New York coach John Tortorella didn't want to point fingers at anyone on his roster following the Rangers' Game 2 loss against the Boston Bruins, putting them in an 0-2 hole for the second straight series. Especially not at the backbone of the Blueshirts and perennial Vezina Trophy candidate, the 31-year-old goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

"I’m not evaluating our goaltending," Tortorella quickly told reporters after the game. "I don’t need to evaluate Henrik. We know what Henrik is."

On Sunday, however, Henrik was a goaltender that allowed five goals on 32 shots. He also allowed five goals in a playoff game, something he last did back in Game 6 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Washington Capitals. In fact, Lundqvist allowed more than three goals in a game against Boston for the first time in his career. So while Lundqvist isn't yet worthy of the public verbal vitriol of a frustrated Rangers coach, there were issues when it came to his game in Boston this afternoon.

"I thought I was in position but a couple screens and when you give up five goals you can’t be satisfied obviously. You have to look at the way they scored goals too," the Swede netminder said after the loss, his second straight against the B's. "It’s about teamwork out there and today it didn’t really work for us. We just have to talk it through and I have to better and the guys in front of me have to step it up as well."

For Hank and the Rangers, the woes began just five and a half minutes into play, when the 22-year-old Torey Krug struck with his second goal in as many games, beating Lundqvist through the wickets for a 1-0 tally in favor of the Black-and-Gold. But as the Rangers answered back a mere two minutes and 33 seconds later with Ryan Callahan's beautiful breakaway marker (his second of the postseason), it was clear that the Bruins and Rangers were in for yet another battle in Boston.

Jumping back on top when Gregory Campbell capitalized on a rebound off a Krug shot for his first goal of the playoffs, the Bruins' lead lasted just 56 seconds before New York's Rick Nash broke his goalless skid with his first playoff tally as a Ranger, knotting the two Eastern Conference rivals up once more.

Despite their status as the game's aggressor, through four goals and under 25 minutes of play, the Bruins led for just three minutes and 29 seconds.

Capitalizing on the momentum that came with the game-tying goal from Nash, the Rangers would go on to control the pace of play, at one point simply toying with the Bruins' defense on a four-on-four frame, but found themselves behind for the third time in the contest when more four-on-four action paved the way for Johnny Boychuk's third goal of the playoffs, putting the Bruins back on top with a 3-2 score after two periods in Boston.

The Rangers, as the opening 26 seconds of the third period showed us, wouldn't recover.

In a play eerily similar to Thursday's overtime goal, it would be a tally from Brad Marchand that'd extend the Bruins' lead to two, and an exclamation point of a marker from Milan Lucic with just 7:21 to go that'd seal the deal on a Game 2 victory and a 2-0 series lead for the Boston Bruins heading to New York City.

For Tortorella's club, much like it did when Torey Krug struck late in Game 1, the Bruins' fourth goal of the afternoon proved to be too much for the Rangers' embattled psyche.

"We made coverage mistakes. Our second period is where we want to be," Tortorella remarked of the Rangers' inconsistent efforts through two. "We can’t put it in the net. We had multiple chances. We felt really good going into the third, and to have that type of goal go in on just a two-on-two, it hurts you. And then they’re just going to fill the middle and they’re just going to jam you, so we couldn’t generate much more.

"I think there are some defendable plays, and that’s hurt us," he noted, adding, "I think the positioning’s there, but we just haven’t defended it, in a number of different situations."

On the other bench, the good times keep rolling for a Boston offense that's begun this series with eight goals in the first two goals, and on the heels of a Sunday effort that saw the Black-and-Gold get goals from three of their four lines.

"Every line chipped in and did what they were supposed to. That’s what makes a tough team to play against, when we got all four lines going like that on a consistent basis," B's forward Brad Marchand, who is currently riding a three-game point streak following today's game, said. "We’re very confident. We’re feeling pretty good, but at the same time we don’t want to let up. They were down 2-0 in their last series and we want to make sure that we go in and give our best effort in New York."

Of course, the Bruins won't be comfortable until the series' scoreboard reads four victories for Boston, and understandably so, especially given the script the Rangers wrote in the first round when they lost the first two games only to respond and ultimately win the series in seven games, but with the consistent effort up and down the lineup, B's coach Claude Julien knows that they're a hard team to beat.

"We had a lot of trust in our game we had a lot of trust in our style of game. And right now it’s about bringing it every night. And it’s been like that for years. You know, we feel that when we do play the game that we want to play there’s some stability in our game and we don’t give much," the B's bench boss noted.

"At the same time we create some chances, and our offense has always come from good defense. We turn pucks over and then we go back on the attack," Julien added. "We’ve gotten better and the Jekyll and Hyde is, as I mentioned, something that’s been with our team his year during the regular season and a little bit in the first round. But I know that a lot of teams have said the same thing when it comes to their teams in the short schedule. So I don’t think we’re any different, but hopefully we’ve turned the page on that and can bring back a little more consistency in our game like we have in the last two."

Krug continues to give Lundqvist, Rangers nightmares

It's hard to believe that this afternoon was just 5-foot-9 defensemen Torey Krug's second career playoff game. In just two games -- with just 29 minutes and 37 seconds of ice-time to his name -- Krug has been the ultimate x-factor in the Bruins' two games to none lead over the Blueshirts. Called up from Providence and ultimately allowed to play his game, a game predicated on using his speed to create scoring chances in the blink of an eye, the 22-year-old has without question become the talk of the Hub.

