GOLD STAR: Milan Lucic led the way early in the first period with two goals in the opening 9:26 of the game, and brought the funk and the noise with three shots attempts and five registered hits in a more familiar performance. The first goal was Lucic going hard to the net, and having the presence of mind to redirect the puck with his skate blade after Henrik Lundqvist kicked out a Patrice Bergeron rebound directly to his feet. The second goal was a nice finish from the left wing after Ryan Spooner and Torey Krug worked the puck up the ice quickly, and gave the Bruins the burst that they needed. Lucic is such an important touchstone player for the Black and Gold, and Saturday was a prime example of why that’s the case.
BLACK EYE: Two shots on net and a minus-2 for Keith Yandle, who was actually on the ice for three goals against in a pretty rough return to Boston. Yandle has had some mediocre performances at his home TD Garden rink in the past, and it’s also been a bit of a difficult transition for him to a new system with new players in New York. He did pick up an assist late in the game, but some of his turnovers were cringe-worthy. The blind pass from behind the net to a waiting Max Talbot in the slot needed a life-saving stop from Henrik Lundqvist, and could have made things even more disastrous. It really comes down to his playoff performance for Yandle, but he was among a number of Rangers that struggled on Saturday afternoon.
TURNING POINT: The Bruins haven’t had a single 3-0 lead in a first period all season, but did it for the first time against the Rangers in their 75th game of the season. The game was essentially over when Carl Soderberg scored the third goal of the game for the B’s in the first period, and gave Boston the offensive cushion they’ve enjoyed so few times this season. It was a pretty even game from that point forward with the Rangers outscoring the B’s 2-1 in the final two periods, so it was all about the offensive burst in the opening 20 minutes that carried them to victory. It managed to stick even though Tuukka Rask had to pull himself from the game just 10 seconds into the second period.
HONORABLE MENTION: Reilly Smith only fired a single shot on net, but he made it a good one while snapping a 14-game goal-scoring drought and finished off a very good shift with an insurance goal that ended up being important. Both the pass to himself off the boards breaking the puck out of the zone and the willingness to go hard to the net for the rebound chance showed a bit of the old confidence from a player that’s struggled quite a bit this season. It was a game for struggling players to get off the missing list, and Soderberg, Smith and Lucic all factored heavily in the victory after being MIA far too often this season.
BY THE NUMBERS: 14 – the number of games that Reilly Smith had gone without a goal before netting one in the second period, and giving him his fourth goal since the start of January. A nice long, productive stretch for him would be good for both the player and the team.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “It’s never too late for guys to step up. It’s nice to see some of those guys come up big for us.” –Claude Julien, on Reilly Smith and Carl Soderberg breaking through offensively on Saturday against the Rangers.