Stanley Cup playoffs 2013: Sharks tie series with Kings, Rangers fall behind 3-0 to Bruins

It was a wild, bloody Tuesday night in the NHL as the Boston Bruins took a 3-0 series lead after a victory against the New York Rangers, while the San Jose Sharks protected their home ice to tie their series with the Los Angeles Kings.

To the GIFs!

Typical of a playoff series that is suddenly much tighter than it looked four days ago, the game featured lots of collisions, some intended and some not.

Early in the second, Dustin Brown and Couture had this inadvertent collision away from the puck.

The Kings failed to score on that power play, however, and the Sharks needed no quick whistle to dodge a goal. The Kings misfired on both of their power plays. After the Sharks outshot the Kings 15-3 in the first period, shots in the second period were even at six apiece.

But the Sharks got the only goal, and if they can hold on, the series will be tied at 2-2 heading into Game 5 on Thursday.

Neither backed down.

The Sharks led the Kings 2-0 late in the second period. A win would tie the series.

We don’t know who this guy is or why he looks the way he does, so we’ll just pretend he’s Hollywood Squares celebrity Bruce Vilanch.

His conversion back to forward this season by coach Todd McLellan produced nine goals and 20 points in 30 regular season games. Tonight Burns scored his second goal of the playoffs.

However, the Sharks only had a one-goal lead to show for their efforts. They came up short on two power play opportunities, a failure that could come back to haunt them.

Wow. Just like that, the Rangers are on the brink of elimination.

Brilliantly. The way King Henrik played, you wouldn’t have guessed he battled a shoulder injury in the previous game. He stopped 32 of 34 shots and made plenty of flashy saves. It’s too bad he can’t score for his team.

The Boston Bruins got that bounce.

The goal gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead with just 3:31 left. They hung on for the win and took a 3-0 commanding lead in the series.

On the follow-through of Seguin’s shot, his stick rode up and under the visor of Kreider, who lay on the ice for a few minutes as he bled. He went to the locker room for repairs and was yet to return in the last few minutes of the third period, where the Bruins took a late 2-1 lead.

No penalties on either play. Because this is hockey, and there will be blood.

Dorsett then told Marchand what he thought of hm.

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This maneuver is called the “kick and run.”

So close, yet so wouldn’t have counted anyway.

And yet the Rangers lead after two. Even an illegal shot attempt can’t get past King Henrik!

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Couture has been a key member of the Sharks this postseason. However, he appeared to sustain an injury in Game 3 that left questions about the severity of the issue.

This is, of course, under the assumption that he plays in the game. According to reports from morning skate, Couture will be available for Game 4. With that in mind, it questions whether he is battling through injury. Will this alter his game in any way? Will his ice time minutes take a hit?

Julien stated that he didn’t expect Seidenberg to participate in warmups for Game 3 and would be as surprised as anyone if he was able to do so. The head coach also directly said he didn’t expect Seidenberg to be available.

Seidenberg sustained a lower-body injury in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. He has missed the first two games of the semifinal series due to the issue. On Monday, Julien stated Seidenberg was likely a game-time decision for Game 3 and that his status was going to be determined based upon how he felt. Apparently, he still isn’t ready to return to action.

The New York Rangers will be in a familiar position on Tuesday night. This is the second consecutive round that the Rangers will have fallen down 2-0 in a postseason series. For the second straight round, they are returning home to Madison Square Garden to face this deficit. Of course, the very fact that they are in the second round tells you the obvious: that doing so in the last round led to the start of their comeback. They will try to win four out of five for the second straight series starting on Tuesday against the Boston Bruins.

They will try to do that just two days after playing their worst game of the postseason. The offense was limp, their defense -- even top dogs Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh -- was tissue paper, and Henrik Lundqvist surrendered five goals. You play another game like that, and you’re basically dead in the water. The Rangers, their coaches, players and fans all know this.

The injury occurred during the third period when Lundqvist made a save on a shot attempt by David Paille. Lundqvist explained that he fell awkwardly after the play and hurt his shoulder in the process. Despite some discomfort, Lundqvist plans to play in Game 3 on Tuesday night. The goaltender stated that everyone is dealing with soreness during the playoffs and the injury will not alter his availability.

Lundqvist stated he will attempt to put last game’s performance behind him, via ESPN New York: