The Boston Bruins preached on establishing a strong opening 20 minutes heading into their Black Friday matchup with the New York Rangers at TD Garden. There’s a good reason for that.
Bruce Cassidy’s squad, despite carrying a five-game win streak for their Original Six matchup, had to scratch their way to a come-from-behind victory after coming out flat in three of their previous four tilts.
Yet, despite establishing a handful of quality shifts in the first few minutes, the Bruins found themselves in a familiar spot. In a nearly 12-minute span, Pavel Buchenevich beat a stickless Jaroslav Halak late in the first period and Filip Chytil capitalized on a Danton Heinen turnover to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead early in the middle stanza.