Rangers stay alive with OT win

NEW YORK -- The New York Rangers are on life support.

They'll take it over the alternative.

Chris Kreider's goal 7:03 into overtime gave the Rangers a 4-3 overtime win over the Boston Bruins in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

"It felt good," Kreider said of the winner. "It is so surreal. It's not something that can be explained. It's just something that has to be felt. It was awesome and I'm just excited to give these guys an opportunity to play another game."

New York trails the best-of-seven series 3-1. Game 5 is Saturday afternoon at T.D. Garden.

"There is no negativity in the room," New York's Dan Girardi said. "We're not worrying about anything else that is going on. We are very positive in the room and we knew we just had to win one game. Now we have to go to Boston and try to win another one."

Carl Hagelin, Derek Stepan and Brian Boyle also scored for New York. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 37 of 40 shots.

"We did show some character," Lundqvist said. "We kind of lowered our shoulders a little bit and started playing our game. We're playing a really good team, but something you just need to feel like maybe you can get one good bounce, and then it just turned around for us. I thought we played really well the second half of the game."

Nathan Horton, Torey Krug and Tyler Seguin also scored for Boston. Tuukka Rask made 28 saves for the Bruins.

Boston had leads of 1-0, 2-0 and 3-2. But New York led when it counted.

"I don't know if it's the momentum that shifted," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "We didn't play as well as we could have throughout the whole game."

Horton's power play goal put Boston up 1-0 4:39 into the second period. It was his fifth goal of the playoffs. King scored his third goal of the series 3:02 later.

Hagelin cut the lead to 2-1 at 8:39 when Rask fell down and could not reach the New York left winger's backhander from the slot.

"I just took a step to the side in what I think probably was a skate mark or something," Rask said. "My skate dug in, that's what it felt like. I lost my balance and the rest is history.

"It happens to me twice a year in practice, maybe. Focus ... got to be more focused, I think. Just a tough mistake. It looks pretty bad on TV, I guess."

Stepan's unassisted goal 1:15 into the third tied the score at 2. The New York center stole the puck from Boston defenseman Zdeno Chara behind the Boston goal before shoving a wraparound past Rask. The goal was Stepan's fourth of the playoffs and second of the series.

"We are down by a goal going into the third and the talk is just to relax and play," Stepan said. "We've kind of got nothing to lose, and found a way to win a period."

Seguin put Boston up 3-2 with his first goal of the playoffs at 8:06 of the third.

Boyle drew New York even 1:54 later with a power play goal. It was New York's first power play goal in 13 opportunities in the series. The Rangers finished the game 1 for 4 on the power play and are 3 for 42 on the man advantage in 11 Stanley Cup playoff games this spring.

"I think we have to get more comfortable," Stepan said. "It's still not the way we would like it, but we have just got to find a way to score goals. It's a big part of the playoffs."

NOTES: Rangers center Brad Richards announced at Thursday's morning skate he was a healthy scratch for Game 4. "I'm just disappointed," Richards said. The New York center has been relegated to the fourth line since Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the Washington Capitals. He has averaged 10:47 of ice time in the series against the Bruins. Richards vowed to "work harder and try my best to never let this happen again." Richards and Tortorella have a long-term relationship dating to their time with the Tampa Bay Lightning. During his postgame press conference, Tortorella was adamant that he was not blaming Richards for New York entering the game in an 0-3 hole. "By no means is this a situation where I take him out and I'm blaming him," Tortorella said. "I'm playing Brad on the fourth line. He's playing seven or eight minutes and it's not good for him. It doesn't work playing Brad Richards that way, but I also feel some other guys have played better." ... This is the 10th time the Rangers and the Bruins have met in a Stanley Cup playoff series. The Bruins have a 6-3 series edge, but Boston has never swept New York in a best-of-seven. The Bruins beat the Rangers 2-0 in a two-game semifinal series in 1927 due to aggregate goal differential. Two years later, the Bruins swept the Rangers 2-0 in the Stanley Cup final. ...The Rangers will practice at their suburban facility at noon Friday before heading to Boston. ...The Bruins went 2 for 4 on the power play in Game 4.