Quite simply Brian Boyle did a lot of good things in all aspects of the Rangers 3-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. As a result he earned his first Broadway Hat of the season.
Asked to go head-to-head against Toronto's top line that features 24-goal scorer Phil Kessel, Boyle played a hard-nosed, gritty game, with his physical play a large reason why Kessel and his 'mates were held off the scoreboard. Boyle logged 16:12 of ice-time, blocked three shots, and was credited with three hits. Most importantly he shadowed Kessel out of relevence in the game.
Boyle also scored a very important goal, giving the Rangers a 2-0 lead late in the second period. It snapped a 22-game scoring drought, which Boyle referred to afterwards as kicking "a monkey, make that two monkeys, off my shoulder."
"It was relief, it was exciting, and it was a big goal for us," explained Boyle, who now has three on the season. "I love scoring goals and want to be a goal scorer. But obviously I have to focus on other things, too, which is all part of the style of game I play. But I want to contribute offensively and was pretty psyched to get that goal."
