Rangers Vs. Bruins: Vesey’s Two Goals Lift Rangers To Fifth Straight Win
The New York Rangers won their fifth straight game this evening, with a 4-2 victory over the injury riddled Boston Bruins. The Rangers have now vaulted their way back into the playoff picture overtaking the second wildcard spot.
With tonight’s game starting an hour later than normal, the Rangers clearly arrived to the game several minutes late with their struggles in the opening minutes. The Bruins were skating circles around the Rangers in their own end and came close to breaking through Henrik Lundqvist. However, the Bruins eventually broke down around the halfway mark with Pavel Buchnevich giving the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
Buchnevich absolutely smoked Zdeno Chara with a strong power move to the net and absolutely shelfed the puck over Tuukka Rask. The Bruins immediately responded 21 seconds later, though, as David Pastrnak cashed in off to the right of Henrik Lundqvist. Patrice Bergeron’s flubbed shot wound up deflecting off of the end boards and immediately bounce out to the front of the net.
Pastrnak collected the rebound before Lundqvist was able to react and slipped the puck under him to tie the game at 1-1. Jimmy Vesey was having none of it though, and scored a pair of goals within 29 seconds to double up the Rangers lead late in the period. The first goal resulted in the Rangers crashing the net and sticking with the puck as it bounced around the crease.
Right after Buchnevich was robbed of his second goal, Vesey tapped home the rebound. Vesey’s second goal came in similar fashion following a Kevin Shattenkirk point shot, and Vesey tapped the puck home after corralling it off to the side of the goal post. The Rangers kept their current 3-1 scoreline through 40 minutes, and while they didn’t score, they continued to pressure the Bruins in the offensive zone.
The Rangers best chance of the period came courtesy of Rick Nash, who absolutely danced around the Bruins and nearly scored with Mats Zuccarello in front. Patrice Bergeron made things interesting early in the third period after fighting off two Rangers in front, and buried the puck past Lundqvist.
Following a final barrage by the Bruins, the Rangers finally iced the game with less than 10 seconds remaining with a Rick Nash empty netter. The Rangers will have two scheduled off days before meeting up with the Edmonton Oilers at Madison Square Garden.
