BOSTON — The Rangers’ schedule had allowed them some breadth to find their game early in the season, and when they finally were thrown into the grinder, they showed some resolve.
The Blueshirts wrapped up a segment of six games in nine nights with a gutsy 3-2 overtime victory against the Bruins on Saturday, a snipper shot from Mats Zuccarello on a power-play 1:56 into the extra frame sealing the deal and making their blown 2-0 second-period lead seem inconsequential. And this came less than 24 hours after they needed some late-game heroics from Rick Nash after blowing a 2-1 third-period lead to beat the Kings at the Garden.
So with some tired eyes and heavy legs, the Rangers (18-12-3) were able to smile in the bowels of TD Garden, knowing this stretch took a lot out of them — and they got a lot out of it.
“That’s such a big back-to-back for us,” J.T. Miller told The Post. “We should be feeling good about ourselves.”
The game was a bit chaotic, making for what Miller called “a playoff-like atmosphere” with the sellout crowd of 17,565 split among fanbases, alternating chants and with ample plays to be excited about.
“It was an awesome game to be a part of,” Miller said, who got a power-play goal on a breakaway 2:41 into the second period to give his team a 2-0 lead.
But with some sluggish plays, the Rangers gave the Bruins (15-10-5) seven power-play chances for 11:45 of man-advantage time. It was a hold on Brady Skjei that allowed Brad Marchand to score the game-tying power-play goal 5:38 into the third period, finishing an all-world pass from David Pastrnak.
But it was Boston that made the critical mistake, taking a too-many-men penalty 1:05 into the 3-on-3 overtime that allowed the Rangers a 4-on-3 advantage and allowed Zuccarello the time to wait for a Chris Kreider screen and then pick the near-side top corner on Tuukka Rask.
“I was probably the worst player out there,” Zuccarello said, overstating the fact of what was still a down game for him. “I think I played really bad, so it was nice to see that one go in and help the team get two points.”
The feeling from the Rangers was that this was a “big game,” the quote once again coming from coach Alain Vigneault as he explained why he was going with starting goalie Henrik Lundqvist for both games of this back-to-back. Vigneault’s decision was rewarded when Lundqvist was outstanding again, the best of his 33 saves a left-pad beauty against Torey Krug with just under three minutes remaining in regulation to keep the game tied.
“We really had to earn the points in these two games,” Lundqvist said. “But we found a way and it’s a good feeling.”
It started with a little bit of luck for the Rangers, first getting a Ryan Spooner goal 4:29 into the game overturned when Vigneault challenged and won on a blatant offside. And then at 14:42 of the first, Michael Grabner’s golden touch continued and got him the team-leading 16th goal of the season when his shot went off the backboards, hit Rask on the back and went over the goal line.
But after Miller made it 2-0, the Bruins kept pushing and got some life when Danton Heinen tipped in a Zdeno Chara blast to make it 2-1 late in the second period. The Rangers knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and knew they needed to scrape the bottom of the gas tank to get it done.
Which they did, being rewarded with four big points this weekend and now just three more games between them and the Christmas break.
“You’re not going to win every game,” Miller said. “But this is a demanding part of the schedule now, and I think we’re ready for it.”