The NY Rangers rode two beautiful goals, one from Oscar Lindberg, en route to a well-deserved 2-1 road victory over the Bruins.
- New York Rangers 2 (41-21-2, 84 pts)
- Boston Bruins 1 (33-25-6, 72 pts)
- NHL, East, Final, Box Score
- TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Through two periods of a scoreless game, the beaten-up and oft-injured (recently) New York Rangers couldn’t generate much. The home Boston Bruins executed their tough style of pounding the opponent into submission.
The third period, however, was when skill and talent took hold of the night.
Both Pavel Buchnevich and Oscar Lindberg tallied beauties, accounting for the first two goals in the game and everything the Rangers needed to upend the Bruins by a final of 2-1.
Buchnevich’s came at the 5:10 mark of the third, a short-side shot that beat Tuukka Rask with Rick Nash in front of the net:
What a SHOT by the youngster. Pavel Buchnevich goes short side. 1-0 #NYR in the third. pic.twitter.com/Rhdx4qMitq
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) March 3, 2017
Then, unexpectedly, just 4:25 later, Oscar Lindberg, New York’s fourth-line center who’s quietly blossoming in front of our very eyes, put up one of the prettiest goals of the NHL season:
What a beauty this was. If Oscar Lindberg is ever a healthy scratch again, I give up. 2-0 #NYR pic.twitter.com/zJp0l5QmXo
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) March 3, 2017
Brad Marchand collected his 29th goal of the season with 7:04 to go in regulation, but it wasn’t enough for Boston.
Henrik Lundqvist was stellar all night long. Playing goal for a team that was outshot 33-21 in total, the birthday boy stopped 32 shots to collect his 403rd career victory, tying him for 10th on the all-time list with the great Grant Fuhr.
Alain Vigneault‘s squad played without Kevin Klein, Dan Girardi, Jesper Fast (who’s now out 2-3 weeks) and Michael Grabner (who was a late scratch). Still, they were able to knock off a hot Boston squad on the road.
Newly-acquired Brendan Smith looked comfortable in front of Lundqvist and immediately proved his worth as the toughest D-man in the locker room.
The Rangers will now fly home in preparation for a Saturday night game in Manhattan against the tough Montreal Canadiens.
9 saves for @HLundqvist30 in the first including this one! #NYR pic.twitter.com/SxW2Sni7kL
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 3, 2017
New #NYR @bssmith7 warming up! pic.twitter.com/uX8ZcuCxgN
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 2, 2017
Happy Birthday Henrik!!! ?? pic.twitter.com/1j2wHh1mwB
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 2, 2017
