With Thanksgiving officially in the rearview mirror, the Rangers are back in action this afternoon. David Quinn’s squad is set to head into the City of Champions and take on the Atlantic Division leading Boston Bruins. Thanks to a stellar home record of 9-0-4, the Bruins are already running away from their division competitors, sporting a ten point lead over the second place Florida Panthers.

The Blueshirts have been in this position before. A strong November showing last season had them sitting at 12-8-2 on Thanksgiving, while they currently sit at 12-9-2. However, last year’s NBC Thanksgiving Showdown, a 4-0 no-show in Philadelphia, sent the season spiraling down the drain. The Rangers lost 40 of their 60 games after the holiday, and missed the playoffs once again. They’ll look to avoid another collapse this season, and that effort starts today on NBC.

Player to Watch: Chris Kreider

After a slow start to the season, Kreider has been reunited with Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich, a trio Blueshirts fans have been clamoring for for a majority of the past two seasons. If Kreider needs any sort of spark to get him going in a contract year, perhaps playing in his home state of Massachussetts could be what the doctor ordered. Look for him to assert himself in today’s matinee.

Enjoy the game!