Haggerty: Ten thoughts from Bruins-Rangers

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BOSTON -- Here are five thoughts from the first period with the Bruins trailing the New York Rangers by a 2-0 score after the first 20 minutes at TD Garden.

1) Heavy first period that the Bruins werent shying away from, but still found themselves down a pair of goals after a power play score and a bad bounce off Zdeno Chara in front of the net. Important to see how the Bs are going to bounce back in the middle 20 minutes after not getting a couple of breaks.

2) Zdeno Chara having a tough time here tonight against the Rangers: three giveaways, a penalty that led to a Rangers goal and a puck that bounced off him and into the Boston net. If Chara has a tough night that usually means the Bs are going to struggle as well.

3)The more I think about it the more I love a Mike Knuble move for the Bruins with a big body in front and a constant motor running. He can also slide up and play in place of Nathan Horton if he struggles to come back from the concussion.

4)Another strong game for Ryan Callahan against the Bruins with a strong power play goal right in front of the net. Does anybody doubt that Callahan would be a Bruins killer in a potential playoff series between these two teams.

5) It appears Claude Julien has switched his forward lines back: David Krejci skating with Milan Lucic and Rich Peverley while Chris Kelly has slid back down to the third line. Didnt really spark much in the opening 20 minutes.

Here are five thoughts from the second period with the Bruins trailing the New York Rangers by a 2-0 score after the first 40 minutes at TD Garden.

1)Amazing how much energy and effort it takes for the Bruins to get even a simple offensive shot off through the tall New York defensemen and interior defense. Thats a team its virtually impossible to overcome a two-goal deficit when theyre playing on their game.

2)David Krejci has three shots on net, but is a 1-for-8 on face-offs tonight. A little bit of a mixed bag for the center, who is clearly skating hard and looking for his offense.

3)Rangers have blocked 12 shots to Bostons six tonight. Thats not a shock. Such an impressive part of New Yorks game protecting Henrik Lundqvist in front of the net. Then the Swedish All-Star goaltender is making the big savesas he did with noggin on a Zdeno Chara blastwhen it gets through them.

4)Not enough involvement for Brad Marchand, who seems to get lost in these games against the big, strong Rangers defense. No shots on net in 12 plus minutes and not enough bad brat behavior to frustrate the Blueshirts in the second period. He hit the side of the net after taking a perfect pass through traffic from Tyler Seguin in the middle of the period.

5)Shawn Thornton has attempted to challenge Brandon Prust a couple of times in this game, but Prust wants no part of it with a two-goal lead. Understandable actions from both parties there.

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