The New York Rangers take on the Boston Bruins Live Wednesday at Madison Square Garden for the second time in three games.
The New York Rangers have not started off the way they wanted to in 2013.
After finishing as the top team in the Eastern Conference last season, the Rangers were set to be a Stanley Cup favorite entering the lockout shortened schedule, but instead has fallen flat, losing their first two games to the Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The team will be able to get some revenge on Wednesday, as the Rangers host the Bruins for the second time in three games. New York has high hopes for the season, but a loss on Wednesday would drop the team to 0-0-3 for the first time in nearly 14 years. The Rangers lost 3-1 to the Bruins on Saturday in the opener, with Milan Lucic, Daniel Paille and Johnny Boychuk all scoring for Boston.
The Bruins were shorthanded for nearly two and a half minutes in the games, but have successfully killed every power play this season, ranking first in the NHL. The team also ranked third in goals against behind Tuukka Rask, who has a 0.96 average in two games.
"We've stuck to our system," said forward Patrice Bergeron, who helped kill those penalties before scoring in the shootout. "I guess we've kept it simple."
The Bruins have continued to play well since opening against the Rangers, starting 2-0 after defeating the Winnipeg Jets on Monday in a 2-1 shootout, although the level of play was lacking for Boston.
"The battle level and the plays are right up there to midseason (level)," Bergeron told the team's official website Monday. "So you know, every game is going to be hard it's going to be tough battles and we need to be ready for everyone."
The Rangers were still affected by the opening loss and looked tired and uninspired while losing 6-3 to the Penguins on Sunday in the home opener. Last year's Vezina Trophy winner and the team's best player, goalie Henrik Lundqvist, didn't make it past the first period after letting the tea, fall behind 3-1.
"It's not an individual thing. As a group, we didn't have the fight level the past two games," coach John Tortorella said.
The Rangers will need to improve on the power play after allowing two goals in five chances. The team ranks 25th in goals against and 24th in power play percentage to start the year. Newly acquired offensive threat Rick Nash started off slowly, but netted his first Rangers goal in the third period.
"I don't think we're pushing panic buttons," Nash said. "It's not the start we wanted. We've got to get back to work. There are a lot of mistakes out there we have to correct. It's a short season, so we've got to correct them fast."
Last season the Rangers also lost their first two games and were still able to take the no. 1 seed in the conference. This season though, since the schedule is shortened, New York will have to snap out of its fuck to get back into playoff contention.
According to the Associated Press, "The Bruins will be looking for their third straight win in the series. They won 2-1 in the last meeting at MSG on April 1."