Bruins vs. Rangers Hayes Bowl 2015 / Black Friday NHL Open Thread

While not as established as a tradition as football on Thanksgiving, the NHL has a pretty solid tradition of Black Friday games, a tradition that's been invigorated by NBC beginning their national broadcast coverage with games the day after Thanksgiving. Today, the spotlight game is one that's probably of interest to most hockey fans here - the Bruins vs. the Rangers.

It's the first meeting of the year between the two Original Six rivals and the first regular season meeting between the two since the Bruins acquired BC alum Jimmy Hayes. If you didn't know that he and Kevin Hayes were brothers from Dorchester, I'd suggest watching today's NBC broadcast... I have a funny feeling it will be mentioned once or twice.

Kevin Hayes is having another solid season in his sophomore stint with the Rangers, with 14 points so far in 22 games. The Rangers have been one of the best teams in the NHL this year, in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference with a 16-4-2 record.

The Bruins are 12-8-1, not a bad mark after a really tough start to the season. They've been cobbling together wins recently despite not necessarily playing great hockey. Jimmy Hayes has 11 points in 21 games and hasn't quite busted out with the B's yet, but he's pretty firmly established himself with the team and seems bound to break out for a few goals any time now.

It's Hayes vs. Hayes. Only one Hayes can win. Who ya got? The puck drops at 1 PM ET on NBC.

Bruins coverage: Stanley Cup of Chowder
Rangers coverage: Blueshirt Banter

NHL Schedule For Black Friday

1:00, NBC: Bruins vs. Rangers
3:30: Flyers vs. Predators
4:00: Wild vs. Jets
5:00: Capitals vs. Lightning
5:00, NBCSN: Ducks vs. Chicago
7:00: Devils vs. Canadiens