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The New York Rangers came away with a 6-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Friday afternoon. 

Despite a win in Carolina on Wednesday night, Mike Sullivan made a slight change to the offensive lines, putting J.T. Miller with Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafrenière, while placing Will Cuylle on a line with Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck. 

Cuylle seemed to thrive on his new line, forcing a turnover early in the first period, which led to a 2-on-1 chance in which he found Panarin for a goal. 

On the Rangers’ second goal of the first period, Cuylle’s nifty play to keep possession in the offensive zone and get the puck to Vincent Trocheck developed into a Carson Soucy goal. 

Through the first 20 minutes of the contest, the Rangers dominated the pace of play. A large part of that was due to the aggressive forechecking from New York’s forwards. 

The Blueshirts’ relentless forechecking allowed for them to generate multiple high-quality scoring chances through the turnovers they were creating. 

The Bruins provided some pushback to start the opening frame, but momentum quickly shifted back into the Rangers’ favor after they were awarded two consecutive power plays, including a four-minute double minor. 

New York cashed in with two power-play goals from Mika Zibanejad to take a commanding 4-0 lead. 

The power play was clicking on all cylinders, led by the first unit consisting of Adam Fox, Zibanejad, Panarin, Miller, and Trocheck.

“The power play, obviously, was the difference maker in the game,” Mike Sullivan emphasized. 

It was in the third period, up 4-0, when the Rangers began to take their foot off of the gas and let the Bruins creep back into the game with two quick goals. 

While the Rangers managed to hold off the Bruins’ attempted comeback, Sullivan still feels it’s imperative moving forward to remain aggressive even when the team is attempting to maintain a lead. 

Rangers Recall Scott Morrow With Will Borgen Still On Injured Reserve The New York <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers">Rangers</a> have recalled Scott Morrow from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League, while sending Connor Mackey back down to the AHL.&nbsp;

“When you get a four-goal lead heading into the third period, you are guarding against human nature,” said Sullivan. “You want to exhale, but you can’t in today’s game. I just think it's so important that you continue to keep your foot on the gas. Continue to play the game that has brought you success.” 

Any time the Bruins did seize momentum, the Rangers adapted and were able to take control back, which is a sign of a well coached unit that is able to manage the ebbs and flows of a game. 

Panarin also had a notable performance, recording four points on the day. His offensive game has begun to come alive as of late, and that’s no surprise to Sullivan. 

“He has game-breaking ability with his playmaking. Once again, it was on display tonight. He was dynamic,” Sullivan said of Panarim. “Just his ability to create time and space for himself. He uses the width of the rink really well to create just this amount of separation that he needs to make that next play. He has such great vision. He sees the play away from the puck so well. He's one step ahead of everybody on the ice.”

Early on in the season, the Rangers’ top forwards were struggling to produce offense. That has not been the case through the team’s most recent stretch. 

Over the past five games:

Panarin: 6 points

Zibanejad: 6 points

Miller: 4 points 

Trocheck: 5 points

Cuylle: 3 points

Lafrenière: 2 points 

The Rangers’ offense operates effectively when their top-six forward core is producing, and after a slow start, they are beginning to score at a high level and build confidence. 

The Blueshirts have rattled off two road victories in a row. Maybe it hasn’t been perfect, but there are a lot of positives to take away from this Thanksgiving road trip.

Players are beginning to fully buy into Sullivan’s system and are growing accustomed to the way that he wants them to play. 

“I think our execution can continue to improve, just getting a little bit sharper with our puck possession game, but I think the guys are buying into the game that we’re trying to play as a team,” Sullivan said. “We're trying to continue to build our team game. It's essential to win in this league consistently. Obviously, we've gone into some pretty tough buildings. … I think the group is buying in.”

The Rangers will be back in action on Saturday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Chicago Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar and defenseman Sam Rinzel have landed themselves some big praise. 

Nazar and Rinzel have both made The Hockey News' Top 100 Hockey Players 21-And-Under list. THN's Ryan Kennedy gave Nazar the No. 35 spot, while Rinzel picked up the No. 36 spot. 

Nazar making THN's list is not surprising in the slightest, as the 21-year-old forward has been continuing to improve as he gains more experience. In 21 games so far this season with the Blackhawks, the young forward has recorded five goals, 10 assists, 15 points, and an even plus/minus rating. This is after he posted 12 goals, 14 assists, and 26 points in 53 games for the Blackhawks during his rookie year. 

Rinzel, on the other hand, is well on his way to becoming a very good NHL defenseman. The 21-year-old blueliner has played in 22 games this season with the Blackhawks, where he has recorded one goal, six assists, seven points, and a plus-2 rating. He also had five assists in nine games for Chicago this past season. 

