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Brad Marchand bashes Rangers’ defenseman Ryan Lindgren |
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Looking to add forward depth, the Bruins pulled the trigger on a trade to acquire Rick Nash from the New York Rangers two years ago. Heading to New York was a pair of draft picks, Matt Beleskey, Ryan Spooner and defenseman Ryan Lindgren.
With 48 games under his NHL belt this season, Lindgren is finally getting consistent playing time with the Rangers, averaging just over 16 minutes of time on ice per game.
However, Brad Marchand hasn’t seemed to notice.
When Marchand saw linemate Patrice Bergeron engaging in a very harmless shoving match with a Ranger in Blue, Marchand was surprised when his crosscheck to the back of that very same Ranger ended up being the back of Lindgren.
“I didn’t even know he [Lindgren] was here,” Marchand said following the Bruins 3-1 victory in New York on Sunday. “He’s not going to be a player that’s going to have a very long career. So, I’m not overly concerned about him.”
Coming to the defense of his young teammate, forward Paul Buchnevich returned the favor, sending Marchand to the ice with a crosscheck of his own before Marchand and Lindgren exchanged shoves and probably some words that can’t be repeated on television.
“He’s a good steady defenseman, but there’s nothing that’s come up in the past,” Marchand added. “All the best to him, hopefully he does a great job, but can’t see it.”
Another Rangers teammate came to the defense of Lindgren. This time it was Tony DeAngelo, and this time, via Twitter.
The Bruins and Rangers don’t meet again this season and at this point the Rangers are a longshot to make the playoffs. So it appears we will have to wait until next season to see if there is any carry over from Sunday’s fun.
As the for the actual real, important action on the ice, the Bruins got the best of the Rangers in New York.
Playing their second game in as many days, I thought the Bruins gave a complete 60-minute effort and were the better team start to finish.
After Charlie McAvoy’s second goal in as many games gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead entering the second period, the Bruins other Charlie struck in the middle frame, his 14th goal of the season.
This one was extra sweet for Marchand and the Bruins as Coyle’s goal came shorthanded with Marchand serving his two-minute minor for the above mentioned crosscheck on Lindgren.
"That's the bigger [goal] there, the shorty," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. “Their power play isn't generating much, the fans are on them, and all of a sudden you get a shorty. That compounds it. It takes you a while to pick yourself up from that. They did, obviously, and got it going. They're a good hockey club. But I think that was the big boost for us."
Midway through the third period, Mika Zibanejad would cut the Bruins lead in half, but an empty-net goal off the stick of Bergeron secured the victory for the Black and Gold, their 9th win in their last 10 games.
As big as Coyle’s goal was, the penalty kill as a whole was a huge factor in the Bruins victory, killing off four of five Rangers power plays including a four-minute high stick infraction on David Krejci.
"Penalty kill, for the most part, did a great job, especially that four-minute one [earlier in the second period]," said Coyle, who has four goals in his last five games. "Just our pressure, I think, that's how we turned the puck over for that goal. It was a great job by the other guys.
The Bruins will take their three game win streak into Edmonton Wednesday night for a three-game trip through Western Canada.
"We're playing good hockey. We're playing really good hockey right now. Seems like everyone's kind of found the chemistry on their lines and kind of knows where they fit in. We have a healthy team. That's the biggest thing,” Marchand said about the Bruins run here in February.
"When everyone's healthy you're able to practice a lot together and build that chemistry and work on things, get comfortable with the system and the changes we make. We have a lot of depth in our group."
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