Boston @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 29, 2019 ) NY Rangers 2, Boston 3

After earning a bit of payback against the league's worst team on Saturday, the Boston Bruins look to complete a back-to-back against Original Six rivals when they visit the resurgent New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon. The NHL-leading Bruins are trying to hold off Tampa Bay atop the Atlantic Division as they kick off a four-game road trip.

"It's big. Whenever you get on the road it's a bit of team bonding and we haven't had a trip like this since the beginning of the year," Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy said of the upcoming trek that includes three games in Western Canada. "It starts tomorrow with an opportunity to keep it going and once we get out west we'll shift our focus to that." the Bruins have won eight of their last nine, avenging the only loss in that span with a 4-1 victory over Detroit -- the sixth time in the 8-1-0 stretch they have permitted one goal or less. New York capped off a perfect three-game road trip with a 3-1 victory at Columbus on Friday night to extend its winning streak to a season-high four games. "We've talked about the fact that we've had to come together as a team over the last few months, and it hasn't showed more than it has the last few games," coach David Quinn said of the Rangers, who are seven points out of the second wild card.

TIME: 3:30 p.m. ET. TV: NBC

ABOUT THE BRUINS (36-11-12): While Tuukka Rask became the sixth goalie in history with a 20-point home streak (14-0-6) on Saturday, backup Jaroslav Halak carries an impressive mark against New York into Sunday's matchup. Halak allowed six goals in winning four meetings versus the Rangers in his last campaign with the New York Islanders (2017-18) and beat them twice this season to improve to 21-8-1. David Pastrnak, who became the first player to 42 goals on Saturday, has seven points in two games versus the Rangers this season.

ABOUT THE RANGERS (30-23-4): Chris Kreider, one of the most prominent names being bandied about in advance of the Feb. 24 trade deadline, scored once and set up another Friday to give him 23 goals on the season, including 11 in the last 16 games. Pavel Buchnevich has goals in back-to-back games and six tallies and 10 points in his last 10 contests while also scoring in each of the two losses against the Bruins this season. “The thing about Buchnevich, he’s doing all the things that maybe a scorer usually doesn’t do,” Quinn said.

OVERTIME

1. Rangers C Mika Zibanejad has collected 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in his last 12 games.

2. Bruins F Brad Marchand has eight points in his last eight games and five in two meetings versus New York.

3. Rangers rookie G Igor Shesterkin (ankke) missed the past two games but Quinn said he is "close" to returning.

PREDICTION: Rangers 3, Bruins 2