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.
Nov 24, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Detroit Red Wings defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (41) knocks the puck away from Boston Bruins left wing Jake DeBrusk (74) during the third period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY SportsIan 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
- Following Friday’s victory over the Flyers, the Rangers have six wins in their last seven games and points in 13 of their last 14 games.
- The top line of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Blake Wheeler erupted for a combined six points Friday. Zibanejad – who previously had just two goals in 17 games – netted two even-strength goals against Philadelphia.
- Artemi Panarin leads New York in points with 26 (10 goals, 16 assists) while skating on the second line with Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere. Lafreniere has also found his groove on the right wing in his fourth NHL season with eight goals thus far.
- Igor Shesterkin is back from injury and started against the Flyers Friday. The goaltender has a 2.45 goals against average and .916 save percentage. Backup netminder Jonathan Quick has been a pleasant surprise for the Rangers, stepping up in seven games with a 1.68 GAA and .940 SV%.
- Star defenseman Adam Fox remains out for the Rangers after he was placed on long-term injured reserve earlier this month. Center Filip Chytil is also sidelined with an upper-body injury and recently started skating on his own.
Puck drop is set for 1 p.m. at Madison Square Garden, and The Hockey News will have full coverage.