*Photo from Barstool Sports*
Boston Bruins winger Jake Debrusk was scratched against the New York Islanders due to a lack of offensive production. Thursday night against the New York Rangers, he was back in the lineup to try and get an offensive spark. He got one. Debrusk scored, Jaroslav Halak was dominant, and the Bruins shut out the Rangers with a 4-0 win on Thursday night.
David Pastrnak started the scoring for Boston, ripping home his 12th goal of the season to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead early. At 17:34 of the first, Patrice Bergeron added a shorthanded goal to make it 2-0 Bruins after one period. 3:31 into the second period, David Krejci scored his first goal of the year to make it 3-0 Bruins. Just 81 seconds later, Debrusk scored his second of the season to make it 4-0, which held up for the rest of the game.
Debrusk addressed his lack of offensive production, saying that "I know what I need to do. It's my job to be the best I can be every day. There's obviously distractions. I'm a pretty easy target at the moment. I understand the territory. It's pretty much warranted. I get that, but I took it personally, for sure. Who wouldn't? Anytime you get scratched, it stinks. I was pretty beyond frustrated already. It was a nice little reset for me because I knew I was gonna come with some heat today."
Halak was the starter for Boston once again, with Tuukka Rask under the weather. Halak had a fantastic outing, saving all 27 shots that came his way, earning the shutout. Halak's record improved to 6-2-2 with the victory, while Boston sits at 14-6-4 record, 4th place in the NHL's East Division.
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said of Halak's performance that "He's been good for us all year. Right now, he recognizes it could be his net for a bit. Tuukka's day-to-day so he gets an extra start, will probably get another one Saturday with a quick turnaround. He's trying to take advantage of the situation in front of him and pick up the team. He knows that we've been a pretty good defensive team most of the year, in front of either goaltender. We gave him some run support which we haven't done a lot of lately for our goalies."
Alexandar Georgiev was the starting goalie for the Rangers, and took the loss, saving 10 shots out of 14 that came his way. After he gave up Debrusk's goal, Georgiev was pulled for Keith Kinkaid, who stopped all 13 shots that came his way. Georgiev sits at a 4-4-2 record, while the Rangers possess a 10-12-3 record, good for just 6th in the East Division.
The Bruins and Rangers face off again on Saturday at the TD Garden, where Halak will make his 3rd straight start for Boston. Kinkaid will start for the Rangers.
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