John Tortorella is looking for answers after two losses in Boston. (AP)

There were no FCC violations during his postgame presser. There were no explosions. There was a little agitation with one reporter’s question, but other than that, John Tortorella demonstrated good behavior after his team was dismantled 5-2 in Game 2 Sunday at TD Garden. The loss puts his Rangers in a 2-0 series hole, but it’s a familiar spot for Tortorella’s Rangers, who were down 2-0 to the Capitals before Henrik Lundqvist got hot and the Rangers won four of the next five to save their season.

“Listen, we don’t want to lose two games here,” the Rangers taskmaster said. “No one does. But there’s no give in the team. There will be no give in this team. Again, we need to go win a game. Not look anywhere else, just try to win our first home game this series.”

What gave Torts hope that his team can rebound in Game 3 Tuesday night in New York?

“If you’re talking about the latter part of the first, second period, I think that’s the way we have to play. And I think we can. I think we can sustain that,” Tortorella said.

The Rangers outshot the Bruins 16-9 in the second period and had three shots on a power play that now is 2-for-34 in the playoffs. But then the Rangers allowed a goal from Johnny Boychuk on a wrister to the left of Lundqvist and a two-on-one breakdown goal to Brad Marchand 26 seconds into the third that left Tortorella shaking his head.

“The third and fourth goals are defendable,” Tortorella said. “We made coverage mistakes. Our second period is where we want to be. 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.”
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The Bruins dispatched the Rangers in a 5-2 blowout win in Game 2 on Sunday. (AP)

The Bruins took a 2-0 series lead over the Rangers in the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 5-2 victory Sunday at TD Garden.

Unlike their previous two games, the B’s didn’t need overtime to secure the victory, as they added to a 3-2 lead entering the third period with goals from Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic. The game marked the first time in 32 starts against the Bruins that Henrik Lundqvist allowed more than three goals. The last time Lundqvist allowed five goals in a game was on March 9, 2011.

Torey Krug got the B’s on the board in the first period with his second goal in as many career NHL playoff games, but Ryan Callahan answered in short order by capitalizing on a Marchand turnover and some sluggish work from Dougie Hamilton. The B’s took a 2-1 lead on a goal from Gregory Campbell off a rebound from a Krug shot, with the Rangers once again answering in short order on Rick Nash‘s first goal of the postseason. Johnny Boychuk gave the B’s a third lead with his third goal of the playoffs, and that was the lead that stuck.

The series will resume in New York, where the teams will play Game 3 on Tuesday and Game 4 on Thursday.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE BRUINS

- How about that defense? Boychuk’s goal marked the Bruins’ 11th goal from a defenseman in nine games this postseason.

- With three points in two games, the Bruins have to be thrilled with the production they’ve gotten from Krug. He’s put up such numbers while getting the least amount of ice time amongst Bruins’ blueliners, too, so he’s making the most of his time.

Though Krug is a strong skater and certainly is creating in the offensive zone, he’s still probably behind Matt Bartkowski when it comes to his likelihood of sticking in the lineup when everyone is healthy. Bartkowski finished third on the Bruins in time on ice again and is clearly the most likely to stick and should replace Wade Redden if and when the trio of injured defensemen are ready to go. Read the rest of this entry »

Both Dennis Seidenberg and Wade Redden skated on Sunday, but both are out of the lineup for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Rangers, Bruins coach Claude Julien said prior to the game.

Andrew Ference will also miss the game and has yet to skate since missing Game 6 against the Maple Leafs. With the trio of injured defensemen out, rookies Matt Bartkowski, Dougie Hamilton and Torey Krug will be in the lineup again.

For more on the Bruins, visit weei.com/bruins.

Patrice Bergeron would like to look forward to a regulation win in Game 2. (Mike Petraglia/WEEI.com)

The Bruins are hoping to keep up their one-goal magic in Game 2 against the Rangers.

The Bruins can take a 2-0 lead against the Rangers with a win at TD Garden before the series shifts to New York for Games 3 and 4.

“The last two games were good,” Shawn Thornton said. “I don’t have a ton of confidence in overtime. I’m on the edge of my seat the whole time. But the experience we’ve had in the last few years, the core group here, helps in the extra frame. We’re not jumpy, we’re not edgy. We’re trying to control pucks and play our game. That’s helped. These are two teams pretty evenly matched. There are going to be a lot of close games. Let’s hope we can continue to feed off that experience.”

Thornton would like his fourth line to finally put one in the net after coming so close in the last two games.

“We’re pretty deep as far as the lines go,” Thornton said. “I’m still waiting for us to chip in. We’ve talked about it. Listen, we’ve been close. We’ve had a ton of chances. We’re not putting them in right now. It’d be nice if we could take the pressure off some of the big boys with a couple of goals from our line.

“With three different guys [scoring in overtime so far], it’s kind of been the thing for our team the last few years. When we’re successful, we have everyone chipping at different times. That needs to continue for us to have success.”

Daniel Paille, another member of the Merlot line with Thornton, was asked about what a 2-0 series lead would do for the Bruins.

“If the situation like that were to come today, we’d feel pretty good about ourselves but we try not to jump too far ahead,” Paille said. “New York was down 2-0 in [last series] and they fought back to win the series and won two games at home right away. Obviously, we want to put ourselves in that position but we have to do the little things first.”

