Lundqvist, Rangers blank Bruins

BOSTON -- Supported by an incredible defensive effort, Henrik Lundqvist earned his league-leading 11th shutout of the season Saturday afternoon as the Rangers tied the Canadiens for sixth place in the Eastern Conference with a 1-0 victory over the Bruins at TD Garden.

After Derek Stepan scored his 20th goal at 6:39 of the first period, the Rangers survived an all-out Bruins attack in the third period. They blocked 18 shots and watched Lundqvist make 12 of his 26 saves. The Rangers had just one shot on Tuukka Rask in the final period.

"I'm not going to lie, I wasn't sure we were going to keep it 1-0 all the way," said Lundqvist, who was blasted back into the net and aggravated his sore neck in an unpenalized collision in the second period. "There's no way I would be here with 11 shutouts without the way we've been playing as a team. Today, for the most part, we were right there. It got a little sweaty for me in the end, but the first two periods were pretty calm."

Lundqvist meant emotionally and physically, but statistically, the Rangers (8-1-1) continue to surge.

With six games left, the Rangers (41-30-5) and the Canadiens (40-29-7) have 87 points each. After Saturday night's action, both are two points ahead of the eighth-place Sabres and seven points ahead of the ninth-place Hurricanes. Buffalo and Carolina both have seven games remaining.

Said coach John Tortorella, "I thought we responded really well" after a sluggish 1-0 victory over the Panthers and a 2-1 overtime home loss to the Senators. "I wish we could've gotten more forechecking in that third period, but when they start ramping it up, it's hard to keep it going. We're going to have to score some more goals . . . It was a gutty win. I think we had 12, 15 shot blocks in the third and Hank stood in there."

The Rangers are 27-0-0 when leading after the second period.

"We don't want to play a third period like that," said Marc Staal, who logged 28:35 along with partner Dan Girardi, who had four hits and four blocks in 26:24. "But we have been confident in our end zone all year long. We know how to play there, and obviously Henrik's a huge part of that. So we sealed down a win."

In the second period, as the Bruins (41-23-10) became more physical, forward Patrice Bergeron drove to the net on a shorthanded rush and plowed into Lundqvist, who was knocked backward into the cage and crawled out on his knees. It's been a rough week for Lundqvist. After being steamrolled by the Canadiens' Benoit Pouliot and hurting his neck March 18, he was dazed when he was hit square in the mask by Staal's slapper in practice Thursday.

"It's still really tight and sore," said Lundqvist, who is 6-0-1 in the last seven and has played 20 straight. "It put me back to where I was a week ago. It's nothing I can't deal with. I'll just have to keep doing treatments and turn my body more than my head."