The New York Rangers and Boston Bruins will start their Eastern Conference semifinal on Thursday evening at the TD Garden in Boston.
Both teams are coming off emotional Game 7 series. The Bruins made a historic comeback from down 4-1 to take down Toronto in overtime. Meanwhile, the Rangers destroyed the Washington Capitals 5-0.
Despite the Rangers' massive victory, the team still needs a huge playoff performance from star player Rick Nash. The former Columbus Blue Jacket has two points in seven games this postseason; none of the tallies were goals.
"He played really well in Game 7 and really didn't have many bad games in the seven-game series in Washington," Rangers coach John Tortorella said of Nash. "He didn't finish. He certainly wasn't totally on. But he's very close and I thought he played really well in Game 7. So, yeah, he's playing, and I think he's going to be a really big part of this as we enter into Boston."
The Bruins also need big games from Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin. Seguin finished the regular season with 32 points while Marchand led Boston in scoring with 36 points on the year; Marchand has three points in the playoffs while Seguin has one. Neither player has scored a goal. Those numbers are appalling when compared with the 13 compiled by David Krejci and the production from other top line players Nathan Horton (seven points) and Milan Lucic (nine points).
Prediction: The Rangers win the first game 2-1. Look for Henrik Lundqvist to continue his stellar play.
Start Time: 7:30 PM EST
Location: TD Garden, Boston
TV: NBCSN, TSN, RDS