Rangers dismantle Bruins as puck finally bounces their way

It was only a matter of time. The Rangers were due an offensive outburst, and boy did they get one tonight. This game started off going back and forth, but the Rangers really did control the action from puck drop. But it was the second goal of the game that showed the Rangers were finally going to get some puck luck. After that, the floodgates opened as the Rangers crushed the Bruins.

While the depth players continued to contribute, it was the big guns that blew it open. Chris Kreider, Adam Fox, Alexis Lafreniere, Ryan Strome (goal, two assists!), and Pavel Buchnevich all had strong games. Mika Zibanejad played well too, but he was, yet again, snake bitten. The dude could offer his entire salary and still not be able to buy a goal this season.

Rangers 1, Bruins 0 – Excuse me that’s a goal!

Julien Gauthier, when he’s on, he’s on. Gauthier and Ryan Lindgren created this, as Lindgren forced the turnover in the neutral zone, springing Gauthier to enter the zone. He tried to cut to the net on the initial rush, but was cut off. Instead he used his strength to shield the puck and maintain possession. He circled back and just rifled a wrister that Tuukka Rask didn’t see with Phil Di Giuseppe in front. It was in and out so fast that Sam thought it went off the post. But excuse me, that’s a goal.

Rangers 2, Bruins 0 – Thy luck, she is changing

The Bruins hit the crossbar, and then it wound up in their net. Chris Kreider powered out of the defensive zone and dished to Alexis Lafreniere at the entry to the offensive zone. Then what sauce from Laf to Ryan Strome. Easy finish. The Bruins completely forgot about Strome over the Royal Road.

Rangers 2, Bruins 1 – Missed hit

https://twitter.com/hayyyshayyy/status/1365469460669337602

Brendan Smith went for the big hit on Patrice Bergeron and whiffed completely. The Bruins outnumbered the Rangers, then it was just a nice passing play. If you’re going for a hit, you can’t take yourself out of position.

Rangers 3, Bruins 1 – Colin Blackwell is something else

https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1365478386429214721

A clean faceoff win meant the Rangers could set it up on the powerplay from the get-go.

Watched the replay finally, and boy was I wrong on that. The Rangers actually lost this clean, but Blackwell got in to force the turnover and give the Rangers time. He then got back to the high slot.

Colin Blackwell set up in the high slot on the 1-3-1, and was basically untouched. Adam Fox’s shot from the point was deflected by Blackwell.

Rangers 4, Bruins 1 – Rask lets in a softy

Puck luck, she is-a-changin for the Rangers. There’s no reason for Chris Kreider to score from this angle. But kudos to him for muscling the Bruins off the puck behind the net to create his own luck.

Rangers 5, Bruins 1 – Adam Fox. Good at hockey

A little give and go from Fox and Buchnevich here. Adam Fox is a wizard with the puck, but credit Buchnevich for getting behind the Bruins defense here. John More and Jakub Zboril just let him skate by. What a pass from Fox.

Rangers 6, Bruins 1 – Johnny Bravo

There is no real breakdown here by the Bruins. This is Kevin Rooney with a good pass to Jonny Brodzinski, and a great effort by the latter for the diving goal. If you drive the net, you score. That’s two in a row where they drove the net and scored.

Rangers 6, Bruins 2 – The Rat

https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1365487443210891264

The Rangers had some rough luck, as the dump in hit the linesman. The Bruins turned it, and then a pass over the Royal Road to David Pastrnak shifted attention to the weak side. Georgiev thought he had Pastrnak’s shot, but the puck sat there in front of him, and Brad Marchand was untouched to tap it in. Fox tried to lift his stick in advance, but Marchand still beat him to it.

Shot Heatmap – This is what you want to see

There are few things better than a dominating game. This was one of them. The Rangers really brought it for their fans tonight. A lot of quality and quantity from them tonight, although they did allow a lot of quantity the other way. But they dominated this game, no doubt about it.

Skater Results – Good and fun

A whole lotta good and fun, which checks out. The Rangers were excellent tonight. Very little to complain about tonight. The Rangers and Bruins exchanged shot attempts, but only one team got quality too.

It was only a matter of time before the Rangers puck luck changed, and this offensive outburst was certainly evidence of that. This was a huge game for the Rangers, if just to show that they won’t always run into a hot goalie. They torched Rask for six goals, and they get the Bruins again on Sunday afternoon.

Charts from Evolving-Hockey and NaturalStatTrick.