Recap: Bruins’ win streak at 10 with 4-2 win over Rangers

The Boston Bruins defeated the New York Rangers, 4-2, this afternoon at the TD Garden to sweep their season series against them.

The B’s extended their win streak to 10 games and sit on top of the standings with 103 points. Wild.

The Bruins keep finding ways to win, despite a slow start and being outshot, 26 to 24.

There was a lot to like in the win too — Charlie Coyle had a goal and assist. Tyler Bertuzzi registered a point in his debut AND Tomas Nosek added a big shorthanded goal.

Linus Ullmark made 22 saves in the win.

Here are the highlights!

First period:

The Bruins opened the scoring at 18:07 of the first period.

Trent Frederic found Bertuzzi behind the net. Bertuzzi quickly passed to Coyle out front where he put a quick shot past Igor Shesterkin’s stick. 1-0 Bruins.

Second period:

The Bruins took a two-goal lead 30 seconds into the second period with a shorthanded goal.

Coyle passed to Nosek skating towards the slot. Out front, Nosek shifted to his backhand to slide an in-close shot past Shesterkin’s left skate. 2-0 Bruins.

The Rangers bounced back at 7:03 of the second period on the power play.

Jacob Trouba’s shot from the point deflected off Alexis Lafreniere and into the net. 2-1 game.

Third period:

The Bruins regained their two-goal lead at 12:56 of the third period.

Brad Marchand circled behind the net to find Patrice Bergeron inside the right-wing circle, close to the inner hash marks, where he put a wrist shot top-shelf over Shesterkin’s blocker. 3-1 Bruins.

The Bruins cushioned their lead at 16:40 of the third period.

Charlie McAvoy slid the puck over to David Pastrnak in his office for a one-timer past Shesterkin. 4-1 Bruins.

The Rangers answered back at 18:34 of the third period.

From behind the net, Niko Mikkola passed the puck over to Lafreniere who skated with it to the outside hash marks of the right-wing circle where he threw a shot at Ullmark that beat his glove. Final score: 4-2 Bruins.

Game notes:

• The Bruins added another two points to extended their win streak to 10 games. It wasn’t the easiest to get there this afternoon as the Rangers dominated the shot clock through the first 40 minutes. The Bruins had a slower start than usual, but Head Coach Jim Montgomery felt that was because of the team playing six games in a short stretch of time. He says it will be good for the team to get some rest before playing again on Thursday.
• Bertuzzi made his Bruins debut and jumped right into things with Coyle and Frederic on the third line. He registered his first point as a Bruin on Coyle’s goal. Montgomery felt he fit in nicely with Coyle and Trent Frederic and that his play blended with theirs because he likes to forecheck. Montgomery said he thought Bertuzzi also didn’t try to force plays. Bertuzzi said he tried to keep his game simple.
• SCOC asked Bertuzzi how he was feeling after his first game with the Bruins. Bertuzzi joked, “Tired.” Bertuzzi followed up with: “I was off the ice for a little bit and got a little skate yesterday, but I felt not bad out there. It was good to just kind of get that one under my belt.”
• Montgomery said the team will continue to improve the power play. He’s not satisfied with its play right now and wants both units to get better. The Bruins went 0 for 3 on the man advantage this afternoon.
• On the other hand, Nosek added a slick shorthanded goal, and only 30 seconds into the period on top of that. The Bruins started the period with 1:53 left on Bertuzzi’s penalty, but Nosek, off a great set up by Coyle, gave the Bruins a confidence boost with a shorty after a low shot count in the first.
• Derek Forbort dropped the gloves with Jimmy Vesey in the first. It was proceeded by Garnet Hathaway going after Trouba after he didn’t like a hit he had on Nosek. It was a good sequence to see a new teammate join in to have the rest of the guys’ backs. Forbort’s fight also gave some energy to the team and in the building.
• Surprise! Dmitry Orlov continued his point streak with an assist. McAvoy was also on the ice for a whopping 23:36 minutes today.
• With his goal and assists, it’s Coyle’s first back-to-back games with multi-points this season.
• The Bruins next face the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, March 9, at the TD Garden at 7:30 p.m.