Rangers vs. Bruins: Patience, Fortitude Biggest Keys for Boston to Beat New York

For the better part of this NHL season, few teams, if any, have died harder than the New York Rangers. Just consider Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Biron, the only goaltending tandem with both members propping up a goals-against average below 2.00 and a save percentage exceeding .925 in 10 or more appearances.

Or for a more in-depth study, consult their shallow bushel of 12 regulation losses and the prevailing trends in those pointless endeavors. And then look at what is arguably a peerless assembly of physical prowess representing Broadway.

With Biron, Lundqvist and their brawny border patrollers, the Rangers are not put away easily, but it does tend to happen when the opposition hangs around persistently. There sits the inverse combination of strength and weakness the Boston Bruins must play to when these Eastern Conference titans convene at TD Garden Saturday afternoon.

Only once in their losing efforts have the Rangers conceded a multi-goal deficit before the first intermission. On four occasions, they have been tied either 0-0 or 1-1 at the 20-minute mark.

Conversely, in half of their dozen regulation falters, the Rangers have been outscored by two goals in the closing frame. When they have come up empty in the point column, they have entered the third period in a deadlock five times and trailed by a single goal another five.

Overall, while it is 18-0-2 when leading after 40 minutes, New York is 3-8-1 when trailing at that point and 8-4-1 when tied.

For the Bruins, this will likely be a time ripe for relying on third-period supremacy. Whether it happens deliberately or by default, reducing this to a mini-game ought to work to Boston’s advantage.

Attempting to scrape out a lead at any earlier point in this contest need not be eschewed by any means. But it should not be given the same initial priority as keeping the puck off the Rangers’ twigs and gradually draining their defensive skaters.

Saturday will pose a rare test to the Bruins’ physicality and willingness to engage. New York wingers Brian Boyle, Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky along with defenseman Dan Girardi all have more hits to their credit than Boston’s top checker, Milan Lucic.

In addition, Michael Del Zotto, Ryan McDonagh, Brandon Prust and Derek Stepan are not too shy about imposing their will either. They each boast a hit count of 70 or higher, putting them in the company of Johnny Boychuk, Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg, but no other Spoked-Bs.

In short, Blueshirts bench boss John Tortorella has a rolling supply of hitters akin to the way Boston coach Claude Julien tends to have a quantitative, qualitative strike force at his disposal. The Bruins game plan should thus emphasize intrepid puck pursuit, possession and movement around the attacking zone.

Boston’s blue line and backstop brigade is already sufficiently stocked to stymie Marion Gaborik, Brad Richards, Carl Hagelin, Callahan and Stepan. Julien’s objective should be to one-up Tortorella’s troops by sending at least three out of four feisty, fiery lines to, at the very least, set an early tone and ultimately follow through on the scoreboard.

As the full scope of their first 45 ventures will indicate, the Rangers have been their stingiest in the first period with a mere 25 goals against. They are their most explosive at the other end in the second period with 50 goals for. And they have outscored their opponents, 46-33, in the third.

The Bruins, however, have piled on a plus-37 rating in the closing stanza over their first 44 games.

Their own transcripts when trailing (4-8-1) or tied (5-5-0) through the second intermission are hardly glamorous. But provided they do not need to recompense a deficit, the Bruins will inevitably expose New York’s weak spot by the 40-minute mark.

It helps that Lundqvist, Saturday’s presumptive starter and an established Boston nemesis with a 16-5-0 lifetime record and five shutouts, is in a funk not unlike the one Tim Thomas snapped out of against New Jersey Thursday night.

Lundqvist is 1-3-0 in his last four appearances and has authorized at least three goals in each of those losses. He let a 1-0 deficit swell to 3-0 in a span of 95 seconds against Ottawa last Thursday, yielded a 4-1 loss to Montreal before Sunday night’s second intermission and conceded three unanswered strikes in the closing frame en route to a 4-1 falter versus Pittsburgh on Thursday.

The Bruins, meanwhile, are on the heels of comparably dismantling Martin Brodeur with a troika of tallies in the final stanza, including two in a span of 35 seconds. If they bar the Rangers from giving Lundqvist any cushions, Saturday could come down to simple battle pitting a hunger to continue this trend against a determination to cut it off.