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Bruins wake up, take out hapless Rangers 2-1

Image (1) Rangers1-thumb-250x187-7591.jpg for post 429

The Boston Bruins failed to wake up for the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, when everyone in the hockey world was certain they would try and decapitate every player on the other side of the ice. Three days later, there’s no question they wanted the win more than the New York Rangers.

A loss today and the Bruins could have found themselves in a dire situation in the standings, barely holding on to a one-point lead over the Rangers and Atlanta Thrashers. Failing to actually show a care factor would prove disastrous, especially as they face a fanbase that is threatening to boycott a team they feel is not putting forth a suitable effort from game to game.

It was an overall sharp effort by the Bruins, who did what needed to be done to win a low-scoring affair. They didn’t make many mistakes, played hard on the forecheck and Tuukka Rask was just as good as he’s been all season long.

With an all-important two points, the Bruins can hold off the questions -- for now. There’s still a long way to go and winning just one game is far from ensuring a playoff spot. Yet the Bruins find themselves in much better position than the the New York Rangers are in, who once again looked disinterested in even competing until about 54 minutes into the game.

The New York Rangers are done. They’ve given up, and I’ll be incredibly surprised if they find a way into the playoffs from here. They now sit five points back from the Bruins, with the Atlanta Thrashers are planted between them and the 8th spot. If they couldn’t muster a concerted effort in this game, I’m doubtful they’ll be able to figure it out moving forward.

That isn’t to say the Rangers were completely dominated, they were just slightly more inept than the Boston Bruins in this game. The Bruins also showed more fight and attitude than the Rangers -- which gave New York some lengthy time on the power play -- and if not for a number of great saves by Henrik Lundqvist then the Bruins would have easily had a 2-0 lead headed into the first intermission.

There isn’t much else to say about this Rangers team that I haven’t already said this weekend, other than this is not a team that deserves a playoff berth. We can leave the debate about the coaching for another day, but this is a team that is lacking in talent and not even a pretty good game by captain Chris Drury could save them.

Sean Avery was a non-factor and Marian Gaborik -- despite four shots on goal -- was a non-factor. I won’t even get into the boneheaded play by Vinny Prospal; I’m tired of writing about illegal hits.

No time to rest for Boston; they will take on the Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday in another showdown to hold on to the 8th spot in the East.