Saturday night was the first day of the 48-game hockey season, and the Stanley Cup favorite New York Rangers were in Beantown Massachusetts for the first of 3 games this year against the Bruins. Tuhkka Rask was out to prove to Boston he could successfully take Tim Thomas's starting spot, while newly-acquired Brad Richards was playing his first ever game as a Ranger. The game, however, was a sloppy one for New York. Late in the first period, Mario Lucic scored on the day of the birth of his daughter and put the Bruins up 1-0 after a hard-hitting 1st period. The 2nd was mostly the same but a little more offensive, as Boston pulled ahead 2-0 after a deflection goal by Daniel Pialle. A few minutes later, the Blueshirts scored their first goal of the season which came off the stick of Brad Richards (Nash got an assist for his first Ranger point). In addition to the two minor penalties in this period, there were two consecutive fights in which the Rangers and Bruins split, and the score was 2-1 going into the third. Then came another Boston score in the third by Johnny Boychuck, and the final was 3-1 as the Blueshirts got off to a bad start.
Although the scoreboard doesn't make it seem like this, the obvious star of the game for New York was Henrik Lundquvist who made 30 saves and what might've been the save of the year. Everyone else played a pretty cruddy game. Other than the one assist, Rick Nash did not shine on the starting offensive line with Richards and Carl Hagelin. The defense didn't play too great either. Marc Staal had an overall bad game not really performing very well and stumbling in key moments of the matchup. So, the Rangers will have to get back up on their feet for their home opener tomorrow night.
OTHER ATLANTIC SCORES: Philadelphia 3, Pittsburgh 2
New Jersey 2, Islanders 1
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