(Welcome to the TD Garden for today's matinee Game 2 affair between the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers...)

Ah, nothin' says playoff hockey like a three o'clock game on a Sunday afternoon, right? Of course, I'm joking. Matinee hockey is stupid as is, but playoff matinee hockey? Now you're just trying to bother us, NBC. Now, I'll save my anti-matinee rant for another time, but seriously, it's stupid and I wish it'd stop. It makes no sense. It's springtime, only diehards are going to watch this game instead of going outside and carrying on with their day.

In Game 1, the Boston Bruins' trio of young defensemen perhaps unexpectedly answered the bell against a battle-tested New York Rangers squad.

While a 17-second meltdown from the Bruins paved the way for goals from Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan put the Bruins in a 2-1 hole against Henrik Lundqvist in the third period, the Bruins found their response when a power-play goal tally from the 22-year-old Torey Krug (the first of his NHL career) beat Lundqvist to draw the Bruins-Rangers back even with just over half a period left to play.

Simply assaulting the Rangers for the next almost 30 minutes of play, a 16-shot overtime frame from the Black-and-Gold, headlined by a six-shot power-play to begin the period, finally found its end when the 5-foot-9 Brad Marchand capitalized on a great feed from Patrice Bergeron and beat King Henrik for his first goal of the playoffs.

But now, with two days off, and a refreshed Lundqvist ready to go, the Bruins know that it's going to take the same effort (and more) to make this a 2-0 series edge heading back to Madison Square Garden.

On a lineup note, it'll remain the same from Game 1, as Dennis Seidenberg and Wade Redden skated this morning, but will remain out of action with undisclosed injuries. This will keep Krug on the Boston bottom-pairing with Adam McQuaid, while Matt Bartkowski stays with Johnny Boychuk, and Dougie Hamilton with the 6-foot-9 Zdeno Chara.

In net, the Bruins will once more turn to Tuukka Rask. With five wins in eight playoff games this spring, the 26-year-old netminder will look to improve upon his .926 save-percentage on the heels of a 33-save victory on Thursday night. The Rangers will obviously counter with Henrik Lundqvist, who was the undeserved loser on Thursday night, stopping 45 of 48 shots thrown his way in the defeat.

First Period

20:00 - Bergeron line gets the nod for Boston. Stepan line for New York. And we're off...

15:00 - B's are flying right now with the same effort and intensity we saw on Thursday. Rangers' defense looks like they're back-peddling on every play. Keeping this up is going to be difficult for Boston, but it'll be exceedingly easy if the Rangers don't give any pushback like they've failed to do in the first game and now the first period of Game 2. This is just uncharacteristic of the Blueshirts that have given Boston fits over the past five years or so.

14:32 - Torey Krug continues his hot-handed goal-scoring. The rookie blue-liner strikes once more, and that's two goals in two career playoff games. 1-0, Bruins. And it all begins with a great defensive play by Adam McQuaid to prevent a Brian Boyle scoring chance. All around energy for the B's is through the roof right now.

11:59 - Captain Cally strikes back! Ryan Callahan takes advantage of a bad turnover from Brad Marchand, and a Dougie Hamilton swats only helps him move the puck up closer for a breakaway for the Rangers' captain. Unassisted goal to No. 24 there. His second of the playoffs, and first this round.

10:44 - Bruins going on the penalty-kill here. Rich Peverley sits for high-sticking. Rangers were 0-for-3 on the man-advantage in Game 1, and are just 2-for-31 in the playoffs. That is one ugly power-play unit.

8:40 - B's kill it off. The Rangers finish the power-play with zero shots on net. Boston with two. On the penalty-kill! The New York power-play is all kinds of terrible right now.

3:38 - Shots favor Boston right now, 10 to 8,

2:29 - Chara to the box. Slashes down on Derick Brassard's stick.

:28 - The Rangers get some good cycling there, but can't convert, and the B's kill it off. Outside of a 10-second spurt that saw Marchand and Bergeron toy with the Rangers' power-play unit in their own zone, I'd have to say that that was probably the Rangers' best looking power-play of the series thus far.