And that's something that's begun with a vote of confidence from Claude Julien.

"I said, ‘don’t be afraid to make mistakes.’ I don’t want him playing on his heels. In other words, I told him, ‘don’t be afraid to make mistakes and play your game.’ So that was basically what I told him when he first got here," Julien said of Krug's arrival to the big club and his role with the club in round two. "I said, ‘You know, I know how good you are, I know what you can bring to this team, just go out there and do it.’ I think it’s important, but the last thing you want to do is get those guys to play on their heels or play afraid to make a mistake. Confidence goes a long way in this game.

"When coaches are able to give players confidence, it shows because it makes a big difference. Instead of a guy making a mistake and looking at the bench every time, seeing if the coach is mad at him or will take away some ice time. You’ve got to let him play, and those guys right now, I give them full credit for taking that advice and showing that they’re very capable of playing in the playoffs and on our hockey club."

For the former Michigan State Spartan, the vote of confidence has led to tremendous results, with the Michigan-born puck-mover tallying two goals and three points in just two playoff games with the Black-and-Gold. "I’ve said it time and time again, I come into this locker room, very comfortable, calm. I get to watch some of the best professionals in the world prepare for games like this, as if it’s any other game," Krug noted, adding, "I have a lot of guys to lean on and they all give me confidence back. So, it’s unbelievable."

Becoming just the fourth Bruin in team history to score goals in his first two playoff games, and first to do so since Tyler Seguin accomplished the feat back in Games 1 and 2 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals, the few bumps in Krug's highly successful rookie campaign in Providence have without question bolstered his confidence on the biggest stage of his budding professional career.

"For my development [playing with Providence]'s been very key. There were times when I struggled down there defending bigger bodies, now I’m up here in the Stanley Cup Playoffs against [Brian] Boyle, who’s a huge guy and it’s really helped me learn how to defend and offensively I’ve grown to make plays at faster speeds as well," Krug, who's been a fixture out there against the Rangers' third line this series, said.

But perhaps what's been most impressive when it comes to the play of No. 47 has been his abundance of confidence, something seldom seen by rookie blue-liners in the limelight.

"I’m 5-foot-9, I’m not very big, I have to play with the puck to be an impact player," the undersized d-man said following the victory. "For me you’ve got to be confident with the puck. If I’m not making plays, I’m not going to be effective and guys are going to go out there and they’re just going to find a 6’2 guy that can do the same thing without the puck. So, you just got to be confident and play with the puck."

Rask's confidence building as series shifts to New York

With the praise deservedly thrown Henrik Lundqvist's way to begin this series, you'd be left to assume that the Bruins' Tuukka Rask is a bum that B's general manager Peter Chiarelli found in a pinch to help fill the void left by the exodus of two-time Vezina winner Tim Thomas. But through two games, it's been the Finnish netminder that's trumped the skill-set of Sweden's finest.

Earning No. 1 star honors by way of his 35-save victory, and bumping his second round save-percentage up to a dominant .944%, the 26-year-old will now head to New York in search of a 3-0 series lead, and with his confidence at its peak.

"My confidence is always high. That's just how I try to be. No matter what happens, I try to stay calm and even keeled," No. 40 quipped following the win, his third straight playoff victory. "Confidence can’t go any lower or higher, I think."

But in a year that's been headlined by Rask's desire to prove his worth to the Bruins, fighting for the fans' vote of confidence and a new contract, there's no denying that Rask knows just who he's going up against in the opposite crease.

"It's a good challenge obviously. I know that I can’t let in any lead goals most nights because he is who he is," Rask said of Lundqvist. "But then again it's a team game and we’re more focused on the Rangers than any individual."

Rangers' lifeless power-play could be ultimate downfall

In 2011, the Bruins were somehow able to end a 39-year Cup drought with one of the league's worst postseason power-plays. It was the definition of an anomaly, and by all means a recipe for disaster for most clubs. It was what helped doomed the Cup hopes of the 2012 Bruins, and it could very well be the downfall of the 2013 New York Rangers.

You need timely scoring. It's really as simple as that, and you're not always going to be able to get that from your club at full-strength. Sometimes, you will need a boost from your man-advantage. And through nine games, the Blueshirts have gotten that boost just twice. On 36 power-plays, the Rangers have converted just twice (twice!), and through two games of this round, they boast a woeful 0-for-9 mark on the advantage versus Boston.

"Our power play was better tonight," Tortorella said, cutting a reporter off, by all means knowing where the question was going. "Didn’t score, but it was better."

As comforting as Torts' words may have been, it's not what anybody on Broadway wants to hear. For the Rangers, down 0-2 for the second round in a row, 'better' is no longer an option. Fans want answers. And by answers, I of course mean power-play goals.

"It’s frustrating. Especially, when you’re supposed to fall back in the game or take the lead in the game," Rangers' sniper Rick Nash said of the club's playoff struggles on the man-advantage. "We watched all of the video. We got all of the game plans. It’s on the players now and the guys who are out there to execute, just as we talked about last game."

Beginning the series on an 0-for-9 note, the New York power-play is now 0-for-21 on the road in the postseason, and will now head back to Madison Square Garden, where they went 2-for-15 in round one. Hey, at least that's something to build on, right?

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