Bruins Beat Rangers 4-3 On Late Goals By Krejci, Spooner
BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins struck for two late goals to capture their fifth straight win, edging the New York Rangers 4-3 on Friday afternoon.
Centers Ryan Spooner and David Krejci scored 2:03 apart late in the third period to rally the Bruins from behind after the Rangers had taken a 3-2 lead with 10:32 left.
STATS: Box Score
Spooner put a power-play rebound past goaltender Henrik Lundqvist for his first goal in seven games with 3:46 left -- Boston's second power-play goal in three attempts after going three games without one. Krejci then picked up a loose puck and slapped one from the middle point that appeared to hit a New York stick and deflect past Lundqvist with 1:43 remaining.
The win was also the third in a row at home for Boston (13-8-1 overall), the Bruins starting the season with one victory in their first nine home games. The Bruins are 5-0-1 in the last six games against the Rangers in Boston.
The Rangers, losing for the second straight game, allowing nine goals in the two games, fell to 16-5-2 on the season.
Center Patrice Bergeron and right winger Brett Connolly also scored for the Bruins, who got two assists from defenseman Torey Krug and 24 saves from goaltender Tuukka Rask in the win.
Center Oscar Lindberg, left winger Rick Nash (six goals in a four-game goals streak) and center J.T. Miller scored for the Rangers, Miller adding an assist -- but the Miller goal appeared to have been scored by defenseman Keith Yandle, whose shot hit Rask, hit the post and came back and went off Rask and in.
Lindberg and Nash, who both scored their eighth goals of the season, scored 3:05 apart in the second period.
Lundqvist, who had allowed two goals or less in 14 of his first 17 games, has been touched for the nine in the last two. He made 30 saves on Friday.
The Rangers lost second-line center Derek Stepan after Stepan took a heavy hit from Boston left winger Matt Beleskey. With Stepan down on the hard, clean hit, New York defenseman Dylan McIlrath started a fight with Beleskey. Stepan struggled to the bench after being attended to and played five more shifts in the second period but didn't return for the third.
Lundquist stopped center Joonas Kemppainen on a breakaway early after a giveaway by center Oscar Lindberg and also robbed left winger Loui Eriksson in tight before the Bruins scored the game's first goal. Bergeron won a faceoff and drew the puck back to Krug, whose shot was blocked but fell at Bergeron's feet. He beat a screened Lundqvist with his eighth of the season at 14:15 of the opening period.
Rask faced only seven shots in the first period but came up big on a flurry by Miller and Yandle, the rebound chance coming as Rask was losing his stick.
It then took the Rangers just 5:15 in the second period to take the lead.
NOTES: Just over 40 years ago, these two old rivals stunned the hockey world when the Bruins sent Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais to the Rangers for Brad Park and Jean Ratelle. ... Bruins D Kevan Miller missed his fifth straight game, his upper-body injury revealed to be a concussion. ... The Rangers had D Dan Boyle and LW Viktor Stahlberg as healthy scratches and have a total of only four manpower games lost to injury so far this season. ... The Rangers came into the game a league-leading plus-28 playing 5-on-5. ... This was a meeting of the Hayes brothers -- New York LW Kevin and Boston RW Jimmy. The latter assisted on the Bruins' second goal for his first point in 10 games. ... The Rangers host the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday night while the Bruins open a three-game road trip at Edmonton on Wednesday night.
