On a night when the roaring cheers of their fans echoed through Madison Square Garden for the first time this season, when every hit was repeated by applause and every save received a standing ovation, the Rangers put on a show worthy of the 356. -day wait.
With the passionate reactions from behind the glass and the traditional “Potvin Sucks!” booing from Up in the Blue Seats (see what I did there?), the Bruins got a harsh reminder of what the home ice advantage feels like when the Rangers rolled over them in a dominant 6-2 win Friday night in front of 1,800 fans.
When the garden came to life, so did the Rangers.
It sounded like 20,000 [fans], not 2,000, ”said Adam Fox after the win, improving the Rangers to 7-8-3.
The game was opened wide when the Rangers scored three goals in the second half. Their highest-scoring performance of the season was the Rangers’ first win over Boston in three tries this season.
An irrefutable spirit, toughness and tenacity radiated in the game of the Rangers. And with every “Let’s Go Rangers!” singing that boomed, the Blueshirts’ will to win got stronger and stronger. It wasn’t the start of the season the team and fans wanted or expected, but the Rangers welcomed their loyal supporters back by skating Boston out of the Garden.
“I’m standing there during the national anthem, I had goosebumps and some energy that I haven’t had in a long time,” said Ryan Strome, whose second goal of the season, early in the second half, turned it into one. 2-0 game. “It’s been kind of a challenging time in the world for everyone, and I think 2000 people are having a night out and putting in a good performance was a good thing for New York.”
The Bruins remained competitive after Strome’s count when their captain, Patrice Bergeron, put them on the board 2 ¹ / ₂ minutes later. But Boston’s Brad Marchand – who got his own warm welcome at the Garden – was called up for high sticking, and Colin Blackwell fired a point shot from Fox at the power play to make it 3-1 at 6:52 PM for 4th Street. the Rangers. game with a man advantage count.
A no-look wrister from Chris Kreider with less than a minute left in the second, bowed to one of the Rangers’ most impressive periods of the season.
Pavel Buchnevich and Jonny Brodzinski, who have skated as Ranger in his second game since his call-up from the taxi crew on Wednesday, each scored a goal in the third to seal the deal.
[The Bruins] take that one [in the second] To make it 2-1, I thought they were coming, ”said head coach David Quinn. “We had a few lucky breaks on the penalty kill, we get the huge power play goal, and Kreids gets that goal right away. … I really liked our game tonight. “
Julien Gauthier registered his second NHL goal with a hard wrist shot from the left circle to make it 1-0 and ignite the first Rangers goal song since March 7, 2020 at 1:03 PM in the first period.
“You knew there would be fans in the building, but I don’t think any of us expected the impact they would have,” said Quinn. “They were incredibly loud and passionate. You can hear the number of people who might be here thinking, “That will be nice, but it won’t have that much of an impact.” They had an impact tonight. … We certainly look forward to the day when we can have this place full as it normally is. “
The Rangers seemed to be feeding on the noise and approval as they increased physicality in the first 20 minutes, outwitting the Bruins 17-8.
The fans had missed the action and the Rangers seemingly wanted to make up for lost time.