BOSTON (AP) – Petr Nedved and Martin Rucinsky each scored a goal Saturday afternoon as the New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 in the teams’ preseason finale.

The Bruins host the defending Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils – the team that eliminated them in the opening round of the playoffs last spring – in their season opener on Wednesday night.

The Rangers start their regular season Friday at Minnesota.

Defenseman Jeff Jillson scored Boston’s goal.

Nedved beat goaltender Felix Potvin with a wrist shot over his left shoulder from the slot after collecting a centering pass from Alex Kovalev 4:33 into the opening period.

Rangers goaltender Mike Dunham had a solid game with 27 saves, including 12 in the second period. His best came when he flashed his left pad when winger Ivan Huml broke in alone midway into the second period.

Potvin, signed as a free agent during the offseason, also played well. He had 24 saves.

Rucinsky’s shorthanded goal made it 2-0 at 11:20 of the third period, but Jillson scored a power-play goal on turnaround wrist shot 13 seconds later.

Boston defenseman Nick Boynton, who ended his holdout and signed a two-year contract earlier in the week, played a regular shift.

The original starting time was shifted from 7 p.m. to 4 p.m. with the Red Sox scheduled to play the Oakland Athletics in Game 3 of the AL Division Series about five miles away in Fenway Park.

The Rangers finished the preseason 5-4-0 and Boston went 4-5-0.

The announced attendance was 14,444, but the FleetCenter was less than half full.

AP-ES-10-04-03 1828EDT