After defeating the Philadelphia Flyers on Black Friday, the Rangers will face their toughest test of the season when they take on the league leading Boston Bruins (1:00PM on MSG). 

Previous Game

The Blueshirts are coming off a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday afternoon. Mika Zibanejad was at it again against the Flyers as he opened the scoring less than a minute into the game. The Blueshirts’ start got even better when Chris Kreider would intercept a pass from Travis Sanheim in the offensive zone and fire one past Carter Hart for an unassisted goal. At this point, the Rangers led 2-0 and they had not played two minutes.  Later in the second period, Zibanejad would add his second of the game on an odd-man rush with Blake Wheeler to extend the lead to three. 

Igor Shesterkin had a solid outing making 36 saves on 37 shots with the lone goal coming from Sean Couturier off a redirection on a shot by Nick Seeler. 

Rangers vs Bruins

With Shesterkin starting Friday afternoon, it is expected that head coach Peter Laviolette will turn to Jonathan Quick who has been stellar to start the season. Quick got the chance when Shesterkin was down with injury and he has played his way into the coach’s trust. The veteran netminder is 5-0-1 on the season with a .940 save percentage. 

The Bruins currently sit first in the league, but with a win in regulation, the Rangers will tie the Bruins on points and have a game in hand on Boston. These two teams currently have the top two point percentages in the league. Coming into Saturday, these are the top two teams in the league with first place on the line.

New York wasn’t the only team to play on Friday afternoon as Boston hosted Detroit in a 5-2 losing effort. Friday’s defeat was just the second time the Bruins tasted defeat in regulation time. 

Linus Ullmark is primed to get the start after Jeremy Swayman allowed four goals on 28 shots on Friday. Ullmark is 7-1-1 with a .932 save percentage on the season. 

The Bruins are coming off the greatest regular season of all time and they haven’t missed a beat as they reach the quarter mark of the new season. This includes the subtractions of two long-time great Bruins in Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci – both of whom decided to hang up the skates. They still have their big scoring threats in David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand. Pastrnak has 12 goals and 18 assists on the season – four more points than Artemi Panarin. But with the subtractions of Krejci and Bergeron, the Bruins are counting on their youth to help ease the pain of losing two key players.

One player who had an excellent preseason and played his way onto the team is Bruins center Matthew Poitras. The rookie center has nine points in 18 games as he currently operates on the team’s third line with Jake DeBrusk. John Beecher, a 2019 first-round-pick has cracked the roster and he operates the team’s fourth line. 

They are also finding points in veteran forwards Charlie Coyle and James Van Riemsdyk. Coyle has been given a larger role as the team’s second line center and he has 17 points on the season. His linemate Van Riemsdyk who signed a one year deal has 13. 

One reason for the Rangers success has been the play of forward Nick Bonino. Despite having just one point (an assist) on the season, the two-time Stanley Cup winner has been vital on defense including the penalty kill, faceoffs, and blocking shots. Bonino has 46 blocked shots on the season – the most by any forward in the league by 16. What seemed like an inauspicious signing in the summer, has turned into one of the best signings to start the season. The 35-year-old signed a one-year deal worth $800,000 in the offseason. He is currently filling in on the third line in Filip Chytil’s absence. 

Chytil has been out of the lineup since November 2nd with a concussion and he has resumed skating according to Laviolette. The Czech forward has played in just ten games this season with six points to his name. 

Adam Fox is still out of the lineup and is eligible to return next week. Fox joined the team on the road trip which is a good sign that he is progressing. Despite not having their top defenseman, the Rangers haven’t missed a beat in his absence. 

The bet of the night: The bet of the night is for Alexis Lafreniere to record over 1.5 shots on goal. The Blueshirts forward didn’t record any shots on Friday, but he has been over this in each of the previous eight games. Lafreniere will want to get back to shooting the puck after being held without one on Friday. At -166 odds, the $5 bet will pay $8.01 if it hits. 

Last bet: The last pick was for the Rangers 60-minute moneyline which hit. The $5 bet won $10.00 for a win of $5.00. 

Current record: 7-3

Current Money Total (Based on $5 bets) – We are up $37.15 on the season

Projected Lineup

Kreider-Zibanejad-Wheeler

Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere

Cuylle-Bonino-Kakko

Vesey-Goodrow-Pitlick

Trouba-Miller

Lindgren-Gustafsson

Jones-Schneider

Quick