Halak, Bruins shut out Rangers

BOSTON -- Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves for the Boston Bruins in a 4-0 win against the New York Rangers at TD Garden on Thursday.

Brad Marchand had three assists, and David Krejci scored his first goal in 20 games this season for Boston (14-6-4), which won for the first time in three games (1-1-1).
Halak, who has two shutouts this season and 52 in the NHL, made consecutive starts for the first time this season because goalie Tuukka Rask is day to day with an undisclosed injury. Halak allowed one goal on 27 shots in a 2-1 shootout loss at the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
"He's trying to take advantage of the situation in front of him and pick up the team," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "He knows we've been a pretty good defensive team all year in front of either goaltender. I think he recognizes that. Tonight, we had our moments where we've been better, other moments where I thought we were good.
"Gave him some run support, which we haven't done a lot for our goalies lately, so I think that helps any goalie knowing that there's some goals on the board. … So I liked his game obviously, thought he was excellent and we need it every night, but I've also come to expect him to be very good for us."

Alexandar Georgiev allowed four goals on 14 shots before being pulled for New York (10-12-3), which has lost three in a row. Keith Kinkaid replaced Georgiev at 4:52 of the second period and made 13 saves.
"I don't think it spiraled out of control on us," Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba said. "Obviously, we had some breakdowns that led to more goals, but I don't think our effort totally fell off a cliff. It's not easy to play in those situations when you're down big, but that's where you've got to try to build confidence and build what we're building to here. Hopefully come out next game and try not to get down four."
The teams finish the two-game set here Saturday.
David Pastrnak gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 4:14 of the first period with a one-timer from in front of the blue line.
Patrice Bergeron scored shorthanded for a 2-0 lead at 17:34. Marchand made a behind-the-back move with the puck to get past Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich in the offensive zone before setting up Bergeron with a backhand pass through the crease.
"That's a fun one," Marchand said. "They don't happen very often, and I just kind of got lucky catching a forward back there. But they're always fun to be part of when it goes your way."

It was the fourth shorthanded goal allowed this season for the Rangers, who went 0-for-4 on the power play.
"The shorthanded goal was just a backbreaker in a lot of ways," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "You can kind of sense it, they got goals on their chances and we didn't. I thought we had more chances early in the game where we could have gone up 1-0 and we didn't. They make it 1-0. We kept playing, drew a penalty, and again that shorthanded goal really was way too easy. Our power play obviously has to be fixed."
Krejci's power-play goal on a one-timer from the left point at 3:31 of the second extended the lead to 3-0.
"Obviously it feels good," Krejci said. "That's all I've got."
Forward Jake DeBrusk, who returned after being a healthy scratch for one game, made it 4-0 at 4:52 with a one-timer off a pass from Krejci.
NOTES: The Rangers have been shut out four times this season, twice by the Bruins. Boston won 1-0 at New York on Feb. 12. … Marchand's assist on Pastrnak's goal moved him ahead of Ken Hodge (674) for ninth on the Bruins points list. Marchand has scored 677. Marchand also scored the 47th shorthanded point of his NHL career with his assist on Bergeron's goal. That tied Bobby Orr and Ed Westfall for the most in Boston history. … Bruins forward Zach Senyshyn had three shots and played 11:46 in his NHL season debut after being called up from Providence of the American Hockey League.