On a night where it looked like the Bruins were heading for a clean sweep of the New York Rangers, everything changed in an instance when Tuukka Rask stumbled and fell leading to Carl Hagelin’s goal.

That play alone changed the whole complexion of the game and from that point forward, the Black and Gold began to make costly mistakes. Whether it was the Rask and Chara exchange or the too many men on the ice penalty, the Rangers took advantage in their 4-3 overtime victory and lived to fight another day.

Former Boston College standout Chris Kreider scored the game-winning goal beating Rask on a pretty deflection in front of the net. Kreider is only the second Massachusetts born player to score a playoff OT goal against the B’s (Bob Sweeney).

Kreider recorded his sixth career NHL postseason goal including his third game-winner.

Kreider finished the game with 13:50 of ice time, had three shots, was a plus-two and scored the Bluershirts’ biggest goal of the postseason.

That was Kreider’s first goal of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs in seven games. He has not been much of a factor while on the ice, but on this night he was. Even during the regular season he only played in 23 games recording three points (two goals and one assist).

Henrik Lundqvist made all of this possible for Kreider after he turned away seven B’s shots in the extra frame.

“I told the guys before the game there was no way we were losing this game,” said the Rangers goalie. “We want to keep playing. We owe it to ourselves, to our fans. All our focus today was just on this game. Now we move our focus to the next game and the first period of that game. We will see how far it takes us.”

Kreider, who was pushed to the second-line with Rick Nash due to the coaching decisions by John Tortorella, made the best of his opportunity forcing a Game 5 Saturday night in Boston.

“Goonies never say die,” Kreider told NHL.com.

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NEW YORK – When Rangers coach John Tortorella scratched former Conn Smythe Trophy winner Brad Richards for Game 4, the buzz surrounding the announcement drew more attention than Tortorella’s 19-second press conference at the morning skate. That, and defenseman Roman Hamrlik replacing the injured Anton Stralman left the Blueshirts in a vulnerable position.

The Bruins had the Rangers on the ropes and eyed their second Eastern Conference Finals appearance in three seasons. But, despite a solid start, they could not complete the sweep.

A series of blunders cost the Black and Gold in their 4-3 overtime loss to the Blueshirts in Game 4 Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. More importantly, it gave the Rangers new life.

“We made mistakes and they capitalized on their chances,” a dejected Zdeno Chara said afterwards. “We have to eliminate those and get ready for the next one.”

It all started when the B’s led 2-0 and had momentum on their side thanks to second period goals by Nathan Horton and Torey Krug on the power play. But a costly play by Tuukka Rask shortly after Krug’s tally at 7:41 gave the Rangers new life. With a weak backhander by Carl Hagelin, Rask fell down and could not recover as the puck trickled past him to give the MSG crowd something to cheer about.

The trickle down effect continued in the third as Derek Stepan took advantage of turnover by Chara – behind Rask – and tied things up at 2-2 just 1:15 into the final stanza. Then, with a 3-2 lead thanks to Tyler Seguin’s first of the playoffs, the Bruins were called for a bench minor for too many men, which led to Brian Boyle’s tying goal with 10 minutes left in regulation.

Finally, in overtime, Dougie Hamilton was unable to stop Chris Kreider’s tip-in at 7:03 of the extra session.

Moving on is exactly what the Bruins need to do. But Thursday’s loss is another cause for concern.

Having already been through a similar situation in the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the B’s need to regain that killer instinct and finish the series. They will get another chance to do that in Game 5 on Saturday as the series shifts back to the TD Garden.

“That’s one you want to take,” said Seguin, who also took responsibility for the too many men penalty. “We had the opportunity to win [tonight] and we thought we had played well on the road, especially last game [Game 3]. It would have been nice to get out of here with a win, but again, we’re going to go on to our home ice and play a better game.

“It’s a fresh new start here. It doesn’t matter what happened in this series. We have to be better.”

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NEW YORK – The Rangers are seemingly fading out of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs faster than a New York minute.

