NHL playoffs 2013: Bruins win in OT, Kings surge to victory late

Sidney Crosby scored three times in the first 21:15, and Brenden Morrow’s goal in the second period kept the surging Senators at arm’s length heading into the third.

The Senators pulled Lehner late, but couldn’t break through to tie it.

Vlasic went straight to the dressing room after the hit.

The Sharks led in shots, 24-13, after 40 minutes of play.

Goals were slow to come in the first half of the game, but there was a veritable outburst in a 2:57 span on either side of the second intermission.

But the Bruins put the lie to any broadcast theories of “momentum” by tying it at 2-2 just 2:41 after Stepan’s goal.

Unlike in the first period when his legs worked magic, this time Lundqvist’s attempt to fetch the puck behind him only served to slide it into the goal.

Pyatt didn’t approach with very much speed, possibly even letting up as he made the hit, but the force of contact and the curvature of the boards combined to make Boychuk’s head take the brunt of impact.

Stoll did not return to the game after the play, while Torres was given a two-minute charging penalty.

In his postgame comments, Torres stated he didn’t believe the play was a penalty, which was an opinion his coach, Todd McLellan, agreed with. Los Angeles head coach Darryl Sutter called the play “careless” on Wednesday and stated that Stoll would not be available for some time.

Krug was kept to just 3:22 of ice time in the period, but Bartkowski logged 8:17, second only to team leader and noted minute muncher Zdeno Chara’s 8:43.

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Whether or not either team gets to full strength on defense, this should be an entertaining series. These two teams were picked to be at or near the top of the Eastern Conference when we began this shortened season. Neither team quite performed up to expectations during the regular season, but both are here in round two. I think they’ll give us a long, brutal battle.

The Rangers went 3-0 at Madsion Square Garden and 1-3 at Verizon Center, but they won Game 7 at Verizon Center. The Bruins went 2-2 at TD Garden and 2-1 at Air Canada Centre, but they won Game 7 at TD Garden. All these end up being are more numbers, but it’ll be interesting to see what happens if the Rangers can steal one of these first two at TD Garden, or if the Bruins continue to play well on the road.