Rangers defeat Bruins for fourth straight win

BOSTON -- Antti Raanta made 35 saves and Derek Stepan had a goal and two assists to help the New York Rangers extend their winning streak to four games with a 5-2 victory against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Saturday.
Stepan and Kevin Hayes each scored shorthanded for the Rangers (9-3-0), who hadn't scored twice shorthanded in a game since Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello did against the Edmonton Oilers on March 30, 2014.
Nick Holden and Michael Grabner also scored, and Pavel Buchnevich got his first NHL goal for the Rangers.

WATCH: All Rangers vs. Bruins highlights
"Obviously we have some speed killing and it should permit us to get a few chances," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "Tonight we were able to capitalize on a few chances. If you analyze the game, the difference was our goaltending was better than theirs and our specialt teams got us a goal on the power play and got us a couple shorthanded looks."
Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak scored and Tuukka Rask made 19 saves for the Bruins (6-5-0), who had won their previous three games. The last time the Bruins allowed two shorthanded goals was against the Dallas Stars on Feb. 10, 2015.
"We weren't executing and were missing some plays and we were over aggressive maybe ... by getting the odd-man rushes like that," Bergeron said. "We've got to play our position and I don't think we did that on all the power plays tonight."'

The Bruins took a 1-0 lead when Brad Marchand found Bergeron in front for a one-timer that beat Raanta at 3:44 of the first period.
Holden's wrist shot from the right point grazed David Krejci's glove and changed directions before eluding Rask at 15:09 to tie it 1-1.
The Bruins first power play of the game turned into a better offensive opportunity for the Rangers. Grabner picked up an errant pass across the New York zone by Marchand and skated off on a 2-on-1. He got the puck over to Stepan, whose backhand shot was stopped by Rask. But the rebound hit off Stepan's skate and into the net to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 17:59. It was Stepan's first goal of the season.
The Rangers exploited the Bruins power play again in the second period, this time with Hayes beating Rask for a shorthanded goal at 2:18 for a 3-1 lead.
Buchnevich scored during a power play at 13:37 of the third period to make it 4-1.
Pastrnak scored on a tip-in at 14:46 to cut the lead to 4-2. Grabner gave the Rangers a 5-2 lead at 16:48 with his seventh goal of the season.

Goal of the game

Hayes had plenty of room to roam before he beat Rask shorthanded for the game-winning goal.

Save of the game

With 10:30 remaining in the third period, Krejci went in alone on Raanta and was stopped by the goaltender.

Highlight of the game

Grabner's known for his blazing speed but he slowed down just enough to hit Stepan with a pass before he scored the Rangers' first shorthanded goal of the game.

Unsung moment of the game

Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi swept the puck out of the blue paint after Raanta made a save on Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid at 5:23 of the third period.

They said it

"I saw the puck pretty good but it's always a little bit tougher to play when they are shooting the pucks from the bad angle and you pretty much have to give the rebounds. The whole team played pretty good in front of me and helped me a lot." -- Rangers goaltender Antti Raanta

"I think we wanted to build from what we've done on the road and we've got to establish some better play here (at TD Garden). I think it's the obvious thing, but we've got to find a way to do it, to execute. I thought we had a strong start but then we just can't sustain it." -- Center Patrice Bergeron on the Bruins now being 1-3-0 at home and 5-2-0 on the road

Need to know

Rangers rookie Jimmy Vesey, from North Reading, Massachusetts, played his first game back in Boston and had one assist. ... Henrik Lundqvist is expected to start for the Rangers in the second half of a back-to-back against the Winnipeg Jets at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. ... Bruins forward David Backes returned after missing five games with an elbow injury. ... Forward Jimmy Hayes was scratched by the Bruins. He had played in all of Boston's first 10 games.

What's next

Rangers: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday (7 p.m. ET, SN, SN360, MSG, NHL.TV).
Bruins: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Monday (7 p.m. ET; SN, TVA Sports, NESN, MSG-B, NHL.TV)