Former Conn Smythe winner Brad Richards is a healthy scratch. That was confirmed by John Tortorella in a phone conversation between the two.

Tortorella, himself, is under fire and is being scrutinized by the media for his decision to scratch a player whose cap hit is north of $6.6 million over the next 12 seasons. In addition, Torts was also short with the media (again) in his 19-second press conference before the Blueshirts took the ice for their morning skate at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

All of this, along with Roman Hamrlik replacing Anton Stralman on the Rangers blue-line, makes for one hot mess in Manhattan. And the Boston Bruins need to take advantage of this.

During the course of the playoffs, head coach Claude Julien described his team as “jekyll and hyde“. Their first round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs was a perfect example of that sentiment.

But in this series, the B’s have been the better team. They are finding a way to solve Henrik Lundqvist. They are getting pucks deep against a Rangers defense that pride themselves on blocking shots. They are getting contributions from all four lines. They are getting a pleasant surprise from three young defensemen: Dougie Hamilton, Torey Krug and Matt Bartkowski. They are getting stellar goaltending from Tuukka Rask.

Most of all, the Bruins have all the momentum on their side as they look to sweep their second round series and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in three seasons.

“We’re here to win a hockey game tonight,” said Julien, “and we’re going to do whatever it takes.”

While the Bruins have the opportunity to advance, there’s no denying that they’ve struggled closing out series. They are 7-12 under Julien in closing situations, that includes their collapse against the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010.

The fourth victory is always the toughest to get, but there’s no excuse for the Bruins to prolong the series.

Even though they would have another chance to clinch the series on Saturday in front of their home crowd should there be a Game 5, the Black and Gold would like to finish the job, get some rest and prepare for the Penguins or Senators in the conference finals. But the B’s are focused on the task in hand and not looking ahead to round three.

“That would be nice, but we know and we’ve learned as a team that the last one is the hardest to get, even the last series. We’ve got to get ready [Thursday] and play it just like a Game 1,” forward David Krejci said after Wednesday’s practice.

“They lost three games, so they’re going to change something up and we expect that. All we can do is focus on ourselves and our game and not worry too much about what they’re going to bring.”

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He is tied for second place in scoring on the Boston Bruins in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Is it Brad Marchand? Tyler Seguin? Patrice Bergeron? If you guessed any of those players, you’re wrong. The correct answer is Johnny Boychuk.

Boychuk has four goals in the post-season while he only tallied one goal during the regular season (January 19th vs. the Rangers on his birthday). He is the first Bruins defenseman since Ray Bourque in 1991 to score four goals in his first 10 games of a post season.

Boychuk has stepped up significantly in the absence of Dennis Seidenberg, Wade Redden and Andrew Ference. There is no doubt about that, but the big surprise is his scoring ability in the series versus both the Maple Leafs and Rangers.

The blue-liner may have more than four goals if a few bounces when his way. He has hit multiple posts and crossbars throughout these playoff games.

Teammate Shawn Thornton joked on why Boychuk was scoring so many goals all of a sudden.

“We told him to start taking wrist shots and stop tickling the rafters,” Thornton said.

Although Boychuk is really standing out right now from the defensive end, he did not shy away from giving his whole defensive unit the credit they deserve.

“They’ve been doing a good job all of the young guys coming in and stepping their game up,” Boychuk said. “We need them to step up for us to have a good chance to win the game with a couple of our veterans out and they’ve been doing a good job by keeping it simple, getting shots through and scoring when they get that chance.”

Boychuk is the true playoff player. He is risking his body night in and night out-diving in front of pucks, bodying up opposing players and receiving nasty hits all game long. He is the warrior the Black and Gold need besides Zdeno Chara (with Seidenberg out).

Boychuk and the B’s defense have recorded 11 of their 30 points (5 goals, 6 assists) this series.

