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Fernandez, Kessel lead Bruins past Rangers

Oct 21, 2007 - 1:13 AM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BOSTON (Ticker) -- Manny Fernandez made quite a first impression in front the Boston faithful.

Playing in his first home game as a member of the Bruins, Fernandez stopped all 26 shots he faced and Phil Kessel scored in the third round of the shootout to propel Boston to a 1-0 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday.

Fernandez, acquired over the summer in a trade with the Minnesota Wild, posted his 14th career shutout and first of the season. He stopped four shots in the first period, 10 in the second, 11 in the third and one in overtime.

"It's good," Fernandez said. "It's a good pat on the back. We need to acknowledge that the team played really well defensively tonight. We have been really strong since the beginning of the year."

In addition, Fernandez denied Brendan Shanahan, Chris Drury and Jaromir Jagr in the shootout to help Boston to its fourth win in a row.

"I spoke before about trying to handle my rebounds a little better, and I think tonight was a step in the right direction," Fernandez said. "It's a confidence builder."

Kessel continued his impressive display in shootouts, converting for the fifth time in eight chances during his career.

"It was a good win out there," Kessel said. "(Henrik Lundqvist) is a good goalie. You have to get lucky every time you score. I was just fortunate. (It was) same as last year, just go in there and hopefully you can make it work. And you can beat a good goalie."

Not to be outdone, Lundqvist also chimed in with another solid performance against the Bruins.

A Vezina Trophy finalist last season, Lundqvist stopped all 19 shots he faced but fell to 7-0-1 lifetime against Boston. The Swede posted his eighth career shutout and first of the season by stopping nine shots in the first period, five in the second, four in the third and one in overtime.

The 25-year-old Lundqvist made the save of the game on former Ranger Marc Savard with 5:13 remaining in the first.

Camped out on the right side of the net, Savard fired a wrist shot into what appeared to be an open net. Lundqvist, however, was able to get a glove on the puck while falling to the ice to keep the game scoreless.

"It was one of those things where I saw him on my left side and he shot it right into my glove," Lundqvist said. "That was one of those games where both goalies were on, and I felt good the whole game."

Savard, who could not believe Lundqvist made the save, fell to the ice in astonishment.

The Rangers lost one of their key offensive stars with five minutes remaining in the first period, when Martin Straka suffered a broken finger on his right hand blocking a slap shot by Bruins captain Zdeno Chara. Straka remained on the ice to block another shot and finished his shift but did not return to the game thereafter.

"It obviously hurts our offense to have a player like Marty go out with an injury," Jagr said. "We just have to find a way to pick up the slack, and tonight, we couldn't."

Boston decided to move up the start time from 7:00 pm EDT because the Red Sox are hosting the Cleveland Indians in Game Six of the American League Championship Series on Saturday night.

Normally a sellout when the Rangers visit on a Saturday, only 15,266 were in attendance at TD Banknorth Garden, more than 2,200 shy of a capacity crowd.