Second period quick hits (by Anthony Travalgia):

– Just 10 seconds into the second period, Tuukka Rask left the ice by himself, running down the Bruins’ runway. Niklas Svedberg took over for Rask. Rask did not return to the game nor the Bruins’ bench. No update on the status of the reigning Vezina winner as of yet.

– Coming in ice cold, Svedberg made some nice saves for the Bruins, but the Swede allowed the Rangers to get on the board as Rick Nash tapped home his 40th goal of the season to cut the B’s lead to three at 4-1.

– Some great work by Reilly Smith extended the Bruins lead as Smith scores his first goal in 14 games to give the Bruins the 4-0 lead.

Second period stats:

– Nash’s goal ties him with Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos for second in the league, seven behind Alex Ovechkin for the league lead.

– Entering today, Smith and Carl Soderberg had combined for just one goal during the month March. Both have goals today.

– Svedberg stopped six of seven Rangers shots in 19:50 of action during the middle stanza.

First period quick hits:

– With Henrik Lundqvist (neck) getting his first start since February 2nd, the Bruins had the opportunity to take advantage of a rusty goalie and try to establish the tempo. They did just that early on, with a bit of a break. Milan Lucic originally had a goal taken away from him after what looked like a distinct kicking motion. The call was overturned, however, and Lucic got credited with his 16th of the year just 1:41 into the contest. Patrice Bergeron tallied one of the assists and extended his point streak to five games. Here’s the official response from the NHL Situation Room in Toronto:

NHL’s response to Lucic’s goal from the situation room blog pic.twitter.com/5LyovvWxuP

— Bruins Daily (@BruinsDaily) March 28, 2015

– The NHL’s definition of a distinct kicking motion gets changed on a daily basis, apparently.

– Lucky break or not, Lucic is skating with intensity and that is the Lucic Bruins fans love to see. The Vancouver-born power forward added his second of the game midway through the period for his 17th of the season.

– Right before the Bruins’ third goal, a Yeti was shown on the Garden HDX and Carl Soderberg must have noticed. The Swede notched his 12th of the year on a wrist shot to make it 3-0 in Lundqvist’s return to the lineup. At this rate, the Rangers may be better off playing Cam Talbot, who played very well in “The King’s” absence.

– The Rangers finally got a strong push towards the end of the first period, but Tuukka Rask stood tall. The reigning Vezina winner looked very solid moving from post to post and ended the period with 14 saves, including eight in the last 2:16 of the opening stanza.

First period stats

– In an instance where numbers never lie, the Bruins basically dominated the Rangers in the opening 20 minutes. The only thing close were shots on goal as both teams fired 14 on net.

– The Bruins outhit the Rangers, 12-11 and own a 20-10 advantage in faceoffs.