Final, Bruins 2-1: That’s a win.
The Bruins hang on for a 2-1 victory, stealing the game after it looked like Henrik Lundqvist would be the one doing the stealing through the first 40 minutes. A strong third period led by the B’s fourth line was enough to lift Boston to a 3-0 series lead, and they’ll go for the sweep against the Blueshirts on Thursday night.
Third period, 18:24, Bruins 2-1:Â The Rangers have taken their timeout.
Third period, 16:29, Bruins 2-1:Â The Bruins’ fourth line is something else.
The B’s just took the 2-1 lead thanks to a relentless effort from the fourth line, and with a little luck, they were able to jam home the go-ahead goal. Daniel Paille eventually put it in, thanks to a deflection in front, and the Bruins have the lead.
Third period, 14:22, 1-1:Â Tyler Seguin just can’t buy one right now. The Bruins forward was just robbed again, this time on a wrist shot from the right wing that looked like it might have been destined for the corner of the net right inside the crossbar and the post.
The Rangers are without Chris Kreider at the moment after taking a stick to the face, while Carl Hagelin just returned to the New York bench, perhaps missing a tooth or two after getting a puck in the kisser.
Thrird period, 10:23, 1-1:Â The Bruins are only outshooting the Rangers 4-3 here in the third period, but the siege is certainly on. The Patrice Bergeron line (with Bergeron sporting a wicked cut above his right eye) just had the Rangers on their heels to the point that there were three or four Rangers in the crease, not counting the goalie.
The Rangers did respond with a good shift moments later that actually had a handful of Bruins in the net as the puck bounced around, eventually squirting out to the left of Tuukka Rask before the B’s could control the puck.
Third period, 6:04, 1-1:Â The Bruins continue to surge, and they’re coming close to taking the lead.
Johnny Boychuk came within inches of scoring his second goal of the game, but he hit the post with a shot from the right point. Boychuk already has three goals in the playoffs, but he could have a few more had it not been for a handful of posts hit in both series.
Third period, 3:10, 1-1:Â Net-front traffic, that’s what it’s all about, kids.
Once again, it’s the Bruins’ fourth line that gets to the net and gets in front, and the game is now tied.
Johnny Boychuk somehow got the puck through a maze of guys in front, and it beats Henrik Lundqvist.
Third period, 0:01, Rangers 1-0:Â The third period is underway with the Bruins looking to come back.
Second period reaction:Â It was kind of an odd first period for the Bruins who find themselves trailing. That’s thanks in large part to Henrik Lundqvist who has been very, very good through 40 minutes.
He’s stopped everything he’s seen so far, and he’s been much better than earlier in the series. However, his performance in Game 3 has been helped along by the Bruins’ inability to get to the net and create screens in front. However, they were much better at that later in the period, as they controlled the puck in the New York end for much of the second half of the second period.
They could take a page out of the Rangers’ playbook who lead thanks in large part to net-front traffic. The game’s lone goal was originally given to Ryan McDonagh, but that was changed to be Taylor Pyatt’s goal a little later. The puck must have grazed Pyatt on the way into the net, which just tells you how important it is to get in front.
End second period, Rangers 1-0:Â The second period comes to an end with the Rangers leading 1-0.
Second period, 18:00, Rangers 1-0:Â We just had a few minutes of action without a whistle, so there’s a lot to get caught up on.
The Bruins are certainly starting to bring it. The had their best chance of the night when Nathan Horton tried to put home a rebound, but the forward hit the post from just to Henrik Lundqvist’s right.
Torey Krug continues to impress as well, and he’s been a huge key to this recent surge here in the end of the period.
 Second period, 9:53, Rangers 1-0: Right on cue, the Bruins start to get toward the New York net, a movement started by the club’s fourth line.
From there, the first line turned in a solid shift as well, with help at the point from Torey Krug, who continues to look fearless with the puck on his stick.
The B’s aren’t getting any bounces right now, though, and Henrik Lundqvist continues to see the puck well and make saves.
