geoff
Ward) were assigned to Team Chara -- captained by Zdeno
Chara. Head
coaches John Tortorella of the New York Rangers and Todd
McLellan of the
San Jose Sharks will guide Team Alfredsson, which is headed
by forward
Daniel Alfredsson of the All-Star host Ottawa
Senators.
Chara and Alfredsson were selected as captains by their
fellow NHL
All-Stars. Chara’s alternate captain will be
Toronto’s Joffrey Lupul
while Alfredsson will be assisted by Henrik
Lundqvist.
SAVVY’S SUITE: Since Thursday, January 12 and
continuing through the
end of the 2013-14 Bruins season, B’s forward Marc
Savard will host a
luxury suite at the TD Garden for pediatric patients at
Children’s
Hospital Boston with a focus on children suffering from the
effects of
head trauma from both a medical and psychological
standpoint. Savard
held a press conference this morning for the first time
since February
7, 2011, when he and the team announced he would not be
returning for
the 2011-12 season.