Chicago has taken a 2-0 series lead against the Los Angeles Kings. Will the Bruins be able to do the same tonight?
Pittsburgh Penguins host Boston Bruins (8:00 p.m. ET, NBCSN/Live Extra)
Boston leads 1-0
Going into the Eastern Conference finals, the Pittsburgh Penguins hadn’t been shutout in the 2013 playoffs. They hadn’t even been held to less than three goals on more than one occasion. For at least one night though, the Boston Bruins were able to neutralize all of Pittsburgh’s offensive weapons.
With the Penguins unable to score, things got heated in the second period. Pittsburgh forward Matt Cooke was ejected from the game for slamming Boston’s Adam McQuaid into the boards from behind, although it was decided that his actions weren’t worthy of a suspension, so he’ll be back tonight.
That period ended chaotically with Evgeni Malkin and Patrice Bergeron dropping the gloves and Sidney Crosby losing his cool.
Afterwards, Crosby blamed the referees for what transpired.
“They’re letting a lot go out there, and the more it gets like that, the more it’s going to escalate,” Crosby said. “You can only control and channel that stuff so much. You keep letting guys do that stuff, you’re just going to push the envelope. That’s something we obviously want to stay away from, but it’s kind of a natural thing when it gets like that.”
Regardless, the result is that for the first time in the 2013 playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins are trailing in a series.
“It’s one game,” Penguins defenseman Douglas Murray told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “If it keeps going, I think you could [label it] a trend. But you have to play right on the edge.
“You have to be competitive out there and play hard, and sometimes it goes overboard. It did a little bit [in Game 1]. We’ll learn from it, and move on.”
Pittsburgh’s Brandon Sutter added that the third line can’t be satisfied with just playing defense, according to the McKeesport Daily News. If the Bruins continue to do an effective job of stopping the Crosby and Malkin lines, then Sutter’s line needs to step up.
Boston has already taken the Penguins’ home ice advantage. If they beat them again then the pressure will be on Pittsburgh just to survive heading into Boston.