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Streaks extended: Rangers and Bruins narrowly escape with victories

New Jersey Devils v Boston Bruins

BOSTON, MA - NOVEMBER 15: Tim Thomas #30 of the Boston Bruins reacts to the win over the New Jersey Devils on November 15, 2011 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Bruins defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-3. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

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They say that all good things come to an end. Well, not tonight.

Despite some shaky stretches for both the New York Rangers and the Boston Bruins, each of the Original Six members were able to extend their respective winning streaks with tight victories on Tuesday night. They may not have been pretty, but a win is a win.

The red-hot Bruins welcomed the Devils to TD Garden on Tuesday night. The Bruins entered the game scoring at least six goals in each of their last four games. Any time a team nets thirty goals over a week and a half, they’re going to win their fair share of games. They needed every bit of firepower they could find against the Devils as the game went back and forth for 57 minutes. With three minutes left, Benoit Pouliot scored what proved to be the game winner for the Bruins in their 4-3 victory. Not Tyler Seguin. Not Patrice Bergeron. No, it was Benoit Pouliot—the man who Jack Edwards described as, “a chump” and “one of the greatest disappointments of talent in National Hockey League history.”

Yeah, things are going so well in Boston that Pouliot and Edwards may even buy each other drinks right now. This is what happens when a team outscores their opponents 34-13 over a six game stretch. People buy each other drinks.

Down the Atlantic coast, the Rangers should have had an easier opponent when they traveled to Long Island to face the Islanders. At least that’s how it looked on paper. But they didn’t play the game on paper—they played it in a building that has been begging for a wrecking ball for the last decade. Any game between the Rangers and Islanders can go either way; such is life with bitter rivalries.

Like the Bruins/Devils game, it took a late 3rd period goal to seal the deal in a 4-2 victory for the Rangers. This time, it was Brad Richards blowing a slapshot by Evgeni Nabokov with less than five minutes to break the tie. The Rangers have now outscored their opponents 26-11 over their seven game winning streak and have the second best record in the Eastern Conference.

The Rangers have the rest of the week off and don’t take the ice again until they faceoff with the Canadiens on Saturday. The Bruins will be a little busier as they face the struggling Blue Jackets on Thursday and Islanders on Saturday.

The big question: will either of these teams lose anytime soon?