Rangers score six, cruise past sliding Bruins

NEW YORK --Ryan Strome had a goal and two assists for the New York Rangers in a 6-2 win against the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden on Friday.

The six goals are the most for the Rangers this season.
"I really liked an awful lot about our game tonight," New York coach David Quinn said. "I thought we were ready to play from the drop of the puck. I thought we had all four lines going. I thought our [defense] corps played well and our goalie played well. So it was truly a team effort."
Chris Kreider (goal, assist), Adam Fox (two assists) and Ryan Lindgren (two assists) each scored two points for the Rangers (7-8-3), who have won three of their past four. Alexis Lafreniere got his first NHL assist, and Alexandar Georgiev made 31 saves.
The Bruins (11-5-2) lost 7-2 at the New York Islanders on Thursday and have lost four of five.
"This doesn't happen here and it can't go on any further than this," Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo said. "There's been times in my first couple years where we've had one game like that, but we've always bounced back. So this is definitely unacceptable."

Boston's top line of Brad Marchand (goal, assist), David Pastrnak (two assists) and Patrice Bergeron (goal) combined for five points. Tuukka Rask made 28 saves.
"It's just too many turnovers, too much reckless play," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "So we've got to do a better job coaching them up. No doubt. That's on us. By the same token, once they get on the ice, they have to recognize how they can help us win games. So that's the one thing we've got to correct."
It was the first time the Rangers played at home in front of fans this season. There were 1,800 people permitted per state regulations allowing no more than 10 percent capacity.
"We definitely got a bit of a spark, there's no doubt," Strome said. "Standing there during the national anthem I had some goose bumps and some energy that I haven't felt in a long time."
The teams are scheduled to play here again Sunday (Noon ET; NBC).
The Rangers scored two goals in 12 seconds late in the second period.
Colin Blackwell scored a power-play goal with a redirection of Fox's shot for a 3-1 lead at 18:52. The Rangers then lost the face-off, but Kreider won a puck battle on the forecheck and whipped in a shot from the bottom of the right circle to make it 4-1 at 19:08.
"You've seen earlier in the year our ability to hold those one-goal leads wasn't great, but to get those two late ones was obviously huge," Fox said. "You definitely feel a lot more comfortable coming out for the third with a three-goal lead as opposed to a one goal lead. It was definitely good for us, and we obviously came out strong and got some goals quickly [in the third]."

Pavel Buchnevich made it 5-1 at 1:45 of the third period, and Jonny Brodzinski scored his first goal of the season at 3:43 to make it 6-1.
Marchand scored his 300th NHL goal on a rebound at 7:51 for the 6-2 final.
"A little disappointed we weren't stiffer coming out of the break," Cassidy said. "Certainly shouldn't be tired. But it's a little bit of a mental battle. … Easy goals. Just too easy and guys not recognizing that you've still got to play the right way."
Phillip Di Giuseppe gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 13:16 of the first period. Strome made it 2-0 at 2:32 of the second period, scoring from the right circle off a cross-ice pass from Lafreniere.
"A great look," Strome said. "It was a beautiful pass. I mean, he's got the ability to make those plays. You're starting to see them. He's starting to get confidence and wants the puck more, which is a good sign."
Bergeron made it 2-1 at 4:02.
"It was a good night," Quinn said. "That being said, we don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves. We know what we're in store for on Sunday afternoon. We're going to enjoy this for tonight, but we've got to get back at it and be ready to go on Sunday."
NOTES: Bergeron's goal was his 889th point with the Bruins, moving him ahead of Bobby Orr for fifth place on their scoring list. Bergeron has scored 360 goals and has 529 assists in 1,107 games. … Marchand is the seventh player to score 300 goals for Boston. He played his 769th game. … Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller played 21:13 after being removed from the COVID-19 protocol list Friday. He missed one game while on the list. … Strome has scored seven points (two goals, five assists) in a four-game point streak. … Di Giuseppe had five of New York's 32 hits.
NHL.com staff writer Amalie Benjamin contributed to this report