Bruins, after break, return to action tonight at New York
Boston Bruins' Tuukka Rask (40) and Anton Blidh (81) celebrate after Friday's comeback win in Philadelphia. (AP photo)
The Comeback Kids, otherwise known as the Boston Bruins, are putting their three-game road winning streak on the line tonight.
The Bruins (8-1-2, first in the East Division) will visit the New York Rangers (4-5-2, eighth in the East Division) at 7 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers are 4-5-2 against the rest of their division. New York is 10th in the NHL with 32.2 shots per game and is averaging 2.6 goals.
The Bruins are 8-1-2 against opponents in the East Division. Boston averages 9.4 penalty minutes per game, the ninth-most in the NHL. Charlie McAvoy leads the team serving 10 total minutes.
The matchup Wednesday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams.
In their last three games, the Bruins have rallied from two two-goal deficits and trailed the Flyers 1-0 last Friday before winning 2-1.
“We’re just deep and have the belief in our room that we’re never out of the game,” Boston’s Brad Marchand said. “We almost seem to play a little better when we’re down. We know we can come back from any situation.”
Boston has more third-period goals (19) than all other periods and overtime combined (15).
“For us knowing we’re behind, knowing there are goals in that room, you don’t panic,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “You need good players and guys who are confident they can come back.”
Here’s a capsule preview of tonight’s game:
TOP PERFORMERS: K’Andre Miller leads the Rangers with a plus-seven in 11 games this season. Artemi Panarin has five goals and 10 assists over the last 10 games for New York.
Brad Marchand leads the Bruins with seven goals and has 15 points. Patrice Bergeron has 14 points over the last 10 games for Boston.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rangers: 4-4-2, averaging 2.9 goals, 4.6 assists, 3.6 penalties and 7.8 penalty minutes while giving up 2.5 goals per game with a .909 save percentage.
Bruins: 7-1-2, averaging 3.2 goals, 5.8 assists, 4.2 penalties and 9.3 penalty minutes while allowing 2.2 goals per game with a .907 save percentage.
INJURIES: Rangers: Justin Richards: out (health protocols), Colin Blackwell: out (upper body), Jack Johnson: day to day (lower body), Filip Chytil: out (upper body), Brendan Smith: day to day (upper body).
Bruins: Matt Grzelcyk: day to day (lower body), Ondrej Kase: day to day (upper body).


