BOSTON, MA – The New York Rangers shutout the Boston Bruins 4-0 on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden. Goalie Keith Kinkaid earned his first win as a member of the Rangers by stopping all 18 shots. Kinkaid carried over 34:44 minutes of scoreless hockey after coming on in relief on Thursday’s loss to Boston.
K’Andre Miller fired a wrist shot from the blue line past Jaroslav Halak (29 saves) at 3:06 of the first to give the visiting Rangers the early 1-0 lead. Pavel Buchnevich and Mika Zibanejad assisted the defenseman’s second of the year.
The Rangers and Bruins traded power play opportunities throughout the period, but neither team could capitalize on the man advantages. Halak had numerous stops to keep the game close. One on rookie Alexis Lafreniere as Anders Bjork’s High-Sticking penalty was expiring. The other stopping Buchnevich at the top of the crease near the end of the period.
Chris Kreider extended the Rangers lead at 5:42 of the second when he roofed a Zibanejad pass past Halak. Zibanejad floated a pass past defenseman Jakub Zboril, and Kreider buried it for his 14th goal of the season.
Ryan Strome made it 3-0 when he rifled an Artemi Panarin pass past Halak at 8:03. Colin Blackwell got the play going in the neutral zone when he avoided a check, carried into the Bruins zone, and fired a shot on Halak. The rebound fell to Panarin, and he dished it to Strome for his 10th of the year.
Buchnevich made it 4-0 at 16:12. Bruins forward Chris Wagner lost the puck behind the net to Chris Kreider. Kreider hit Buchnevich in the slot, and the Russian forward beat Halak near-side for his eighth of the season.
“I don’t think you can put it on one thing,” said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. “It’s not an easy answer, I guess. I think it’s a combination of a lot of different things. I think we’re going to struggle when our top line is off. I think it showed that they weren’t in sync. The power play wasn’t in sync.”
Cassidy was displeased by his team’s performance and did not hold back.
“Probably the most disappointing thing about today is our complete lack of effort and pushback,” added Cassidy.
“We were well down the alphabet on the A and B tonight,” said Cassidy when asked about the team not bringing their A or B game.
Boston (14-7-4) travels to Pittsburgh (16-9-1) for back-to-back games against the Penguins Monday and Tuesday at 7 pm. The Rangers (11-12-3) head to Philadelphia (13-8-3) for Monday (7 pm) and Wednesday (7:30 pm) night showdowns against the Flyers.
