“We’ve played some good teams over the last little while but we didn’t come out very strong today,” Geekie said. “But to be able to come back in the third and put together a solid performance and at the end of the day get the two points, that’s all that matters.”
Tonight’s contest is the third meeting between the two Original Six members, with the each team coming away with a lopsided win at TD Garden. The Rangers rolled to a 6-2 win in the Black Friday matinee, but are 8-14-4 since.
Get Starting Point
Included in the stretch was the 10-2 beatdown the Bruins handed them on Jan. 10. That marked the second game of a span in which the Bruins have won eight of nine to climb back into the playoff race, one point behind the Canadiens for the top wild card. The Rangers have plummeted to last place in the Eastern Conference.
Here is a preview.
When: Monday, 7 p.m.
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York
TV, radio: NESN, NHL Network, WBZ-FM 98.5
Line: Boston -120. O/U: 6.5.
BRUINS
Season record: 30-20-2. vs. spread: 34-18. Over/under: 29-22, 1 push
Last 10 games: 8-2-0. vs. spread: 7-3. Over/under: 6-3, 1 push
RANGERS
Season record: 21-25-6. vs. spread: 25-27. Over/under: 21-29, 2 pushes
Last 10 games: 2-7-1. vs. spread: 4-6. Over/under: 7-2, 1 push
TEAM STATISTICS
Goals scored: Boston 172, NY Rangers 137
Goals allowed: Boston 161, NY Rangers 162
Power play: Boston 27.6%, NY Rangers 22.8%
Penalty minutes: Boston 697, NY Rangers 394
Penalty kill: Boston 77.4%, NY Rangers 79.6%
Faceoffs won: Boston 51.8%, NY Rangers 54.7%
Stat of the day: The Bruins have the third-best power play in the league at 27.6 percent (42-for-152) and are 13-for-34 (38.2 percent) while winning 10 of their last 12 games, including 8-for-12 in their last five contests.
Notes: The Bruins left for New York after Saturday night’s win ahead of the storm and had a light practice at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. … It’s a short road trip for the Bruins, who will return to TD Garden for a pair of games this week, beginning with the Predators on Tuesday and the Flyers on Thursday. … David Pastrnak is 3 points shy of 900. … The Rangers gave up six straight goals in the previous meeting and have been outscored 45-25 while going 1-7-1 since a 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers at the Winter Classic. … They have dropped four straight home games and are 5-13-4 at Madison Square Garden after allowing the first six goals in an 8-4 loss to the Senators on Jan. 14. Two days after the team’s 13th loss by at least three goals, general manager Chris Drury announced he would seek to retool the roster, which could include trading pending free agent Artemi Panarin.
Material from Field Level Media was used in the report.
Follow Andrew Mahoney @GlobeMahoney.
