BOSTON — Less than a week removed from getting swept on the road, the Rangers rebounded with a two-game sweep of their own.
The Blueshirts took advantage of two banged up Eastern Conference opponents this week, pulling one out over the Hurricanes on Wednesday before trouncing the Bruins, 6-2, Friday afternoon at TD Garden to extend their winning streak to three games.
Both clubs — but especially the Bruins, who were without David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, Pavel Zacha and Matej Blümel — may have been seriously hampered, but these were a notable pair of victories against teams toward the top of the conference.
If they weren’t able to best these teams in their current states, it would’ve been a damning reflection on the Rangers.
“Any time you go into two tough buildings and get wins, doesn’t really matter who you’re facing,” said Carson Soucy, whose bullet one-timer in the first period gave the Rangers their first 2-0 lead going into the first intermission of the season. “Everyone’s kind of facing some injuries, obviously, with the shortened schedule. Just big going into two buildings and getting two wins.”
The Rangers celebrate a goal during their Nov. 28 win over the Bruins. NHLI via Getty Images
While the 4-2 win in Raleigh, N.C. was more of a challenge, the Rangers dominated a Bruins lineup that could have been deployed in an exhibition game. Boston couldn’t even get on the board until early in the third period, when Casey Mittelstadt tapped one in through some net-front chaos.
One minute and 42 seconds later, however, Morgan Geekie got a stick on a Henri Jokiharju shot off a Bruins faceoff win to cut the Rangers’ lead to two.
Artemi Panarin attempts a shot during the Rangers’ Nov. 28 win against the Bruins. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
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The Bruins upped their game in the final frame as the Rangers laid back a bit, but the visitors were able to clamp down. Alexis Lafreniere scored an empty-net goal before Vladislav Gavrikov deflected a Vincent Trocheck shot for the four-goal lead.
“We were controlling in the beginning, but after second period, we still lost our focus,” Artemi Panarin said after his four-point effort (one goal, three assists). “Can’t happen.”
Breaking the game open in the second period, the Rangers dumped 17 shots on Bruins goalie Joonas Korpisalo while limiting the home team to just five.
A couple of Bruins high-sticking penalties, including a double minor on Hampus Lindholm, opened the door for the Rangers to pad their lead. They did not let the opportunity pass them by.
Mika Zibanejad scored two power-play goals — 45 seconds apart — to give his team a 4-0 lead going into the second intermission.
“The power play, obviously, was the difference maker in the game,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “But, I thought after [they outplayed us early in the second period], we responded. It happened a couple of times in the game, beginning of the third, everything we talked about in between periods, we tried to set out to do. We really didn’t. And that was playing a simplified game and playing straight ahead and making them have to go 200 feet to work to get their scoring chances. That’s the challenge when you get up with a four-goal lead going into the third period.
“You’re almost guarding against human nature where you want to exhale and you can’t in today’s game. … I thought after they scored, we started to respond again and started to play the game that we wanted to play.”