Second period, 7:09, Rangers 1-0:Â Tyler Seguin is showing signs of coming to life, but he’s still not able to get it by Henrik Lundqvist.
The Rangers goalie just stopped a second-chance shot from Seguin, who did a nice job of getting near the net for a rebound chance.
New York is doing a better job of blocking shots and clogging up the middle of the ice in their own zone, and now it’s on the Bruins to make the adjustments to be able to get pucks through and get traffic in front of Lundqvist.
Second period, 3:53, Rangers 1-0:Â The Rangers are on the board first, thanks to some good net-front traffic.
Ryan McDonagh just wristed a shot at the net from the point, and it got through a sea of sweaters before it beat Tuukka Rask.
Second period, 3:45, 0-0:Â The Rangers’ power play is awful, so they didn’t score on that power play.
Second period, 1:31, 0-0:Â The Rangers are about to go on the power play again.
Nathan Horton hooked Rick Nash, and the Bruins are back to trying to kill off another penalty.
Second period, 0:01, 0-0:Â The second period is underway.
First period reaction:Â The Bruins certainly got their chances in the first period, but they weren’t able to put any of those chances in the net. That’s a problem when the point of the game is to score goals.
You have to give Henrik Lundqvist a bunch of credit for that, though. He’s been much better here in Game 3 than he was in Games 1 and 2, especially the second game. Lundqvist had a couple of big saves on breakaways from Chris Kelly and Tyler Seguin. The Rangers made some sloppy plays in front of him, and he was there to bail them out.
The Seguin save was especially noteworthy, not only because Lundqvist made the big save, but also because Seguin usually buries those chances, no matter who’s in net. I think that goes a long way in describing the issues he’s having right now.
On the defensive end, the Bruins have been fine in my opinion. Tuukka Rask has looked a little shaky in giving up some rebounds, but the Bruins have done a good job of clearing those out. Furthermore, the Rangers have yet to take advantage of the Bruins’ rookie defensemen, all three of whom are in the lineup again. Is it the fact that the Boston D-men are playing well? To an extent, yes. But the Rangers just aren’t doing enough to generate chances, and in a period in which their goalie stood on their head, that’s the type of thing that could come back to bite you.
End first period, 0-0:Â The first period comes to an end, and we’re without a goal.
First period, 14:41, 0-0:Â This has not been Jaromir Jagr’s finest game as a Bruin, not by a long shot.
The forward already took the holding penalty early in the period, then he missed a golden chance to score and finally, he was easily muscled off a puck in the offensive zone.
It’s going to be awfully difficult to win if the Bruins aren’t getting much of anything out of him or Tyler Seguin, two big offensive threats who are looking a little snakebit right now.
First period, 12:00, 0-0:Â Henrik Lundqvist already looks much better in Game 3 than he did in Games 1 or 2.
The Rangers goalie just made a couple of big saves on breakaways, first robbing Chris Kelly and then stoning Tyler Seguin to keep the game scoreless.
Jaromir Jagr then had a chance, and he couldn’t jam home a rebound chance right in front.
First period, 6:15, 0-0:Â For the Bruins, that was very, very easy.
The B’s had no issues killing off the New York power play, which is something that should surprise no one given the way the Rangers’ power play has looked in this series. They can’t get out of their own way, and in a way, they’re probably giving the Boston penalty kill some momentum and confidence.
First period, 4:08, 0-0:Â The Rangers are getting the game’s first power play.
Jaromir Jagr was just called for holding, and the B’s will have to kill it off here early in the first.
First period, 0:30, 0-0:Â The game is underway with a great shift from the Bruins.
7:35 p.m.:Â We’re probably five minutes from actually getting underway.
The Bruins will start with the Patrice Bergeron line and they’ll have Johnny Boychuk and Zdeno Chara on the blue line.
7:15 p.m.:Â The Bruins are going with the same lineup in Game 3 apparently.
For those who haven’t been paying close enough attention, here are the lines that the Bruins have used in the series.