“Trying to move the puck quick, limiting their time and space,” Boychuk said. “We’ve been doing a good job defensively, but we have to keep doing that or else they could turn the tide and obviously we don’t want that, and we’ve been playing good defensively. Our forwards have been helping out with the push backs and that’s something we have to continue to do.”

In 44 games this regular season, Boychuk tallied one goal and five assists while sporting a plus-5. Many of the things he does do not show up in the stat sheet, but in these 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, everything he is doing is showing up in the stat sheet because he is finding the back of the net almost every single game.

Boychuk will look to light the lamp again Thursday night when the B’s look to bring out the brooms at Madison Square Garden.

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For all of you critical of Claude Julien’s system of running four lines out every night, do you get it now?

Wow. What a win for the Bruins last night at Madison Square Garden defeating the New York Rangers 2-1 behind the strong play of the Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton line.

Winning battles, bringing toughness, fore-checking, puck possession and creating traffic in front of Henrik Lundqvist – the fourth line did it all.

Seventh Player of the Year Award snub Daniel Paille scored the game-winning goal late in the third period. Paille had a goal and an assist while line mates Thornton (first multi-point playoff performance in career) and Campbell combined for three assists on the night.

Daniel Paille talked after the game about his game-winning goal while wearing the B’s Army Ranger jacket which is given to the Bruin who made biggest impact during  the game.

The fourth line has been one of the more consistent lines this entire series and maybe the entire playoffs. They grit and they grind showing hustle no matter what the score is. It is something they all take pride in.

Head Coach Claude Julien reiterated after the game why he plays all four lines on a given night.

“We utilize them because they are good, not because we have to,” Julien said.

The Merlot Line combined for 37 points all season long, but not everything they do shows up in the stat sheet. They know it, Claude knows it and Bruins fans should know it.

Controlling the puck deep in the Rangers zone last night was credit to that entire line. It gave the team momentum and allowed Thornton to camp out in front of Lundqvist creating the tying goal off the stick of Johnny Boychuk.

On the game-winner, no one even talked about Shawn Thornton winning the face-off deep in the Rangers end allowing the B’s to keep the puck deep in the zone eventually leading to Paille’s game-winner, but Paille’s will to beat the Rangers defenseman to the net speaks volumes of the play of that line in the playoffs.

Paille has scored six playoff goals in his career. The Bruins are a perfect 6-0 when that happens. It is not a coincidence when the B’s have all four lines rolling they are tough to beat.

Put it this way, if the Army Ranger jacket was big enough, I would have squeezed Thornton and Campbell in there with Paille because all three deserved it on this night.

The B’s will look for a clean sweep Thursday night in New York and if they want to do that, the Merlot line must bring the same energy as they did Tuesday night-and they will.

The post Player of the Game: Bruins-Rangers Game 3 appeared first on Bruins Daily.

NEW YORK – Knowing that the Rangers would come out flying, the Boston Bruins matched their desperation.

The results didn’t pay immediate dividends for the Black and Gold, however. The Rangers came out the better team for the first period and a half and earned a 1-0 lead thanks to Taylor Pyatt’s second of the playoffs just 3:53 into the second stanza.

After Pyatt’s goal, the Bruins answered quite nicely as they outshot the Blueshirts 25-10 the rest of the way. And thanks to the Merlot Line’s efforts in the third period, the Black and Gold scored two in the third to steal a 2-1 victory in Game 3 Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

“We thought it was a solid road game,” said forward Daniel Paille, who scored the game-winner at 16:29 of the third period. “We felt pretty good throughout the whole game, even when we were down 1-0, but they definitely don’t make it easy and that’s part of the playoffs.”

With all four lines rolling, especially the Merlot Line, the Bruins had the energy on their side in the hostile environment. The Rangers, did what they needed to do early on and played desperate hockey in front of the likes of Sting and Wayne Gretzky in attendance (just to name a few).

Despite Pyatt’s goal and the play of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who made 32 saves in the losing effort, the Bruins kept the pressure on. Finally, at 3:10 of the third, Johnny Boychuk shifted the momentum back on the B’s side with his fourth goal of the postseason.

