Game preview: Boston Bruins @ New York Rangers

November 1, 12:28 AMBoston Bruins ExaminerMark Marino

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The Boston Bruins certainly saved their best for last—last day of the month that is—with a 2-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers yesterday afternoon at the TD Garden. With the win, the B's are now 4-4-0 on home ice, and 6-5-1 overall (13 points) for eighth in the Eastern Conference.

Tuukka Rask made all 19 saves for his first shutout of the season, and has improved his 2009-10 resume to 2-1-1 with a .915 save-percentage and 2.41 goals-against average.

"I think that was the best game of the year for us," said Rask.

Fresh off a dominant victory, the Bruins travel to Madison Square Garden to face the fourth-place Rangers at 1pm. Boston has seven points in their last five games, and are seeking their first back-to-back consecutive wins of the season. The New York Rangers Examiner, Rob Cristino, wrote a great piece about the Rangers mini-slump as of late that is definitely worth checking out, here.

After having a seven game win streak snapped, the Rangers have now lost five of their last six games. It all started with a poorly contested 7-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks, and since then, has spiraled into a tough stretch.

As of Oct. 27, Gaborik has missed two-straight games with an undisclosed lower-body injury...“It is disappointing, but I can’t do anything about it,” Gaborik said to Gross about missing his first game back in Minnesota. “I’m trying to push myself to have a good feel, but it’s not there…I think I’m on the right track.”

“It doesn't feel great, but it feels better, Gaborik claimed. “It's not that serious. I have to make sure I do the right thing and treat and take it day by day.”

The Bruins and Rangers squared-off four times last season, with the Bruins edging out the Blue Shirts 2-1-1, with an even-scoring-split in regulation time of 7-7. The B's tandem of Tim Thomas and Tuukka Rask backstopped Boston to a 2-0-1 record against New York (one loss to Manny Fernandez)—both being shutout victories. Rask: 35 saves on Jan. 31 and Thomas 31 saves on Apr. 4. Timmy and Tuukka combined for 95 saves on 97 shots for a .979 save-percentage against the Rangers in those three games.

Derek Morris—last season in New York—registered his first point as a Ranger, against the B's, with a power play assist in the 4-3 Rangers triumph on Mar. 8.

Home Team: Boston Bruins (6-5-1)

Who's hot:

As I sat in my seat in Loge 15 of the TD Garden during the last 30 seconds of the second period yesterday afternoon, I couldn't help but to think of this line as "Who to watch" and/or "What to watch for" in this preview. Watching the onslaught of shots, digging for rebounds in front of Edmonton net-minder Nikolai Khabibulin, and the relentless puck-possession, the Bruins' third-line of Paille, Sobotka, and Wheeler was the best line of the afternoon. As they finished the 60-minutes of action in the 2-0 victory, all three players accounted for six points.

Who's not:

Marco Sturm has extended his goal-less streak to nine games, while Michael Ryder remains point-less in his last four. Sturm created a near breakaway with his speed down the left-wing towards the end of the second period, but sailed the puck high over The Bulin Wall. But with an all-around great win yesterday, it's hard to pin-point and nit-pick. Heck, even Matt Hunwick had a good game. However, the Bruins went 0-2 on the power play, now making it 1-14 on the man advantage, including one short-handed goal against, in the last four games.

What to watch for:

Penalties: The Bruins have been short-handed 11 times in the last five games and have a 100-percent penalty kill in that span--including 17 of their last 19 (89.5%). Steve Begin (1:42) and Daniel Paille (1:13) have been playing well together on the penalty kill and are a big reason for the recent success with the man-down.

The third-line of Daniel Paille—Vladimir Sobotka—Blake Wheeler will be the line to watch today. The only three players with points yesterday, the trio certainly gelled while registering just 10-11 minutes of ice-time. They saw no time on the power play yesterday, but with their recent display of offensive tenacity, that may change. We'll see if this chemistry and momentum can carry over today at Madison Square Garden.

Who to watch for:

Bruins Claude Julien had some motivating words about team captain, Zdeno Chara on Friday after practice: "could be better". Well, not only was Chara's play better in yesterday's game, but it was arguably his best outing of the season thus far. The reigning Norris Trophy winner registered eight of the Bruins' 28 hits (could have been more) and completely shut down Oilers leading scorer, Dustin Penner, to just two shots on Rask.

If it weren't for No. 33 yesterday, Tuukka Rask would have been in for a long day with many more Edmonton scoring chances.

Unsung/Under the radar player to watch

Brad Marchand: I know, I know, the same as yesterday's "under the radar player to watch". And yes, I know, Marchand hasn't notched a point since his debut in Boston (five games ago), but it's what he does without the puck that even more impressive. He finds a way to get open in the slot, opening-up the ice, and creating chances by being a nuisance in front of the opposing goaltender.

Line combinations and D pairings

Marco Sturm—David Krejci—Mark Recchi
Brad Marchand—Patrice Bergeron—Michael Ryder
Daniel Paille—Vladimir Sobotka—Blake Wheeler
Shawn Thornton—Steve Begin—Byron Bitz
 

Zdeno Chara—Derek Morris
Andrew Ference—Dennis Wideman
Matt Hunwick—Mark Stuart

Tim Thomas/Tuukka Rask

Along with Rangers Examiner, Rob Cristino, check out Andrew Gross over at Ranger Rants for all your Ranger info, as well as last-minute news.

Andrew Gross: (10/31/09) With the Rangers convinced that at least one of their three injured players - Marian Gaborik (right knee), Christopher Higgins (left foot), Sean Avery (right knee) - will be available tomorrow against the Bruins, they have just re-assigned P.A. Parenteau to Hartford (AHL).

Crowded Ice: (10/31/09) The Rangers, who have typically carried 20 or 21 under John Tortorella, had 23 on the ice today with Marian Gaborik (right knee), Christopher Higgins (left foot) and Sean Avery (right knee) all on the ice and P.A. Parenteau and Dane Byers still up from Hartford (AHL).

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For more in-depth Bruins info, check out Matt Kalman's blog and on ESPNBoston.com