BOSTON _ As it turned out, it was a satisfying 35th birthday for Henrik Lundqvist.
The King shone at TD Garden, making 33 saves, and Pavel Buchnevich and Oscar Lindberg scored in a 4:25 span in the third period as the Rangers snapped a two-game skid with a 2-1 victory over the Bruins Thursday night.
"I didn't think it was going to be enough until really the last second," said Lundqvist, who tied Grant Fuhr (403) for 10th place on the NHL's all-time win list. "They had some pretty open looks in the first, but we found a way not to get hurt and we got our legs going and our minds going."
The game was scoreless in the third, with the Bruins having the better of the play when Buchnevich, the 21-year-old who had scored twice for AHL Hartford on Wednesday night _ including the winner in overtime _ beat Tuukka Rask with a 35-foot slap shot at 5:10. Lindberg provided an insurance goal at 9:35 with an inside-out move around Brandon Carlo for his fifth goal.
Alain Vigneault didn't like much about the offense, which had only 21 shots and went 0-for-3 on the power play, but praised Lindberg and Buchnevich, who played 15:13 while stepping in for Michael Grabner (hip).
Buchnevich, the rookie left wing whose last goal came on Jan. 19 in Toronto, didn't dress for the last four games before general manager Jeff Gorton said Tuesday "Pavel needs to play" and sent him down.
"We were told he was Hartford's best player," Vigneault said. "That was a great shot on his goal. I had him out towards the end, he made a few board plays, so I'm happy with how he bounced back."
Lindberg, more and more comfortable as the fourth-line center after offseason hip surgery, scored his third goal in the last six games. "It was a highly skilled play," Vigneault said.
It also was a solid game for defenseman Brendan Smith, who played 20:51 with Ryan McDonagh, his former Wisconsin teammate, in his Rangers debut after arriving from Detroit Tuesday before the trade deadline. Smith praised Lundqvist.
"Everything that we've been trying to do to score, and you never score on him, so I got to watch from the opposite side and it was amazing to be part of," Smith said. "I love how vocal he is when guys are around you, he plays the puck well. I get frustrated when I was on the opposite side of the ice and it was a real treat. We found a way to get two points on the road."
In the first period, "we had a hard time making a 10-foot pass, we had to regroup," Vigneault said. "In the third we had a couple of early chances that we buried, then we grinded it out."
The Rangers, who lead the league with 86 goals in third periods, led 2-0 when Brad Marchand cut the lead in half with 7:04 left. Then David Backes rammed into Lundqvist's shoulder in the crease and was sent off for interference with 2:22 left, and the Rangers held on.
Lundqvist had been telling people that he didn't want anything for his birthday but changed his tune last night.
"All I wanted today was to win, I wanted to come here and play my best."
Mission accomplished.
