Playing a Saturday matinee in Ottawa against the Senators today, hometown kid Dan Boyle helped the New York Rangers to a 2-1 victory.
New York Rangers 2 (13-2-2, 28 pts)
Ottawa Senators 1 (8-5-4, 20 pts)
Final, Shootout – Full Game Box Score
Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
By Robby Sabo
At this point, if you thought New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault could turn water into gold, you might be able to convince me. Whatever he does, or touches, simply turns up roses for his Blueshirts.
Today, in Ottawa, he used one of the last guys you’d think of as the third shooter in the shootout to secure a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators. It was Dan Boyle, the guy who’s often been scratched for Dylan McIlrath, Vigneault pointed to after Mats Zuccarello.
Bobby Ryan began the shootout with a five-hold goal on Henrik Lundqvist. Rick Nash then proceeded to miss on one of his famed dekes. The King then stopped the next two he faced as Zuccarello buried one past Craig Anderson to tie the shootout score at one apiece.
In spite of all the head-scratching and yelling at the TV Rangers fans exhibited everywhere once they saw who the third shooter was, all Boyle did was bury the game winner in his hometown.
Vigneault once again came up roses. He used the struggling and aging Boyle in a win-win situation. If he failed here, the Rangers would still be alive to shoot another shot. But if he succeeded, it could galvanize an already tight group even further.
Getting to the shootout today was an adventure in itself.
Chris Kreider was the headliner. Not only was he the only goal scorer for the Blueshirts on the afternoon – a power-play goal in the first period (his third of the season) – but he immediately challenged Zack Smith after he went high on Derek Stepan’s head.
Though Kreider received 17-total penalty minutes on the play, a clear message was sent.
Lundqvist was stout once again. He stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced in the game. He even came up huge during a wild 3-on-3 overtime (despite a couple of posts overall).
With the win, New York now has staked a claim to the most points in the NHL with 28, tied with the Montreal Canadiens. They’ve won eight straight and will look to make it nine tomorrow night against the Toronto Maple Leafs at The Garden.
RECAP: #NYR run win streak to eight with 2-1 shootout victory in Ottawa: https://t.co/wmUxxawj0a pic.twitter.com/gf36zP8Ugr
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 14, 2015
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