Rangers at Bruins
Henrik Lundqvist could make his long-awaited return to the crease when the New York Rangers visit the Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon. The 2012 Vezina Trophy winner has been sidelined since Feb. 2 with a vascular injury, but the Metropolitan Division-leading Rangers barely missed a beat during that time. Cam Talbot finished with 23 saves in a 5-1 victory over Ottawa on Thursday to improve to 16-4-3 with a 2.16 goals-against average and .929 save percentage in Lundqvist's absence.
While coach Alain Vigneault failed to name his starting netminder for Saturday, Boston has enough about which to worry as it has dropped six in a row (0-3-3) and is in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons. The Bruins picked up a valuable point in a 3-2 overtime loss to Anaheim on Thursday, pulling even with Ottawa for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference despite having played one more game. "I think it's playoffs for us right now," defenseman Torey Krug said. "When you lose a game of a playoff series, you put it behind you, you learn from it and try to make adjustments. It's kind of the way we're approaching things (now)."
TV: 1 p.m. ET, NHLN, RSN360, MSG (New York), NESN (Boston)
ABOUT THE RANGERS (47-19-7): Chris Kreider scored twice versus the Senators to eclipse the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his young career. The 23-year-old Massachusetts native also set up a tally to reach the 20-assist mark for the second straight season. Rick Nash leads the team with 39 goals, but he has gone a season-high eight games without one and has recorded just two in his last 15 contests.
ABOUT THE BRUINS (36-25-13): Patrice Bergeron notched an assist versus the Ducks to extend his point streak to four games, during which he has scored two goals and set up two others. "I think we have to find ways to use that frustration and desperation to our advantage," the two-time Selke Trophy winner said of the team's troubles. "No one feels sorry for ourselves around the league." Bergeron scored in Boston's 3-0 home win over New York on Jan. 15 and also tallied in a 3-2 road setback to the Rangers on Feb. 4.
OVERTIME
1. Boston LW Loui Eriksson scored against Anaheim and also collected a goal and an assist versus the Rangers this season.
2. New York has killed off 28-of-30 short-handed situations over its last 10 games.
3. The Bruins are 5-for-12 on the power play over their last four contests but have failed on all five opportunities with the man advantage versus the Rangers.