Boston Bruins

Just the Facts Game Time: 7:30 PM, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY. TV Broadcast: NBC Sports Network, TSN, RDS. Radio Broadcast: 98.5 The Sports Hub. Record: Bruins 2, Rangers 0. The Other Side's SB Nation Site: Blueshirt Banter Get Tickets here: Boston Bruins Tickets Rangers projected lines Hagelin - Stepan - Callahan Zuccarello - Brassard - Nash Dorsett - Boyle - Pyatt Kreider - Richards - Asham Girardi - McDonaghStralman - Del ZottoMoore - Eminger Lundqvist Bruins projected lines: Lucic - Krejci - Horton Marchand - Bergeron - JagrPeverley - Kelly - SeguinPaille - Campbell - Thornton Chara - SeidenbergKrug - BoychukBartkowski - McQuaid Rask Preview: It's likely Dougie Hamilton will be riding the pine in the press box tonight, as Dennis Seidenberg has recovered enough from Game 7 to draw back into the lineup. Matt Bartkowski and Torey Krug have played their way into the NHL, and will likely remain there. (Man, next year is going to be reeeeeally interesting when it comes time to make decisions about this lineup. But that is then, and this is now.) On the Rangers' side, it seems that dapper goaltender Henrik Lundqvist may be battling a shoulder injury. He should still be in net tonight (playoffs, man) but look for the Bruins to try to exploit that weakness. The Rangers are a hot mess on D right now, and a goalie not playing up to par behind that level of garbage fire could mean good things for the Bruins. As in games 1 and 2, it's important for the Bruins to focus on neutralizing Rick Nash and the Callahan line. As long as the team keeps carrying out the game plan from games 1 and 2, they should be alright -- especially with the boost on D from having Seidenberg back.

Just the Facts Game Time: 7:30 PM, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY. TV Broadcast: NBC Sports Network, TSN, RDS. Radio Broadcast: 98.5 The Sports Hub. Record: Bruins 2, Rangers 0. The Other Side's SB Nation Site: Blueshirt Banter Get Tickets here: Boston Bruins Tickets Rangers projected lines Hagelin - Stepan - Callahan Zuccarello - Brassard - Nash Dorsett - Boyle - Pyatt Kreider - Richards - Asham Girardi - McDonaghStralman - Del ZottoMoore - Eminger Lundqvist Bruins projected lines: Lucic - Krejci - Horton Marchand - Bergeron - JagrPeverley - Kelly - SeguinPaille - Campbell - Thornton Chara - SeidenbergKrug - BoychukBartkowski - McQuaid Rask Preview: It's likely Dougie Hamilton will be riding the pine in the press box tonight, as Dennis Seidenberg has recovered enough from Game 7 to draw back into the lineup. Matt Bartkowski and Torey Krug have played their way into the NHL, and will likely remain there. (Man, next year is going to be reeeeeally interesting when it comes time to make decisions about this lineup. But that is then, and this is now.) On the Rangers' side, it seems that dapper goaltender Henrik Lundqvist may be battling a shoulder injury. He should still be in net tonight (playoffs, man) but look for the Bruins to try to exploit that weakness. The Rangers are a hot mess on D right now, and a goalie not playing up to par behind that level of garbage fire could mean good things for the Bruins. As in games 1 and 2, it's important for the Bruins to focus on neutralizing Rick Nash and the Callahan line. As long as the team keeps carrying out the game plan from games 1 and 2, they should be alright -- especially with the boost on D from having Seidenberg back.

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.

So the wheels have really fallen off of the Chicago express ride to the cup, huh? It's pretty ridiculous. Saw a sneak preview of Furious 6. It was fantastic. Wilkes-Barrie/Scranton won again last night, forcing game 7 against Providence. Jerks. What's on tap?