Thoughts after one...

The Rangers' power-play is going to have give them something at some point in this series or it's going to be lights out for the Rangers earlier than they expected when this team was assembled. Through five periods of play, the 31-year-old Lundqvist has done his job, and at some point it's going to come down to the offense. The Rangers can't generate anything right now, and it's downright terrifying to watch if you're a Blueshirts fan.

Second Period

17:36 - Soup's on. Gregory Campbell off a rebound off a Krug shot. B's jump out to a 2-1 edge, and Krug now has three points in two playoff games. That's goal No. 1 of the postseason for Greg Campbell.

16:40 - Oh, man. Rick Nash comes up, completely undresses Chara, and strikes for his first of the postseason. That's a huge goal for Nash and the Rangers. All tied up once again.

16:14 - Pile-up in front of the net, and everybody wants a piece of Derek Dorsett. Krug shoves him, as does Chris Kelly. Dorsett and Kelly will sit with matching minors for the fun.

12:23 - Rangers almost score, but it's denied by the post, and Rask is able to cover it up wit some help from Chara. This period has been all Rangers. Tremendous recovery by John Tortorella's squad following the Campbell goal.

11:32 - Bruins will go on the power-play now. Brassard will sit for the hook on a streaking Hamilton in the offensive zone. Bruins were 1-for-4 on the man-advantage on Thursday night.

9:25 - Nothin' doing for the Boston man-advantage that time around. Different look to the first unit too, as Lucic's net-front presence was replaced by Greg Campbell. Not sure I agree with that move, to be honest.

8:14 - More 4-on-4 action on the way. Arron Asham and Shawn Thornton will sit for some post-whistle shoving. Good move by Asham, as the Blueshirts simply dominated the previous 4-on-4 situation. Let's see how NY handles this go 'round.

7:52 - Marchand with the great dish, and Johnny Boychuk blasts it home. That's Boychuk's third of the playoffs. That's three goals in just nine games. He had three in his last 65 games before the start of the playoffs! Finding the net, man.

2:01 - The Bruins are winning the one-on-one battles right now. One of the stranger things about those battles though? They're being won by Boston's little guys. Marchand with a tremendous keep-in, Torey Krug with an end-to-end rush. Great hustle right now from the Black-and-Gold. They're the aggressors right now.

Thoughts after two...

What a weird game this is. The Rangers should honestly be in front with the way they dictated pace early in the second, but letting their foot off the gas once again is the reason that they're entering this period down by a goal. Expect an all out assault from the Blueshirts in the third. They don't want to head back to NYC down two games to none.

Third Period

19:34 - Shades of Game 1 overtime. Bergeron to Marchand and it's 4-2, Bruins. That's No. 63's second of the postseason, and second in as many games. Crowd's getting their vocals warmed up now, with chants of "Lund-qvist" coming down from the balcony.

14:36 - Rangers going to the power-play once again. They're 0-for-3 on the power-play today, 0-for-7 in the series. Yikes.

12:00 - Rangers' advantage fumbles once again. They're now 0-for-20 on the power-play on the road in the 2013 playoffs. That's simply unacceptable for a group with as much talent as this Blueshirts squad.

9:28 - Jagr gets denied by a huge save from Lundqvist. My goodness. That was probably the 41-year-old's best chance of the entire playoffs. That surely would've been the dagger. Take note of that save if the Rangers make this one interesting.

7:21 - Lucic strikes, and it's 5-2. The Black-and-Gold are opening this one up.

6:51 - Campbell and Dorsett have a dance 'cause the Rangers are losing by three goals.

4:52 - Lundqvist with a great save on a ridiculous Danny Paille tip. He gets up favoring his left arm a bit though. That's kinda (see: ridiculously) scary to see if you're in red, white, and blue. He looks to be OK, we assume, as trainers stay on the benches.

1:12 - Shawn Thornton will sit. Cross-checking is the call.

:16.2 - Paille on a shorthanded break gets denied by the post.

0.0 - Bruins win this one, 5-2, and will take a 2-0 series lead to New York.

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