On Thursday night, if the New York Rangers want to make moves in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy, they’ll have to take down the League’s best in Boston.
The Boston Bruins lead the NHL with 97 points and have won three straight. Additionally, the B’s are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, so the Blueshirts will need put forth a complete 60 minute effort to come out on top.
In Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at the Madison Square Garden, it appeared the Rangers ran eased up in the second period and it cost them the game. The same thing happened the previous week in a loss to the Lightning in Tampa, where they gave up four unanswered goals in the third period.
New York’s schedule has been brutal in March, and when you couple that with recent injuries on the blue-line, it just makes things tougher. Ryan Lindgren is out for a few weeks due to a lower-body injury sustained Sunday against the Islanders and captain Jacob Trouba is still sidelined for at least one-two weeks with a lower-body injury of his own. However, energetic forward Matt Rempe is done serving his four-game suspension for elbowing Devils’ defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler in the head and should be back in the lineup versus Boston.
“We’ve talked to Matt about a whole bunch of things, from the staged fighting he was doing at the beginning to hitting and clean hits,” head coach Laviolette explained. “It’s nice to have him back and available. You just watch him out there today and you see his speed and size and the way he handles puck … but make no mistake, he’s got to play his game, too.”
Rempe, 21, has a team-high 54 penalty minutes in just 10 NHL games to go along with a goal and an assist.
Here’s today’s game and broadcast info:
New York Rangers (45-20-4) vs Boston Bruins (41-14-15)
Date/Time: March 21, 2024 @ 7:00 PM ET
Arena: TD Garden
TV: MSG2
Radio: ESPN 1050 AM
Note: Subject to change, updated for each game
Related: Matt Rempe is sorry for reckless hit
New York Rangers projected lineup
Here’s the expected lineup:
Kreider – Zibanejad – Roslovic
Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Cuylle – Wennberg – Kakko
Vesey – Goodrow – Rempe
Gustafsson – Fox
Miller – Schneider
Jones – Ruhwedel
Quick
Shesterkin
Update: The New York Rangers extras will hold a 11:30 a.m. ET skate at TD Garden. Head coach Peter Laviolette will address the media at 4:40 p.m. ET. Check back for updates.
New York Rangers vs Boston Bruins
The Rangers lead in the Metropolitan Division is down to just two points (94 points) over the second-place Carolina Hurricanes (92 points), who host the third-place Philadelphia Flyers (78 points) on Thursday.
Regarding the race for the Presidents’ Trophy, coach Laviolette isn’t overly concerned with winning first overall in the League.
“If you’re asking me if we want to win the game, we sure do,” he said. “If that leads to us being first overall, then that’s the way it played out. We don’t talk about it. We talk about winning games and collecting points.”
This is the final meeting between these two Original Six franchises this season. The Rangers have won the previous two contests 7-4 on home (11/25) and 2-1 in OT at TD Garden (12/16).
Upcoming Rangers Milestones
- Chris Kreider is 2 goals away from 300 in his career
- Peter Laviolette is 1 game away from 1500 coached in his career
- Jonathan Quick is 1 win away from tying Ryan Miller (391) for most wins by an American-born goalie and 15th all-time
