Henrik Lundqvist and Brad Marchand have two run-ins at net
Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins looks for a shot against Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers during the first period at TD Garden on November 27, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. Credit: Getty Images / Maddie Meyer
Henrik Lund qvist is the centerpiece of the Rangers, and he was the focus of two critical plays involving irritant Brad Marchand in Friday's 4-3 loss to the Bruins. One wasn't deemed goaltender interference, the other was.
At 14:15 of the first period, Patrice Bergeron's rebound made it 1-0 Bruins after the skate of Marchand made contact with the blade of Lundqvist's stick.
"He brings my stick with him, so it was kind of hard to stop [the puck], but at the same time, it was a quick play. It's just a tough situation."
Rangers coach Alain Vigneault did not use the coach's challenge.
"[Video coach] Jerry [Dineen] and the guys [coaches] upstairs were saying that Hank was a little bit outside the blue, and his stick was outside, so when Marchand went through and touched his stick, it was because he was outside. I asked both referees at the beginning of the [second] period if they had seen the play. They said yes, and they both told me, they [the NHL] wouldn't have overruled. But who knows?"
At 7:59 of the third, Marchand's knee made contact with Lundqvist's neck while he was crouching and the goalkeeper lost his stick and fell on his back. Marchand received a two-minute minor, Bruins coach Claude Julien was furious and J.T. Miller scored on the power play for a 3-2 Rangers lead.
"No question that's a penalty," Lundqvist said. "He's physical, that's a situation where you're very vulnerable as a goalie, you have your neck out like that. It's a blind hit."
Blue notes
Backup Antti Raanta (4-0-0, 1.20 GAA, .955 save percentage) is scheduled to make his fifth start Saturday at home against the Flyers . . . Marc Staal (minus-2) struggled badly in his 18:16 and was on ice for the final two Bruins goals . . . Keith Yandle led the Rangers with five of their 27 shots on Tuukka Rask . . . Mats Zuccarello, Derick Brassard and Chris Kreider combined for zero shots . . . Dylan McIlrath, who played 10:04, delivered a booming check that leveled the Bruins' Landon Ferraro in the first period.
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