Milan Lucic — David Krejci — Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — Jaromir Jagr
Rich Peverley — Chris Kelly — Tyler Seguin
Daniel Paille — Gregory Campbell — Shawn Thornton
Zdeno Chara — Dougie Hamilton
Johnny Boychuk — Matt Bartkowski
Adam McQuaid — Torey Krug
7:05 p.m.: Â The Bruins and Rangers are on the ice for pregame warmups in New York, and it looks like the Bruins will go with the same lineup as they did in Game 2.
Neither Dennis Seidenberg nor Wade Redden are on the ice for the pregame skate, meaning they’ll be out again for Game 3.
6:30 p.m.:Â We’re an hour away from puck drop, which means we’re still 30 minutes away from pregame skate, which is when we should get a better idea of what the Bruins will do lineup-wise, particularly on the back end.
What we do know is that there is no reason for the Bruins to not expect some push back from the Rangers in Game 3. The Bruins, who have historically not made it easy on themselves with series leads under Claude Julien, should know that better than anyone else. All they have to do is go back to the first round where they took their foot off the gas and saw a 3-1 series lead evaporate before eking out the Game 7 win against Toronto. The Rangers, for all their faults in this series, also know that a two-game deficit doesn’t necessarily spell defeat. The Rangers were down 0-2 to the Capitals in the first round before they came back to eventually win the series in seven with wins in Games 6 and 7.
The easiest way to avoid those trends? Have a quick start here in Game 3. If the Bruins can out firing on all cylinders early with that “killer instinct” early on, they can go a long way in taking the crowd out of it. Perhaps more importantly, they might be able to take the Rangers out of it. Some feel that this is a team teetering right now, and they might be one big punch away from hitting the canvas. If the Bruins can deliver that in the early going, we could be looking at a very short series.
If not, the Bruins have no one to blame but themselves.
3:30 p.m.:Â The Rangers are dealing with some injury issues of their own, and like the Bruins, they may be getting healthier, just not healthy enough to play.
Marc Staal (eye injury) and Darroll Powe (suspected concussion) both skated at morning skate Tuesday. However, they also ended up joining the practice squad with players who have been scratches in the playoffs, so it doesn’t look like either will return.
The Rangers are still waiting for Ryane Clowe to return, as the recently acquired forward remains out.
1:15 p.m.:Â The Bruins wrapped up an optional morning skate at Madison Square Garden just a little while ago, and B’s coach Claude Julien offered an update on some of the injured defensemen.
Julien said he’d be surprised if Dennis Seidenberg played in Game 3, as the veteran D-man remains out with a lower-body injury. Seidenberg appears to be progressing, but Julien says it looks like Seidenberg isn’t quite there yet.
Wade Redden remains day-to-day for the Bruins as well. He’s been out since the middle of the first-round series with Toronto, and while he’s also progressing in his recovery, his status for Wednesday night is still up in the air.
8 a.m. ET: The Bruins have looked very impressive through two games of their Eastern Conference second-round series with the New York Rangers, and the B’s are now in position to really make this series a laugher.
The Bruins and Rangers will meet Tuesday night for Game 3 of the conference semifinals, where Boston will have a chance to go up 3-0 in the best-of-seven series. Boston took the first two games of the series, winning Game 1 in overtime before trouncing New York 5-2 in Game 2 on Sunday in Boston.
Arguably the biggest difference has been the play of the goaltenders. Tuukka Rask has been the goalie who looks like one of the best in the world, not Henrik Lundqvist, through two games. Rask has given up just four goals in the two games, while Lundqvist has already given up eight through two.
Of course, that’s not all on the goaltenders. The Bruins have also dominated the play in front of the goalies as well, with the most notable contributions coming from a trio of rookie defensemen in Torey Krug, Dougie Hamilton and Matt Bartkowski. At least one of those players may be banished to the press box for Game 3, however. Veteran defensemen Dennis Seidenberg and Wade Redden were both on the ice at Bruins practice Monday, which seems to indicate they’re getting healthy. If either of them are ready for Game 3, it will make for a difficult decision for Bruins coach Claude Julien. Given the way the young guys have played, however, that’s a pretty good dilemma to have to solve.
Puck drop from Madison Square Garden is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
