Led by Artemi Panarin’s four-point game, the visiting New York Rangers scored two goals in each period to hold off the Boston Bruins for a 6-2 win on Friday afternoon.
Panarin registered one goal and three assists, while Mika Zibanejad netted two power-play goals in a 45-second span in the second period to extend New York’s lead to 4-0.
Vladislav Gavrikov, Carson Soucy and Alexis Lafreniere each scored a goal while Adam Fox (three) and Vincent Trocheck (two) had multiple assists for New York, which has won three straight since a four-game skid and improved to 11-4-1 on the road this season.
Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin stopped 19 of the 21 shots he faced.
Casey Mittelstadt and Morgan Geekie scored goals and Joonas Korpisalo made 30 saves for Boston, which played without leading forwards David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha due to day-to-day injuries.
The Rangers needed just 3:28 to open the scoring and went 6:43 without allowing a shot. Panarin highlighted New York’s fast start with the 1-0 goal, taking Will Cuylle’s cross-ice pass off a neutral-zone turnover and burying a wrist shot while coming down the right circle.
After a potential tying goal was waived off due to goaltender interference, Soucy doubled the visitors’ lead at 12:02. Trocheck banked a pass off the left boards to the defenseman at the top of the circle, where a one-time shot sailed in glove-side.
After Boston had an opening power play killed early in the second, Shesterkin made a great save after Geekie set up Alex Steeves coming down on an odd-man rush at 3:14.
Korpisalo matched his counterpart during a New York man advantage with 5:55 left in the period, extending to make back-to-back pad saves on Cuylle and Jonny Brodzinski.
However, Boston defenseman Hampus Lindholm’s high-sticking double minor allowed Zibanejad to net a pair of quick-fire goals that gave the Rangers a 4-0 lead entering the second intermission. Panarin and Fox set up both tallies.
An offensive-zone draw set the table for Zibanejad’s first goal — a one-timer from a tight angle on the right side — at 14:22. The follow-up tally was nearly identical, with Zibanejad going across the grain from the circle to beat Korpisalo off a Panarin feed 45 seconds later.
Mittlestadt returned from a nine-game injury absence and got Boston on the scoreboard with 15:53 left, banging home a loose puck in the blue paint off Elias Lindholm’s initial shot from the high slot.
The Bruins continued to battle and trimmed their deficit 1:42 later, as Geekie deflected home Henri Jokiharju’s point shot past Shesterkin from the slot.
The visitors closed the game strong, getting an empty-netter from Lafreniere at 16:36 before Gavrikov added an insurance tally with the tip of a Trocheck shot from the high slot at 17:02.
–Field Level Media