“I think every second, every shift is important and it’s about making sure you’re ready for that one shift,” Patrice Bergeron said when asked about the overtime magic. “It goes with experience, also. We’ve been through it so many times, we know what to expect. We know that we have to keep putting pressure to keep going at to get some results. It’s not bad either to win in regulation, also. If you do have to go into overtime, you have to keep your poise but still keep attacking.”

The Bruins got a couple of positive signs regarding their injured defensemen Saturday, with Dennis Seidenberg skating prior to practice and Wade Redden returning to practice.

Following the skate, Claude Julien told reporters that Seidenberg will not play in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Rangers, while Redden will be a game-time decision. Ference has yet to skate since missing Game 6 of the first round against the Maple Leafs.

Though the Bruins struggled at points without the defensemen, they have won both games played without all three, as Seidenberg left after two minutes of Game 7 against Toronto and all three players sat out for Game 1 against the Rangers.

For more on the Bruins, visit weei.com/bruins.

Captain Zdeno Chara focused on the mission of leading the Bruins in the playoffs. (Mike Petraglia/WEEI.com)

One of the by-products of having three regular defensemen out of the lineup and injured is putting a heavy burden on others.

No where has the burden fallen more heavily than on the shoulders of Bruins captain Zdeno Chara. Claude Julien admitted as much on Friday, a much-needed day of rest for Chara, who logged 38 minutes of ice time in the Game 1 overtime win, three days after skating nearly 36 minutes in a Game 7 win against the Leafs.

Is Julien concerned?

“Well, he’s done it twice in a row now, when you look back at Game 7 and [Thursday],” Julien said. “We’re including overtime in that session, as well. He’s in great shape, he’s got a couple of days here to recover, so I don’t see that being an issue. To be honest with you, right now we don’t have a choice. You deal with it the best way you can.”

In addition to scoring the first goal of the game, Chara’s poke check in the Bruins zone set Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand off on the game-winning rush in overtime Thursday. Those two feats, combined with the 38 minutes on the ice earned him the Army Captain’s Bruins jacket for hero of the game.

“I’m just trying to help the team as much as I can and whatever coach feel comfortable putting out there, I’m fine with that,” Chara said.

Chara has been instrumental in helping rookies, Dougie Hamilton, Torey Krug and Matt Bartkowski in their first NHL playoff experience. He started the game Thursday paired with Hamilton. There is the chance that some combination of Andrew Ference, Dennis Seidenberg and Wade Redden return for Game 2 Sunday but until then, Chara and the Bruins will have no choice but to be prepared.

“You try to obviously try to talk to them on the ice as much as you can,” Chara said. “[The] coaches [are] doing their part so, and also you’ve got to let them play, the way they naturally like to play. So, that’s the biggest thing, but like I said it’s something that’s never easy for any player to come in and all of a sudden be put in a spot like this and you got to make sure that as a unit of five we all play a certain way to make it easier on certain situations.”

Henrik Lundqvist fights off a shot Thursday night in Boston. (AP)

For the second straight year, Henrik Lunqvist is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, given to the NHL’s top goaltender. As a matter of fact, Lundqvist is making a very strong case as one of the greatest goalies ever to play the game. Before winning the Vezina Trophy in 2012, he was nominated in each of his first three seasons, and is the only goaltender in NHL history to record 30 wins in each of his first seven seasons.

And, for a second straight year, he has led his team into the second round of the playoffs by standing on his head. He came into Thursday’s Game 1 with back-to-back shutouts of the Capitals in Games 6 and 7 to lead the Rangers to victory. He extended that streak to 152 minutes, 23 seconds before Zdeno Chara beat him midway through the second period.

He stopped 45 of the first 47 shots he faced Thursday night, including the first 15 of overtime before Brad Marchand finally beat him in overtime for a 3-2 Bruins win in Game 1.

Lundqvist was searching for answers after Game 1, while hinting that he can only do so much if his offense doesn’t do anything to help take the pressure off. The Rangers were outshot, 16-5, in the extra period.

“I don’t know,” Lundqvist said when asked to describe the Marchand goal. “There was a two-on-one I guess, and I thought I made a bad decision. I mean it’s a tough play, but I could play it better. That was a tough overtime for us. We didn’t really get going, and they came out with a lot of energy and created a lot of chances. I thought we played a pretty good game. We did, but special teams were the difference, the one at one-nothing and then, I mean that’s going to be the case these playoffs. I talked about it in the first round and we’ve got to get it done. We didn’t.”

As is the case with most highly competitive athletes, he was looking for ways he could’ve done more to stop the game-winning goal, set up by a brilliant pass from Patrice Bergeron on a 2-on-1 rush up the center and right wing. Lundqvist stayed with Bergeron a bit too long, allowing Marchand the chance to get open in front.

“I’ve got to see the guy in the middle,” Lundqvist said. “I was too focused on the puck. I kind of knew he [Brad Marchand] was coming in the middle, but I just was too locked in on the puck, and that’s why I made a stretch move instead of coming with my pads together. It’s a technical thing and it happened fast. Sooner or later when you face a lot of chances like that, you’re going to make a mistake. It’s not a mistake I’m going to sleep less over. I thought we played a solid game, but we just came up short here, in overtime again.”

What did his coach John Tortorella think of Lundqvist being so hard on himself? Read the rest of this entry »