Both Nazar and Rinzel have the potential to blossom into very impactful NHL players and are already impressing early on. Due to this, them making THN's list is entirely justifiable. 

With the ninth-overall pick of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, the Buffalo Sabres selected defenseman Radim Mrtka. With the Sabres needing help on the right side of their blueline, they are hoping that the 6-foot-6 defender will be a big part of their roster in the future. 

With Mrtka having high potential, he has now landed a spot on The Hockey News' Top 100 Hockey Players 21-And-Under list. THN's Ryan Kennedy gave Mrtka the No. 37 spot on the rankings. 

Mrtka is showing off his potential this season with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League (WHL). In 10 games with the WHL squad so far this campaign, he recorded one goal, 11 assists, 12 points, and a plus-4 rating. This was after he posted three goals, 35 points, and a plus-10 rating in 43 games with the Thunderbirds back in 2024-25. 

Mrtka also played in four games this season with the Rochester Americans, where he recorded one assist, seven penalty minutes, and an even plus/minus rating.

Overall, there is a lot to like about Mrtka, so it is understandable that he has made this list. It will be fascinating to see how he continues to grow his game from here. 

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It's not easy to score three goals on Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy during a game, but it's what the Detroit Red Wings managed to do on Saturday afternoon.

The only problem was that once again, they weren't able to keep the puck out of their own net. 

Multiple defensive turnovers spelled defeat for the Red Wings, as they dropped a 6-3 final score at Little Caesars Arena for their third consecutive regulation defeat. 

Perhaps even more worrying is the fact that it was the fourth time in the last five games that the Red Wings have allowed at least four goals. 

While head coach Todd McLellan has repeatedly spoken of essentials like mental fortitude, team captain Dylan Larkin acknowledged that the club is a bit brittle right now. 

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"Even when we were winning games, we were down a goal or two early and right now, we're just a little fragile and mistakes seem to be compounding," Larkin said. "We're finding ourselves down early in games and that's the way it's going right now. There's a blueprint in how we play well and you saw it parts (Friday) but in this league against a team like that, you have to be ready all 60 (minutes) and show what you are made of all those 60."

Among the mistakes in Detroit's end was a misplay on the puck by young defenseman Albert Johansson as he was stripped of the puck from behind by Gage Goncalves, who scored Tampa's second goal a moment later. 

Rookie Nate Danielson inadvertently sent the puck right into his own crease from the slot after getting his stick on a Tampa pass attempt, setting up the first of what would be two goals from Yanni Gourde on the afternoon. 

Finally, Moritz Seider misplayed the puck behind his own net during the third period, leading directly to Jake Guentzel's deflection goal seconds later that put the game out of reach. 

The Red Wings have shown at various points this season that they're capable of putting together consistent, 60 minute efforts. A prime example of it was their victory earlier on Nov. 16 over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, arguably their most complete defensive performance of the campaign. 

Conversely, the Red Wings have also strayed away from what has made them successful at various points, with their recent losses to the NHL-worst Nashville Predators and on Saturday against Tampa Bay being prime examples. 

J.T. Compher, who scored the game’s opening goal, said that although younger players’ fear of making a mistake can sometimes cause exactly that, good players and teams find ways to stay consistent regardless of how long they’ve been in the NHL.

"You're going to learn in this League a bunch of different ways. Even guys that aren't in their first year, it could be their third, fourth, sixth, seventh years. It's a battle to be consistent in this League, and the good players do it, the good teams do it." 

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Former Buffalo Sabres forward Marcus Foligno is going to be missing some time.

The Minnesota Wild have announced that they have placed Foligno on injured reserve. In addition, the Wild shared that the former Sabres forward will be out week-to-week due to a lower-body injury. 

This is certainly tough news for Foligno, especially when noting that the 34-year-old forward has been looking to bounce back from a tough start to the season. In 23 games so far this campaign with the Wild, the former Sabre has posted zero goals, two assists, and a minus-10 rating. This is after he recorded 14 goals, 15 assists, 29 points, and a plus-7 rating in 77 games with the Wild this past season.

Foligno kicked off his NHL career with the Sabres after being selected by them with the 104th overall pick of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. In 347 games over six seasons with the Sabres from 2011-12 to 2016-17, the 6-foot-3 forward posted 49 goals, 67 assists, 116 points, 334 penalty minutes, and 1,023 hits. 

Foligno's time with the Sabres ended when he was traded to the Wild during the 2017 NHL off-season.