Providence, RI - For a third straight game, the Providence Bruins had a chance to eliminate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and for a third straight time, they failed to finish off the pesky Penguins. Bruce Cassidy's Bruins will have a fourth chance to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals Wednesday night when they host Game 7. Ever since Penguins coach John Hynes elected to bench Jeff Zatkoff in favor of Brad Thiessen, the Bruins have been hard pressed to find the back of the net. Tonight, the former Northeastern star was once again stellar. In a game dominated territorially by the Bruins, Thiessen stopped 46 of 47 shots he faced, giving his team a chance for some overtime heroics. "He played real well. In the third period when we were not going and Providence was flying, it wasn't just the shots on net. It was the "Grade A" chances and quality chances he stopped. He kept us in the game," said Hynes. Enter former UNH star Trevor Smith who scored the game-winning goal just 3:26 into the extra session on a wraparound. Smith notched his third goal of the playoffs when he took a feed from Alex Grant. He moved from right to left in back of the Providence cage before stuffing it past Providence goalie Niklas Svedberg. The game-winning goal came as a result of some mental mistakes by a young Bruins team. "We had a winger go to the wrong wall and our defenseman burped up the puck. He gave it away. There were two young guys. Sometimes the pressure gets to you. In the overtime, anything can happen and it did," said a frustrated Cassidy. Wilkes-Barre had the only three shots on goal of the overtime period. The Penguins mentality changed in between the last period of regulation and the extra session. The Penguins came out aggressively forechecking, something they were not doing much during regulation. "The difference between the third period and the overtime wasn't a physical thing. It was mental," said Hynes following the game. "We were playing not to lose. You could tell guys didn't want to make a play that was there. The pressure was on us. If we made a mistake and gave up a goal, our season was over. The discussion between the third period and overtime was we had to go out and play. We couldn't be afraid to lose and we had to go out and play hockey," added Hynes. After a scoreless first period, Providence got on the board first just over a minute into the second stanza. Just after Wilkes-Barre successfully killed off a penalty, the Bruins caught the Penguins in an untimely line change. Sensing an opportunity, Chris Bourque rifled a pass up the right boards to a waiting Jamie Tardif who sauced the puck over to Craig Cunningham who was cutting down the left slot. Cunningham made a quick move and deposited the puck into the back of the net. Former Boston College star defenseman Brian Dumoulin evened the score at the 6:03 mark of the second period. The Penguins were moving the puck around on a two-man advantage when Dumoulin blasted a wrist shot into the top corner over Svedberg's glove. Bobby Robins' penalty had just expired so the goal will go in the books as just a five-on-four power play goal, but it was the result of a five-on-three. Despite losing Torey Krug to the parent club, the Bruins still moved the puck well on the power play, but could not convert on the man advantage for a fourth straight game. Krug, who Tardif described after Game 2, as "coming into his own," has shown why he was such a weapon for Providence by scoring two goals and adding an assist for Boston in the first two games of the series against the New York Rangers. "We're missing open nets. At some point, you got to put the puck in the net. You have to finish. We have to start finishing better. We need some production Wednesday," said Cassidy. Wilkes-Barre has scored five power play goals in the last three games. An obvious key in the decisive seventh game will be for the Bruins to stay out of the penalty box. There are few things better in sport than a G

The Bruins are up 2-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Rangers, and they may be up two more players the next time the B’s take the ice in Game 3. Veteran defeseman Dennis Seidenberg practiced with his team for the first time since injuring himself a week ago during the Bruins’ Game 7 win over the Maple Leafs. Defenseman Wade Redden also practiced with the team for the second time since an injury. The two are still listed as day-to-day, but it’s possible they could be ready to play by game time on Tuesday. If they are, it would leave head coach Claude Julien with some tough roster decisions since the rookie trio of Matt Bartkowski, Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton has stepped up admirably in the absence of the veterans. Hear Julien’s take in the video above, or check it out on NESN’s YouTube channel.

We love it, of course. Can’t get enough of it. Every time John Tortorella, the egomaniacal coach of the New York Rangers, calls out one of his players, we’re like the little girl in the TV commercials. We want more, we want more. We really like it, so we want more.

The issue doesn’t quite seem as dire as it did when the series against the New York Rangers began, but the Bruins blue line slowly is getting healthy.

The Bruins’ 5-2 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series Sunday afternoon might have been the best of both worlds for the coaching staff.Overall, it was a good effort. The B’s got scoring from three of the four forward lines and a couple from the defense. And they got excellent goaltending from Tuukka Rask.

GREENBURGH, N.Y. — The Rangers trail the Bruins, 2-0, in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the exact same hole they faced in the first round when they rallied to beat the Washington Capitals in seven games.If that experience is a benefit, it depends on who you ask. It was a common topic yesterday as the Rangers regrouped before tonight’s Game 3 at Madison Square Garden, with players offering a range of opinions.