ST. LOUIS — The Champagne on the Rangers’ flight home was sure to taste pretty great after coach David Quinn’s men closed out 2018 with a second straight win, completing a quick, two-game Midwestern trip with a 2-1 New Year’s Eve win over the struggling Blues.
The Blueshirts, who have struggled all season to protect leads, finished the year by protecting leads in each of the last two games. In this one, they made Boo Nieves’ early second-period goal stand up as the winner as they killed three second-period penalties and then killed over two minutes of five-on-six hockey after the St.