Rangers Vs. Bruins: Did You Know Kevin And Jimmy Hayes Are Brothers?

- It might have been ugly for long stretches, it might have looked bleak at the end of the second but the Rangers found a way to win a game they desperately needed to. The Rangers got annihilated in possession (although won the possession battle in the third period) and got out-chanced like crazy. A horrible second period skewed most of those numbers, but it doesn't matter in the end.

- Henrik Lundqvist let one bad goal in (he has to have that, period) and then slammed the door the rest of the game. After the (Jimmy) Hayes goal I thought Lundqvist looked a little shaky, but whatever it was faded quickly. He made a ridiculous skate save to keep the game 1-1 and played very well in the game's dying minutes when the Rangers collapsed to protect the late lead. It was ugly, but they won.

- The possession figures were ugly almost across the board. Dan Boyle led the way with a -16, followed by Rick Nash's -15, then Marc Staal's -14 and then Jayson Megna's -10 -- that was the end of the double digit numbers, thankfully. Some of it was because of that second period when Alain Vigneault had to adjust to the Dan Girardi injury, but it does tell some stories I'll outline below.

- The Megna top-six experiment should probably end now. I don't care if you want to play him, but it can't come at the expense of Oscar Lindberg. Vigneault really should be giving those minutes to Chris Kreider, J.T. Miller, Emerson Etem or even Lindberg. You know, guys who are going to be on the team for a lot longer than a few weeks. That was, I thought, one of Miller's better games. And he got over 17 minutes of ice time and finished the match as one of the Rangers few positive possession players with a +3. He is growing and getting better. That's good for the Rangers.

- Staal and Boyle were thrown into the fire a little when Girardi went down and both of them didn't fare well. Staal has been struggling most of the year, and Boyle isn't used to getting top-paring assignments. However, neither of them really did any worse with the assignment than Girardi himself has so it is what it is.

- Speaking of Girardi. No one wants to see anyone get hurt. Period. Don't be one of those people (if you are, since I doubt many here would be). However, if he is injured it is simply a fact the team should get better when Dylan McIlrath takes his place. And if Vigneault really forces an injured Girardi back into the lineup rather than playing a guy who has started to flourish this year, well ... let's hope we don't get there.

- Derick Brassard hangs around the net and scores a huge goal. That's a big moment in the game, obviously, because it seemed to remind the Rangers they were allowed to actually play hockey. However, that goal never happens (or even comes close to happening) without the magician that is Mats Zuccarello. That was some play to get him the puck.

- And, of course, Keith Yandle continuing to come up huge. It was his shot Jesper Fast so brilliantly deflected into the back of the net for the late game-winning goal. Yandle -- who is seeing less power play TOI per game than he ever has in his career -- is on pace for 45 points this year. That's a hell of a total for someone who is getting the power play scraps and makes his living off special teams. Sad that it's at that point, too. Hopefully with the Girardi injury Vigneault rests Ryan McDonagh a little and allows Yandle to handle those 1PP minutes.

- By the way, McDonagh was a +12 corsi in a game when the Rangers got shelled. That's really good to see.

- So the Rangers bounced back, came back and won a big game. I think it might be good for morale to be honest, since things probably got a little dicey after they blew the lead against Washington, but this had to feel good.

- Did you guys know the Hayes brothers were brothers?