Game 42.Bruins at Rangers.
The Rangers begin the second half of their season tonight.
This is the first meeting since the Black Friday game in Boston, in which Matt Beleskey’s late hit broke Derek Stepan’s ribs.
Also in that game, Brad Marchand and Claude Julien accused Henrik Lundqvist of “acting” which was followed by Alain Vigneault’s classic lines about Julien needing to get his eyes checked, and asking who you’d rather have as a son, Marchand or Lundqvist.
The Bruins are 1-2-1 in their last four, 2-5-1 in seven. They are somehow 12-3-3 on the road, 1-0-1 on this four-game trip so far.
Dylan McIlrath, who exacted some revenge on Beleskey after the hit on Stepan, will be scratched tonight. Chris Kreider, who missed the last two with a lacerated hand, returns to the lineup, so Oscar Lindberg comes out … (don’t ask, I don’t understand it either).
Kevin Klein is expected to slide up to the first defense pair with Ryan McDonagh, while Dan Girardi plays with Keith Yandle. Antti Raanta, who missed practice Sunday with back spasms, is expected to back up Lundqvist.
The Rangers have taken baby steps in their attempt to climb out of their December swoon, going 3-2-1 in their last six, including Saturday’s 4-3 OT loss to unstoppable Washington, a game that was 5.7 seconds away from being a magnificent comeback win in regulation, and two golden chances by Rick Nash and Derek Stepan from being an OT win.
That said, the Rangers made enough glaring errors to cost them that win and turn it into a tough loss, while their game continued to improve.
Tonight’s probable lineup:
Miller-Brassard-Zuccarello.
Nash-Stepan-Megna.
Kreider-Hayes-Fast.
Glass-Moore-Stalberg.
McDonagh-Klein.
Staal-Boyle.
Yandle-Girardi.
Lundqvist/Raanta.
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