/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45991050/GettyImages-461598332.0.jpg)
Just the facts:
When: 1 PM (boooo afternoon games!)
Where: TD Garden
Watch/listen: NESN/NHL Network, 98.5 The Sports Hub
Rival site: Blueshirt Banter
Need to know:
The Rangers are the leaders of the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Montreal Canadiens. The Rangers became the first team to clinch a playoff spot when they beat Ottawa (soundly) on Thursday night, allowing the B's to tie Ottawa in points by virtue of that OT loss to the Ducks.
All signs point to Henrik Lundqvist playing in his first game since the beginning of February. The Rangers have done just fine in his absence, but getting an elite goalie back never hurts. Rick Nash continues to be near the top of the league in goals, currently sitting third with 39.
Hopefully the Rangers are resting on their laurels a bit. They just clinched, it's an afternoon game...take a little nap, Rangers. It's OK!
As far as the Bruins go, things shouldn't be much different from Thursday night. It seems unlikely that Niklas Svedberg gets the start. Paille and Ferlin will probably be the healthy scratches again. Claude will continue to play the fourth line forever and ever while The Lucic-Spooner-Pastrnak line rots on the bench.
Not that I'm bitter or anything.
Projected lines:
Rangers
Chris Kreider - Derek Stepan - Rick Nash
JT Miller - Derick Brassard - Mats Zuccarello
Carl Hagelin - Kevin Hayes - Jesper Fast
Tanner Glass - Dominic Moore - James Sheppard
Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Marc Staal - Dan Boyle
Keith Yandle - Matt Hunwick
Henrik Lundqvist
Cam Talbot
Bruins
Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - David Krejci
Milan Lucic - Ryan Spooner - David Pastrnak
Loui Eriksson - Carl Soderberg - Reilly Smith
Maxime Talbot - Gregory Campbell - Chris Kelly
Zdeno Chara - Adam McQuaid
Dennis Seidenberg - Matt Bartkowski
Zach Trotman - Torey Krug
Tuukka Rask
Niklas Svedberg
Never forget
Brad Marchand forever and ever.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QLBGj2i0Fb4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>