“We had some very good chances and we weren’t able to find a way early on,” said Patrice Bergeron, who won 70 percent of his faceoffs Tuesday night. “We kept pushing, kept battling and I thought we were still in the game even though we were down by one. That’s what we told ourselves in the second [intermission] and going into the third is to get the momentum right away and we got that huge goal to get back into the game.”

“Everyone came out tonight and everyone came to play,” added Shawn Thornton, who tallied his first two assists of the postseason. “This isn’t an easy building to play in. They are always close games. They’re a heavy team and they are strong on pucks, so it takes everybody to take a victory like that.”

The Bruins will be in familiar territory for Game 4 as they look to close out the series and advance to their second Eastern Conference Finals appearance in three seasons. But they know the fourth victory is always the toughest to get.

Boychuk and company will have their first crack at closing the series Thursday night. But if they learned anything from the past, including their first round matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s that they need to go in with a killer instinct and finish the job.

“This was a big game for us. To go up 3-0, especially in New York because we know that it’s a hard place to play,” Boychuk said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game especially in front of their hometown, and we know next game that they are not just going to lay down. We have to earn it and we have to make sure that we are ready for that next game.”

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Three weeks ago in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series with the Washington Capitals the Rangers dropped the first two games of the series in Washington before heading home to New York where they were victorious in Game 3 and Game 4. With the next two games in New York, the Bruins hope to avoid mimicking the Capitals.

The Capitals took Game 5 back at home before the Rangers won in Game 6 and Game 7 showing the league that the Rangers are at their best when their backs are up against a wall.

History though is on the Bruins side, as no team has ever won back-to-back series when trailing two games to none in each series, the Bruins will try and make sure history is not made.

Because they’ve been here before, the Rangers know exactly what it takes to get themselves back in the series and avoid failing into a 3-0 hole.

“Listen, we don’t want to lose two games here. No one does” said Rangers head coach John Tortorella after his team’s Game 2 loss.

“But there’s no give in the team. There will be no give in this team. Again, we need to go win a game. Not look anywhere else, just try to win our first home game this series.”

If the Rangers need any sort of a boost in the series, playing in front of their home fans in Madison Square Garden will surely give them one. The Rangers are 3-0 at home this postseason after going an impressive 16-6-2 on home ice during the regular season.

“I’m very optimistic as far as where we’re going as a team,” said Tortorella after Monday’s practice. “I’m looking forward to Game 3.”

In order for the Rangers to  get themselves a victory in Game 3, they have to go back to Game 3 against the Capitals and find whatever it was that worked for them on the night. Rangers Captain Ryan Callahan thinks being in this situation just a round ago will help the Rangers climb out of a 2-0 hole once again.

“Yeah I think it does. It lets us know that it’s still a series” said Callahan. ”We’ve got to win one game at home and we’re right back at it here. This is, like you said, we’ve been here before so now it’s just going to take care of business at home.”

The Rangers know that just because they’ve done it once, they’re got guaranteed to do it again. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist knows winning the next two at home won’t be so easy this time.

“We have to look at it that way; we’ve done it before. But I think we are playing a better team now so it’s going to be tough to do it” said Lundqvist who carries a 2.10 goals-against average into Game 3.

“They’re a solid team and you can’t give them too much. They work hard and they pay attention to all the details in the game and that’s why they have been so successful so far in these two games.”

The majority of the Bruins taking the ice for Game 3 tonight are very familiar with erasing a 2-0 series deficit as they did it twice in 2011 en route to their Stanley Cup championship. The Bruins know they can’t take the Rangers lightly, something the Canadiens and Canucks may have done to the Bruins in 2011.

“They were down 2-0 in their last series and we know we can’t take them lightly,” said Bruins forward Brad Marchand. “We got to make sure we go to New York very hungry and ready to go out hard.”

