Sixteen seconds remained in the Boston Bruins’ third-period power play when Mika Zibanejad wound up as the beneficiary of a Morgan Geekie turnover.
The Bruins and the New York Rangers were tied at two with just over eight minutes to play in regulation on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. This was the closest thing to a playoff game at this time of year: A low scoring, must-win hockey game between two teams on the outside of the postseason window looking in.
Entering the game, both Boston and New York sat below the playoff line — the Bruins third in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race with 60 points; the Rangers seventh with 54, but with three games in hand.
‘Shot out of a cannon’
Zibanejad turned and carried the puck out of the Rangers’ zone as Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy retreated to protect the middle. Zibanejad went to the right. Instead of dumping the puck into the Bruins’ zone to kill the remainder of Matt Rempe’s holding penalty, Zibanejad looked to the middle. He spotted a streaking Chris Kreider, driving hard down the left side.
“You can hear him,” Zibanejad told reporters after the game. “Just knowing, when we play together, my first look is to see if he’s coming with me, and he is. And if he’s going, no one’s going to catch him.”
“Chris got shot out of a cannon there,” forward Vincent Trocheck, who tied the game early in the third period, said. “I think they were a little tired and they came from behind. Obviously, they’ve been playing together for 46 years, so they definitely have some chemistry.”
“It’s pretty amazing, the way they work together,” Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette added. “Kreids literally shot out of a cannon there from the defensive zone. But that’s usually the way it happens. There’s a play that’s made, Mika has the poise to see that there’s some time and space, and get it to the other side of whatever defender he’s on.”
Kreider raced between the Bruins’ three backchecking forwards — Geekie, David Pastrnak and Matthew Poitras — while McAvoy attempted to block the pass. Kreider split Geekie and Pastrnak in the neutral zone, then passed an outstretched Poitras to create a two-on-one opportunity.
“Then it’s a footrace for him,” Laviolette continued. “But sometimes that footrace is looking like one versus two or one on one, and then all of a sudden there’s somebody else in the picture coming up on the left side.”
Zibanejad’s pass was deflected ever so slightly by McAvoy, which prevented a one-timer. Kreider took the pass off his skate. By this point, the veteran Ranger was almost at the bottom of the faceoff circle, with McAvoy and Poitras both forcing him into the corner.
For many players, this would’ve been the end of a broken play. But Kreider, catching Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo out of position, flung the puck from a sharp angle into the net. The Garden erupted as the Rangers took a 3–2 lead with 8:06 to play.
Chris Kreider jumps on his horse and pots the shorthanded goal! 🐎
🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/h48oO4U152— NHL (@NHL) February 6, 2025
“It was a great pass by Mika,” Laviolette said. “But I thought the pickup by Kreids, to not be flush on his stick, to be able to pick that up and still have the poise to control it on a really tough angle and put it in the back of the net. Obviously, biggest goal of the night.”
Kreider’s goal snapped a six-game scoring drought and stood as the game-winner. For the second game in a row, New York pulled off a third period comeback win after trailing entering the final frame. It didn’t matter how they scored; all that mattered was that they got the two points.
“Every game’s incredibly important right now,” said Kreider. “We’re in a battle, the playoff hunt right now. We wanna have a good push going into the break and pick up right where we left off once we come back from the break.”
Zibanejad’s recent surge
The Rangers have been picking up steam in recent weeks. The club is 7–2–1 in their last 10 home games. They are 2-1 in the second coming of J.T. Miller. And, most crucial to New York’s regular season and playoff success, its star players are producing.
The best example of this is Zibanejad. At present, he’s on pace for his worst offensive season since 2017-18 — his second on Broadway. With 10 goals and 35 points through 53 games played, he is on pace for 54 points over an 82-game stretch.
In the six games leading up to the Miller trade, Zibanejad tallied one goal and three points. He also averaged 17:39 on the ice. In the three games since Miller arrived and was slotted in on the top line alongside Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin, Zibanejad has exploded for five assists and six points, while his average time on ice has jumped to 20:08.
Zibanejad put up two assists Wednesday — a win that leapfrogged the Rangers over the Montreal Canadiens and into sixth place in the Wild Card.
Where the Rangers stand in the playoff race
The Rangers sit one point behind the crosstown New York Islanders, who have won eight of their last nine games. Both New York teams have played 53 games.
Ahead of them are the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Bruins, who have 59 and 60 points, respectively. The Tampa Bay Lightning, who hold the final playoff spot, also have 60 points, but have done so in just 52 games.
The Rangers will play the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday at The Garden, and the Blue Jackets on the road Saturday before the club will take a two-week hiatus for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
The club, for now, is trending in the right direction, but there is still work to be done.
