RANGER DANGER
Tough guy Boyle hits Sens on scoreboard, too
As New York Rangers centre Brian Boyle climbed the stairs to the post-game interview room, he crossed paths with a stream of Ottawa Senators fans leaving Scotiabank Place on Monday night. They of course recognized him, all six-foot-seven, 244 pounds of him still in his Rangers uniform.
Of course they started booing him. He, in turn, loved it.
“It was surprising to hear the boos and hear them chanting my name,” he said. “If I’m a villain to them, that’s good.”
They better start booing louder. The way this playoff series is going, Boyle, the most hated Ranger in Ottawa, is going to be the most valuable player. Boyle, who became Public Enemy No. 1 when he pummelled Senators defenceman Erik Karlsson in the first game of the NHL Eastern Conference quarter-final, scored his third goal of the series and his second game-winner as the Rangers squeezed out a 1-0 victory over the Senators.
The victory gives the Rang- ers a 2-1 lead in the best-ofseven series. Game 3 goes Wednesday night.
“He’s playing the right way,” said Rangers coach John Tortorella. “I think a lot of us are following his lead, and that’s what he’s doing now, leading.”
The Rangers also got an exemplary performance from Henrik Lundqvist, who made 39 saves and earned his fourth career playoff shutout.
The only thing Ottawa coach Paul Maclean didn’t like about the game was the outcome.
“We could just as easily be talking about us winning 1-0 as them winning 1-0,” he said. “We just didn’t get a bounce at the end.”
The Senators had loads of good chances to score during the game, as did the Rangers, but perhaps the best one came in the dying minutes when Senators centre Kyle Turris missed.
“That’s one I have to get,” he said. “I had one like that to tie it up and send it to overtime and I missed on it tonight, but I won’t miss in the next game.”
The Senators know it’s not a game they have to hang their heads over, but it’s tough, said defenceman Chris Phillips.
“That’s easier said than done,” the veteran said. “There’s a lot of importance on these games and we’re down 2-1.
“It’s not a great feeling in here right now.
“But that’s what we have to do, put it behind us. We’ll see (Tuesday) a lot of things that we did well that we have to continue to do.
“Give us those same chances and we bear down, it’s a different game and hopefully a better outcome for it in the next one.”