Opening Faceoff: Rangers vs. Bruins 11/8/17

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When recently commenting about the Rangers recent play, Mika Zibanejad said their “[Confidence is] high, it should be,” and he’s right, it really should be.  Four games ago, the New York Rangers possessed a winning percentage of .300, their record was 3-7-2, and all hope was lost. Kreider was going to be traded and head coach Alain Vigneault was going to be fired. Now, the Rangers have climbed their way up to .500, with a record of 7-7-2, Chris Kreider has three points in his last four games and Alain Vigneault finally seems to have found the right line combinations.

Most recently, the Rangers beat their metropolitan division rivals, the Columbus Blue Jackets by a score of 5-3. The Blueshirts were losing 2-1 heading into the third period. Then, the Rangers scored three power-play goals to take a 4-3 lead, causing Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella to make this face:

Michael Grabner then scored to seal the win for the Rangers, the final score was 5-3.

The Boston Bruins have played well of late, most recently beating the Minnesota Wild, 5-3. The Bruins enter tonight’s matchup at 6-4-3, fifth in the Atlantic Division.

Keys to a Rangers victory:

Watch out for 88: When people see the number 88 on a hockey jersey, they think of Patrick Kane. Thankfully, the Rangers won’t have to think about Kane. Instead, they have to think about another scoring threat, David Pastrnak, who has matched Kane’s point total this season, putting up 14 points in 13 contests this season.

Score power play goals: The Rangers are now sixth in the NHL on the power play at 24.2 %, after an outburst against Columbus. The Rangers used their man-advantage chances to change the entire flow of the hockey game by cashing in on their opportunities. However, the Bruins come into this one ranked third in the NHL on the penalty kill at 86.5 %, so the Rangers will have a tough challenge ahead of them.

Battered Bruins: The Bruins have six injured players, including centers David Krejci, David Backes, Ryan Spooner, and Noel Acciari. Brad Marchand is also injured, leaving the Bruins forward group a bit lacking heading into MSG.

Puck drops at 8!

LETS GO RANGERS!!

I am a New York Rangers journalist, avid Blueshirt fan, and a long-time hockey player born and raised in... More about Noah Weiss

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