Rangers at Bruins
THE STORY: At this point in the season, matchups don't get much bigger than Saturday afternoon's tilt between the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers and the second-place Boston Bruins. New York enters the matinee showdown at TD Banknorth Garden in a bit of a slump, having dropped three of its last five games. The Rangers looked flat in their last encounter, a 4-1 home defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night. New York's power play has been one of the club's only weak spots of late, having scored just one goal in the team's last 10 games. The Bruins return home after going 2-2-0 on a four-game road swing through Florida, Carolina and New Jersey. Boston ended the trek on a positive note, striking four times in the third period of a 4-1 victory over the Devils on Thursday. The Bruins have been deadly in the final 20 minutes this season, outscoring opponents 67-30. This is the first meeting between the Original Six rivals since last April.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, NHL Network-U.S., MSG, NESN
ABOUT THE RANGERS (29-12-4): Team owner James Dolan spends far more time talking about his other club, the NBA's Knicks. But he made headlines earlier this week by proclaiming that this year's edition of the Rangers were "pretty close" to being Stanley Cup contenders. Head coach John Tortorella used colorful language to dismiss Dolan's comments, though he later said he was buoyed by the owner being on board with the team's hot start to the season.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (30-13-1): Boston has been on much better behavior of late following a disciplinary meltdown against the Vancouver Canucks in a Stanley Cup rematch earlier this month. The defending champion Bruins surrendered four power-play goals on 11 chances - essentially handing Vancouver a 4-3 win - but have tightened things up since then. Boston has killed off 13 of 14 man-advantage opportunities in its last six games.
OVERTIME:
1. The Rangers prevailed in three of four meetings last season. Three of their encounters were decided by a goal.
2. New York C Brad Richards has seven goals and 19 assists in 30 career games vs. Boston, but has also been saddled with an all-time rating of minus-18 against the Bruins.
3. Neither team has lost in regulation when leading after two periods. The Bruins are an impressive 21-0-0, while the Rangers aren't far off at 18-0-2.