BOSTON _ David Quinn did everything he could to keep his team focused on winning a game Saturday night, rather than his return to Boston for the first time as Rangers coach.
Yes, the Rhode Island native and former Boston University coach admitted, coaching a game in TD Garden was a big deal _ "I'd be lying if I didn't say that when the schedule came out this wasn't, probably, the first game I looked at from a road game standpoint," he said before the Rangers beat the Bruins, 3-2, but the two points were more important to him than any nostalgia.
"When you've got a responsibility and your team is fighting and clawing for points and playoff positioning, those things are way more important than that stuff," he said. "We want to build on the things we've been doing, and again, feel really good about our effort. Deserve to win, when the game ends tonight."
Keeping their eyes on the prize, the Rangers made it a happy return for Quinn and sent themselves into the All-Star break on a three-game winning streak as two goals by the red-hot Mika Zibanejad, including the game-winner at 9:05 of the third period, lifted them to a game over the .500 mark at 21-20-7.
Henrik Lundqvist, starting his third straight game, made 27 saves _ three on a late Bruins power play after former Bruin Adam McQuaid, also returning to Boston for the first time as a Ranger, was given a double-minor for roughing with 4:33 remaining after a dustup with Boston's Chris Wagner, who only got a single roughing penalty.
The Rangers now scatter _ many of the Boston-area players didn't even come back on the team charter flight after the game _ for the break. They don't play again until Jan. 29, when they host the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden.
After being forced to kill off six minutes in penalties early in the first period, the Rangers fell behind 1-0 on Danton Heinen's goal at 17:28. But rookie Filip Chytil tied the score 64 seconds later by virtually recreating the goal he scored Thursday against Chicago _ picking the puck up in his own end, flying up the right wing boards and cutting in on his backhand and driving to the net and pushing the puck past Boston goalie Tuukka Rask.
What was different about this goal, though, was that Chytil was checked after he released the shot, by Bruins defenseman and Long Beach product Charlie McAvoy. And the Rangers teenager flipped up in the air and crashed into the head of Rask, who left the game with what the Bruins said was a concussion. Former Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak, now the Bruins' backup, entered the game and played the rest of the way.
The Rangers took the lead on Zibanejad's first goal of the game, at 5:22 of the second period, when the Rangers' top scorer deflected in a shot by Brady Skjei for his 16th goal of the season. Boston tied it, though, when Brad Marchand crashed the net to whack in a feed from behind the goal by David Pastrnak at 3:24 of the third.
