The New York Rangers and Boston Bruins were tied at 1-1 after trading early goals in the first period of Game 2.
The Rangers allowed the Bruins multiple odd-man rushes in the early going until Bruins rookie and feel-good story of the series Torey Krug opened scoring at 5:28 with an impressive play from the high slot.
Game 2 is Krug's second playoff game and just his third Bruins game of the season. Scoring in his second consecutive game, he received and corralled Nathan Horton's pass through the legs, then calmly sent a shot through multiple Rangers legs, including goalie Henrik Lundqvist's.
The Bruins lead did not last long, however, as a much more highly touted rookie Bruins defenseman helped give it back just 2:33 later.
After Brad Marchand coughed up the puck high in the Rangers zone, Dougie Hamilton was inexplicably slow to react to the loose puck in the neutral zone. He then weakly played Ryan Callahan after Callahan beat him to the puck at the Bruins blueline. Callahan finished with a forehand deke around Tuukka Rask.
The Rangers' flailing power play has been the topic of much media coverage in this series, and New York did nothing to alter that narrative in the first period. They misfired on two power plays and, worse, the Bruins had the better chances while shorthanded on the first one.
The Bruins had no power plays in the first but outshot the Rangers 12-11 overall in the period.
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