Madison Square Garden will be rocking Tuesday night. The Bruins know that, and the Rangers know that. If the Bruins can get a quick lead to silence the crowd and strike fear into the hearts of the Rangers faithful it could be a difference in the game.

The Rangers will come out buzzing, that’s for the sure. The Bruins hope to match the intensity the Rangers will bring.

“It’s about realizing the series is not over until you win that fourth game. We know that,” said Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron.

“We know (Tuesday) is going to be a huge game. They’re going to try to bounce back, and we’re expecting them to come out really hard. We need to make sure we match that.”

The post Rangers enter Game 3 in familiar territory appeared first on Bruins Daily.

Already ahead 3-2 going into the third period, the Boston Bruins wasted little time displaying a killer instinct.

Just 24 seconds into the final stanza, Brad Marchand put the B’s ahead 4-2 with his second of the playoffs. Milan Lucic delivered the dagger in late in the third period, as Boston put a 5-spot on Henrik Lundqvist.

That third period was a lot more than the two goals from Marchand and Lucic. It was about keeping the foot on the gas pedal and putting the New York Rangers in a hole.

That’s exactly what they did.

“We talked about it in the third period, and we just wanted to make sure that we played to win,” head coach Claude Julien said following Sunday’s 5-2 victory. “I didn’t want our guys playing on their heels, and you hear me say that a lot. I don’t like our team when we play on our heels and we’re just trying to protect a one-goal lead. We’ve got to extend the lead and extend it even more before we even think about protecting it.

“But our guys are smart. They put pucks at the net, they went to the net hard, we won battles for loose pucks and we found a way to score those goals. Those little details are what gave us the opportunity to win those important games.”

Now that they are ahead 2-0 in the best of seven, the Black and Gold need to finish the job and not give the Blueshirts any hope as the series shifts back to Madison Square Garden for Game 3 tomorrow night.

It’s no secret that the Bruins have had some problems displaying that killer instinct. Just look at their first round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, where they were forced to play a seventh and decisive game despite having a 3-1 series lead.

This script was written before, however. After Nathan Horton’s winner against the Montreal Canadiens two years ago in Game 7 – a day after the Habs forced a seventh game – the Bruins faced a Philadelphia Flyers team that was vulnerable due to injuries and shaky goaltending. Smelling blood, Julien’s squad swept the series in the second round just 12 months after their historic collapse against the Broad Street Bullies.

Like the Flyers in 2011, the Rangers have their share of issues that they need to address. Despite his goal in Game 2, Rick Nash is still trying to get going offensively, while former Stanley Cup Playoff MVP Brad Richards is now relegated to fourth line status. Their defense, especially Michael Del Zotto and Dan Giardi (who were a combined minus-7 in Game 2), is letting Lundqvist hung out to dry.

The Rangers also trailed 2-0 against the Capitals and found a way to win their first round series in seven games. That’s something the Bruins want to avoid at all costs and it can all start with a Game 3 victory.

Complacency is always a trait that a team wants to avoid. Having learned this from the Leafs series, the Bruins know they have to get another 60-minute effort Tuesday night in order to take a three games to none lead and put the Rangers on the brink.

“You can’t take anything for granted right now. It’s [the] playoffs. Anything can happen, and sometimes a team can play better in front of their hometown and we don’t expect them to lay down,” said defenseman Johnny Boychuk, who scored the go-ahead goal at 12:08 of the second period in Game 2. “We expect it to be very physical and demanding next game, and we know that they’re going to be ready.”

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Heading into this series against the New York Rangers, all the chatter was about how good a goaltender Henrik Lundqvist was and how the Bruins would have difficulty in scoring off him.

Well, the B’s have lit the lamp eight times in two games against the “King” while Tuukka Rask has outplayed him in the first two games of this series.

Head Coach Claude Julien talked about Rask’s performance and the confidence he and the team has in him.

