Campbell helps Bruins overcome Rangers
BOSTON: Gregory Campbell scored the go-ahead goal and added another on Saturday to secure a 3-1 victory for the Boston Bruins over the New York Rangers and reach the NHL Eastern Conference finals.
Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask made 28 saves as Boston won the best-of-seven second-round play-off series four games to one.
They will now face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals for a chance to play the Western champions for the Stanley Cup.
Torey Krug also scored for the Bruins, who reached the conference finals for the second time in the last three years.
In 2011, they won the sixth Stanley Cup in club history. Campbell said the Bruins were ready for a tough challenge.
‘‘The further you go, the better the teams are and the higher the level is and the more you have to rely on everybody,’’ Campbell said.
‘‘Pittsburgh, they’re a heck of a team. They’re four lines deep too, and they use everybody. We have a lot of respect for them.’’
The Rangers had fended off elimination with a 4-3 overtime victory on Thursday. But Dan Girardi’s first-period strike was all that they could muster.
Henrik Lundqvist stopped 29 shots in the Rangers’ season-ending defeat.
‘‘They deserved to win, they were the better team,’’ Rangers head coach John Tortorella said.
‘‘I watched our team fight, and though we never lacked effort, they did a better job than we did in all areas.’’