There were points when I really didn’t think we’d be here. I didn’t think game previews would matter because everything would have been canceled. There were moments when I thought NHL hockey in 2013 (at least) was a mere fantasy. In fact, I told myself that it wasn’t going to happen simply because I didn’t want to get my hopes up, only to be crushed later.
But here we are, on Jan. 19, and we’re talking about hockey. Man, that feels good. And what better way to kick it all of than with a good ole’ New York vs. Boston Saturday night showdown?
In one of two Original Six matchups on the docket today, the Rangers’ first trip to Boston this year brings us a meeting of last season’s No. 1 (New York) and No. 2 (Boston) clubs in the Eastern Conference, without much really changing for either side.
Well, except for the addition of that 6-foot-4 fella on the Rangers’ top-line. Winning the
Rick Nash sweepstakes, the former embattled Columbus Blue Jackets captain dons a Ranger jersey for the first time tonight, and with good company. Skating top-line minutes for
John Tortorella’s incredibly deep Rangers club, the seven-time 30-goal scorer will find himself on a top-six already featuring
Brad Richards and the speedy
Marian Gaborik, two players that combined for 66 goals on their own last season.
While the Rangers’ top trio will be facing a heavy dose of
Zdeno Chara and
Johnny Boychuk tonight, the focus on the B’s blue-line comes with the NHL debut of the Bruins’ ninth overall pick from 2011,
Dougie Hamilton.
Arriving to Boston after a junior career that’s included 40 goals and 187 points in just 213 games, the 6-foot-5 blue-liner’s transition to the NHL won’t come without a proverbial safety net (he’ll skate with the B’s second-best defensemen,
Dennis Seidenberg), but it’s not something B’s coach
Claude Julien considered mandatory.
“What he’s got to do is gain some experience. That will only come time, so I think we all know that he’s got the size, we all know he can move the puck well, we all know he skates well, we all know he’s got great hockey sense. So, where is his weakness? I don’t think he has a weakness,” Julien said of Hamilton this morning. "The only weakness that he has is his lack of experience and we’ve got to allow him to get that. We like where he is, we like what he’s brought so far. You’ve seen lots of guys come into the league the same way he has and do well and we expect him to be that guy.”
This will be just one of three meetings against the New York Rangers this year, and that may be a benefit to a Boston club that went 1-2-1 against the Blueshirts last year.
The Masked Men: Henrik Lundqvist vs. Tuukka Rask
If not for what’s surely created some rust on the pads, tonight’s contest between the B’s and Rangers would be good for maybe a combined two goals. That’s how well both of these goaltenders have played against the opposition.
For Boston, the
Tim Thomas era has all but officially finished, paving the way for
Tuukka Rask to seize the starting job for now and the foreseeable future. In a shortened season that’ll see Rask make starter money (inked to a one-year, $3.5 million deal this past summer), it begins with a showdown against the New York Rangers, a team he’s beaten in two of six meetings. But don’t let the 2-3-1 record against the Blueshirts fool you, as the 25-year-old Rask boasts a .939 save-percentage and 1.86 goals-against-average in those six contests, and will look to make a statement and silence the doubters from the onset.
Teams have sponsors, this much is clear; The official soft drink of the so-and-so, the preferred taxi service of whatever, and the number one choice for player-x’s home restoration needs.
Well, consider
Henrik Lundqvist the official nightmare of the Boston Bruins.
The defending Vezina winner and considerable candidate for the Hart Trophy in a 48-game season, Lundqvist has been an absolute monster in his career on Broadway, and will look to continue his pure dominance of a Boston club that’s been completely unable to solve him. In 27 career games! Entering tonight with a 19-6-2 record against the B’s in his career, Lundqvist’s .947 save-percentage against Boston should be enough to sell you, but just in case you needed more: Lundqvist’s visits to the TD Garden have come with a 1.20 goals-against-average and even better .961 save-percentage.
Yes, I agree, he’s not human.
X-Factor (Gon’ Give It To Ya)
The importance of a fast start for the Bruins’
David Krejci cannot be stated enough.
Centering the club’s first line with notorious slow-starter
Milan Lucic and
Nathan Horton (who hasn’t played in a competitive NHL contest in almost a full calendar year), Krejci will
have to be the straw that stirs the line’s drink. This may be a tall task for a 26-year-old that’s recorded just one goal and six points in 19 career games against New York and has just a goal and two assists in the last four season openers, but Krejci’s (newly found) ability to shoot the puck may end up being the Bruins’ biggest asset tonight. Setting a career-high in goals last year with 23, and lighting the lamp 16 times in just 24 games with Pardubice HC of the Czech League during the lockout, Krejci’s simply going to have to trust his shot more, and well, actually shoot it more.
Not a superstar talent, and not even on the Rangers’ top-line, the natural goal-scoring progression of
Ryan Callahan has flown completely under everybody’s radar. Scoring 23 goals in 2010-11, a four-goal increase from the year before, and then 29 last year, a six-goal increase from the year before, Captain Callahan’s skills with the puck should be on display if given the opportunity tonight. Given the Rangers’ aforementioned top-heavy first line, which will be matched up against the Bruins’ top d-pairing all game long, Callahan will likely have the chance to expose the flaw in the Boston defense, which rests with the 19-year-old
Dougie Hamilton’s inexperience.
Working in the Rochester, N.Y native’s favor is a strong 2011-12 season that saw chime in with two goals and an assist in just three games against the Bruins.
Stats to impress your friends and provide water-bubbler conversation
- The Bruins were 18-0-0 last year, 19-0-0 if you count the playoffs, when third-line center
Chris Kelly scored a goal.
-
Milan Lucic has just one goal in 18 career games against the Rangers.
- Captain
Zdeno Chara had 11 assists in 20 games against Atlantic Division opponents last year.
-
Brad Richards had seven goals and 10 assists in 17 Saturday games last year.
- New York had a 26-3-3 record last season when
Michael Del Zotto had at least one point.
- Rick Nash has zero goals and zero points in four career games at the TD Garden.
Everything else...
Expect
Chris Bourque to skate on the Kelly line on the opposite wing of
Rich Peverley. Bourque had a goal and two assists in the Bruins’ intersquad scrimmage earlier this week. Outside of that, expect the lines from 2011-12 to be the norm for Boston tonight.
Forward
Jay Pandolfo, still with the club on a professional tryout, winger
Lane MacDermid, and defensemen
David Warsofsky will be the healthy scratches for the Black-and-Gold. New York will sit
Steve Eminger,
Matt Gilroy, and
Arron Asham tonight.
Injured forward
Jordan Caron skated on his own following the Bruins’ morning skate this morning. There’s no set timetable for his return, but expect it to be ‘a few weeks.’
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