Saturday is the first meeting between the two Eastern Conference teams which sit two points apart in the league standings.
The Boston Bruins are right back at it Saturday with a 1p.m. start time against the New York Rangers following their 5-2 loss against the Detroit Red Wings Friday afternoon at TD Garden.
Separated by two points in the standings, Saturday’s matinee matchup at Madison Square will be a benchmark conference game for the Bruins and Rangers who have both gotten off to hot starts in the 2023-24 season.
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery was not happy with a majority of his team’s performance against Detrioit, and said the B’s regular standard of execution was just not there in all three zones. The loss dropped Boston to a 14-2-3 record.
Danton Heinen and Jake DeBrusk were the sole goal scorers Friday.
DeBrusk, who was skating on the third line with Matt Poitras and the newly-returned Morgan Geekie, netted his second tally in as many games after going the first 16 games of the season with six points (one goal, five assists). Heinen moved up to the second line with Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic in the absence of James van Riemsdyk who sat out for maintenance due to the heavy schedule.
Ian Mitchell played with Derek Forbort on the backend instead of Kevin Shattenkirk, and the top two pairs of Hampus Lindholm-Brandon Carlo and Mason Lohrei-Charlie McAvoy remained intact. Jeremy Swayman got the start and posted 24 saves against Detroit, and Linus Ullmark is expected to start against the Rangers.
The Bruins have yet to lose two consecutive games this season and will look to bounce back on the road Saturday.
The Rangers are also playing back-to-back following their 1p.m. game Friday in Philadelphia against the Flyers in which they won 3-1 and improved to a 14-3-1 record.
Five Things to Know about the Rangers
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Puck drop is set for 1 p.m. at Madison Square Garden, and The Hockey News will have full coverage.