The New York Rangers and Boston Bruins met in Madison Square Garden last night for the first time in the young NHL season. The Bruins had a 2-0 lead the entire game, until the last 5 minutes when the Rangers scored twice to force overtime. In a game dominated by goal-tending it was inevitable that the game would end in a shootout. Both teams failed on their first three attempts, but on the fourth attempt NY was true. It was an incredible game and it made me start to believe that these two teams are the best in the Eastern! Conference.
We will start with the Rangers the current #1 team in the East with 28 points (13-5-2). It all begins between the pipes in the NHL, and the Rangers have one of the best in Henrik Lundqvist. The NY netminder is 11-4 with a 1.99 GAA and a .929 save %. These are very impressive numbers and for NY to continue to succeed Henrik will have to continue keeping the puck out of the net. Nikolai Zherdev has been a great pickup for the Rangers leading the way with 7 goals and 9 assists. Other n! ewcomer Markus Naslund has 6 goals and 8 assists. These guys ! will con tinue to be key after the losses of Jarmoir Jagr and Sean Avery last offseason. Chris Drury has been a great leader along with Scott Gomez. The NY Rangers are a team to be reckoned with once again thi
s season. However, I am not quite sold they are the East's elite quite yet.The Boston Bruins have certainly been one of the NHL's biggest surprises this season sitting at #2 in the Eastern Conference with 24 points (10-3-4). Boston is very young, but has a good mix of veterans comprising of Marc Savard, Zdeno Chara, Aaron Ward,! Stephane Yelle, and Patrice Bergeron. For the Bruins just as is true for the Rangers, it begins with the goalie. Tim Thomas has been kicking around in Boston for a while now and season after season their are low expectations for him. But, he always finds a way to win that starting job and hang on to it. Manny Fernandez a former star with Minnesota now seems cemented as Thomas' backup. Thomas is 6-2 this season with a 1.76 GAA and a .945 save %. The Bruins have a lot of youth, but youngsters Phil Kessel, Milan Lucic, Dennis Wideman, and rookie Blake Wheeler are budding superstars. Michael Ryder the biggest offseason pickup has been solid as well, helping Boston bolster a solid offense. This team is deep and hungry I expect the Bruins to contend in the Eastern Conference this season.
