The Rangers played the best team in their division and came away with a point. They did so thanks to their 4th line and in spite of the fact Artemi Panarin was extremely limited due to a lower-body injury.
Rangers vs Bruins: Panarin hurting
New York outshot Boston 35-32 but had a hard time beating Rask who stopped point blank chances and several breakaways. In particular, he gave Mika Zibanejad fits on a night David Quinn called “his best of the season.
However, more concerning for the Rangers was their leading scorer Artemi Panarin visibly uncomfortable and moving gingerly from the second period on.
He stayed in the game, but coach David Quinn used him sparingly in the third period and dubbed it a lower-body injury. He finished the contest with just 15:34 of TOI and played just 3 shifts for 2:36 in the final period.
It remains to be seen if he will play Friday against the Bruins. Last year he suffered a similar injury and missed one game.
Rangers 4th line got it done
While the Rangers top players were being robbed by Tuukka Rask left and right, their 4th line picked up the team. New York put 35 shots on net but probably passed up 20 more, including Pavel Buchnevich’s poor choice to pass in OT rather than take the open shot. That led to a chip out and breakaway winner by Brad Marchand.
Julien Gauthier got the Rangers on the board first with a simple hard-nosed play. After the KZB lined over-passed on the shift prior resulting in turning high danger chances into low ones, Gauthier converted from in front off a hard forecheck by Brendan Lemieux.
Then in the third period, they tied it up on a simple deflection of a point shot with traffic in front. This time it was Kevin Rooney who tapped in an easy goal past Rask. Not pretty, just effective. The top guys need to learn this.
If you were wondering how effective they’ve been, those three players have picked up a point in 4 of the last 5 games and combined for 5 goals in that span.
David Quinn Post Game Presser
David Quinn commented that he was “pissed off at himself” for not playing the 4th line more and noted that he really likes the way Julien Gauthier played the last three games.
As far a Artemi Panarin, he called it an LBI and said that he seemed “OK” after the third period. More to come today or tomorrow on the matter.
Post Game Notes
- The Blueshirts have earned at least one point in five of the last six games, dating back to Jan. 28 at Buffalo.
- New York was 2-for-2 (4:00) on the penalty kill in tonight’s contest, held Boston to only three shots on goal over the Bruins’ two power play opportunities, and also recorded three shots on goal while shorthanded.
- Brendan Lemieux tied single-game career-highs with two assists and two points, was credited with three hits, and posted a plus-one rating.
- Kevin Rooney tallied a goal, tied for the game-high (and led the Rangers) with five hits, and posted a plus-two rating. He has recorded a point in four of the last five games (three goals, one assist over the span).
- K’Andre Miller was credited with four hits and registered three shots on goal in 22:40 of ice time. He has logged at least 19:58 of ice time in each of the last six games and in eight of the last nine contests.
- Kaapo Kakko tied for the game-high (and led the Rangers) with two takeaways while skating in a single-game season-high 19:21 of ice time.
Rangers have a day off today. Their next game is on Friday, Feb. 12 vs. Boston (7:00 p.m. ET – TV: MSG+).
Post Game Notes courtesy NYR
Bob McKenzie’s update on Tony DeAngelo
Teams are talking with both the Rangers and DeAngelo’s agent, here’s the latest.