“Well we’ve got a lot of confidence in Tuukka,” Julien said. “And if you compare both goalies, there’s no doubt that Henrik Lundqvist has more experience than Tuukka does, but that doesn’t change anything. Our guys have done a great job in front of him and what he showed in the second period-like I said it could have been a totally different game had he not stood tall for us in the second period. So, he allowed us to recover and play a much better period in the third. He’s been good for us all year and our guys have lots of confidence in him so it’s about having confidence in your goaltender and finding ways to get through the other one.”

Rask is 2-0 against the Rangers in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs compiling 68 saves while allowing only four goals. He looks steady and locked in as the B’s head to New York for Game 3.

“My confidence is always high,” Rask said. “That’s just how I try to be. No matter what happens, I try to stay calm and even keeled. Confidence can’t go any lower or higher, I think.”

Rask deflected the question about this series being about the goalie matchup, but focused on the team aspect of this series.

“Yeah, I mean it’s a good challenge obviously,” Rask said. “I know I can’t let in any lead goals most nights because he is who he is. But, then again it’s a team game and we’re more focused on the Rangers than any individual.”

Not only has he been rock solid against the Rangers, but he has been phenomenal during the entire playoffs for the Black and Gold.

Rask is 6-3 with a .928 save percentage. His goals against average sits at 2.32 while he has played in 569 minutes (ranked 2nd in playoffs).

Even Brad Marchand chimed in (shocking) on Tuukka Rask’s performance thus far in the playoffs.

New York defenseman Dan Girardi was even talking about the play of Rask in their locker room after the game on Sunday afternoon.

“He was really big for them,” Girardi said. “He made some big saves when pucks got turned over. I think Steps (Derek Stepan) hit a post there. We had a really good second and we just couldn’t get that extra one by him there. I thought it was a pretty good game.”

Rask continues to silence the critics who doubted he could be a number one goalie or a big time goalie in the playoffs. Right now, he is one of the hottest goaltenders in the league while his play is making B’s fans forget about Tim Thomas.

It looks like “King Lundqvist” has misplaced his crown and Rask is wearing it through the first two games of the series.

It may be a different story when Rask heads to Madison Square Garden Tuesday night, but nothing is fazing him right now as he is outplaying one of the best goaltenders on the planet.

The post Tuukka Rask shining bright in Round 2 vs. Rangers appeared first on Bruins Daily.

Mama, there goes that man again.

In only his second career playoff game, defenseman Torey Krug scored his second goal in as many games and added an assist for his first career multi-point night. The Bruins went on to the 5-2 victory over the New York Rangers and took a 2-0 series lead.

Zdeno Chara described how important it is to see the young defensemen contribute in the postseason.

“It’s the same question and it’s nice to get contribution from players that are not always putting numbers on the board,” said the Bruins captain. “Torey Krug scored a goal, Johnny Boychuk got a goal so we have different people stepping up. That’s important.”

Krug is supposed to be a band-aid until Dennis Seidenberg, Wade Redden and (or) Andrew Ference return from injury , but how can you bench this kid? In addition to his two points, the rookie blue-liner had two shots on net in a very solid 12:56 of ice time. It was as if he played in this moment before.

If you have never seen an impactful 12:56 of ice time, you certainly did today with Krug. His composure, nifty foot work, confidence with the puck was a thing of beauty.

Krug had a phenomenal year in Providence under Bruce Cassidy. He tallied 13 goals while dishing out 32 assists, but his two goals in two games for the big club in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs do not compare. He is showing he belongs at this level.

He has given the B’s exactly what they needed in the absence of the three veteran defensemen: skill and offense on the blue-line.

Consider this: Krug has now more goals than teammate Tyler Seguin and Rangers stud Rick Nash. That is something to think about for a second.

Fellow defenseman Johnny Boychuk chimed in on how pleased he is with his “Three Little Baby Bear” defensemen including Krug.

It is one thing playing on the adrenaline in front of your home crowd, but it is another playing in a hostile environment in New York at Madison Square Garden. Krug is up for the challenge, and at this point, it looks like nothing will stop him.

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