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Boston Bruins

Bruins drop shootout to Rangers after epic goalie duel

Matt Dolloff February 15th, 2022
Feb 15, 2022; New York, New York, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) makes a save against the New York Rangers during the first period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports

K’Andre Miller scored in the ninth round of a shootout to finish off a 2-1 comeback win for the New York Rangers over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

The story of this game, however, was the goaltending. Boston’s Jeremy Swayman stopped 33 of 34 Rangers shots between regulation and overtime. But New York’s Igor Shesterkin came out on top in this duel, stopping 31 of 32 shots and making the final save of the game against Craig Smith in the shootout.

Despite the loss, Swayman has stopped 63 of 64 shots (98.4 percent) in regulation and OT over the last two games. He stopped the first 23 shots he faced from the Rangers on Tuesday, before giving up the tying goal on a rebound in the third period.

Highlights: Rangers 2, Bruins 1 (shootout)

  • Charlie Coyle got the Bruins on the board first with his 11th goal of the season. Coyle has scored a point in consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 1-2, and has two goals and six points in his last 10.

    The centerman first fed the puck to winger Craig Smith in the slot, where he fired the first shot. Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin made the save, but couldn’t control the rebound, and Coyle’s point-blank shot took a funky bounce off Shesterkin and fluttered into the net.

  • The Bruins out-shot the Rangers 8-2 in the first period and held a 4-1 edge in high-danger scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick. The Rangers couldn’t take advantage of their momentum in the second period, firing 15 shots on goal but struggling to find the net-front area with only four high-danger chances.

    New York finally found the equalizer with 13:15 left in the third period, starting with a pair of crisp passes through the neutral zone to set up Filip Chytil on a rush. Swayman made the initial stop on Chytil, but like Shesterkin could not corral the rebound. An opportunistic Chytil swiped the puck and slipped his own rebound around Swayman’s pads to finish the tying goal.

  • Both goalies had to come up with big saves in the third. Most notably, Shesterkin made a clutch stop on a Taylor Hall breakaway just two minutes after the Rangers had tied the game. Swayman stopped Barclay Goodrow from a high-danger area during a Bruins penalty kill with 1:44 left in regulation.

  • The goalies also dueled throughout a thrilling overtime period, with six saves for Swayman and three for Shesterkin. In a strange twist, Shesterkin was removed from the game as part of the NHL’s concussion protocol with just 40 seconds remaining, but returned to the game for the start of the shootout.

    One of Swayman’s OT saves came against Artemi Panarin on a breakaway.

  • Swayman managed to stop six of the first eight Rangers shootout attempts, but Miller finally grabbed the second point for the Rangers with a slick post-to-post deke around the goalie.

The Bruins get back at it on Thursday night, and they’re staying in the state of New York for a date with the Islanders at UBS Arena.

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Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Yell at him on Twitter @mattdolloff and follow him on Instagram @mattydsays. You can also email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.

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