Game 45: Boston 2 at New York 0

Norm Defelice, making his first start in net this season, stopped 39 shots in recording a shutout, as Boston Bruins defeated New York Rangers, 2-0, at Madison Square Garden.

With their fifth straight win, Bruins (9-5-1) moved into second place thanks to their current 6-0-1 streak.

New York (3-9-3) remains four points out of the last playoff spot.

Defelice got the nod as both Terry Sawchuk and Don Simmons are battling injuries.

Bruins came out sluggish and were outshot, 11-4 in the first period, which was scoreless. Boston's funk continued until seven minutes into the second period, when Larry Regan scored a power play goal to give Bruins a 1-0 lead.

That goal seemed to wake up Bruins, who spent the remaining 13 minutes of the frame buzzing around New York goalie Gump Worsley. The offensive paid dividends at 11:49, when Leo Labine deflected a Cal Gardner shot past Worsley.

Rangers threw everything but the kitchen sink at Defelice in the third period, but the Bruins goalie repelled all 18 shots. Bruins killed a penalty with six minutes to play, as well, to help seal the victory.

1st Period
No scoring.

2nd Period
BOS- Regan (Chevrefils, MacKell) PPG 7:12
BOS- Labine (Gardner, Boivin) 11:49

3rd Period
No scoring.

SOG
BOS 4-16-10 = 30
NY 11-10-18 = 39

PP: BOS 1-2; NY 0-3

Goalies
BOS- Defelice
NY- Worsley


Defelice pitched a shutout in his first start of the season