Boston Marathon bombing victim Jeff Baumann was the Bruins’ official flag-bearer for Game 2. (Elise Amendola/AP)

By Brian Cazeneuve

BOSTON — The Maple Leafs’ 4-2 victory on Saturday night evened their series with the Boston Bruins at one game apiece, thanks in part to the changes they implemented after their ugly loss in Game 1. Here are some observations from Toronto’s first playoff win in nine years:

• There was a game within a game as Leafs coach Randy Carlyle tried to make last-second line changes even though Toronto was the visiting team. His moves caused Bruins coach Claude Julien to call the officials over to discuss their legality. Carlyle did his best to keep his struggling sniper, Phil Kessel, away from Boston’s shutdown defenseman Zdeno Chara. On a couple of occasions, Carlyle took him off the ice shortly after a face-off. He also removed Kessel from the team’s usual top line with Joffrey Lupul and Tyler Bozak, which gave some important minutes to winger Matt Frattin, who was playing in his first career playoff game. Frattin often spotted Kessel on the right side. “It was something we talked about the last couple of days,” Kessel said after game. “Something new to change it up.”

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Toronto’s James Reimer had a tough outing in his first-ever playoff start. (Elise Amendola/AP)

By Brian Cazeneuve

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 on Wednesday to take a 1-0 lead in their first-round series. Here’s a breakdown of the action from TD Garden.

• The Bruins’ so-called energy line has been their best line on some nights. The combination of Gregory Campbell, Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton gave Boston its first goal of the night and logged significant minutes throughout, in part as an answer to Toronto coach Randy Carlyle’s decision to play Colton Orr and his fourth line for 13 shifts. In eight minutes, Orr amassed 16 minutes of penalties. “They seem to relish that role,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said of his fourth-liners. “Two years ago, I played them against the Sedin twins. That’s how much confidence I had in them.”

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Current Leaf and former Bruin Phil Kessel (left) will face unprecedented scrutiny this series. (Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

EAST PREVIEWS: Pens-Islanders | Canadiens-Senators | Capitals-Rangers | Bruins-Leafs

WEST PREVIEWS: Hawks-Wild | Ducks-Red Wings | Canucks-Sharks | Blues-Kings

Regular-season recaps

Feb. 2: Bruins 1, Maple Leafs 0

March 7: Bruins 4, Maple Leafs 2

March 23: Maple Leafs 3, Bruins 2

March 25: Bruins 3, Maple Leafs 2 (SO)

Notable injuries

Bruins: RW Nathan Horton (upper body injury, day-to-day)

Maple Leafs: C Tyler Bozak (unknown, day-to-day)

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By Allan Muir

UPDATE: The Bruins paid tribute to those who lost their lives in Monday’s terror attacks and their aftermath with a poignant pre-game video presentation. Rene Rancourt and the fans at TD Garden then offered up a joyous, emotionally charged encore to Wednesday’s stirring national anthem performance.

No one in Boston needs to be reminded of the importance of the city’s first responders today, but the Bruins paid their own small tribute by wearing baseball caps honoring the Boston Police, Watertown Police and Massachusetts State Police during the pre-game skate ahead of today’s rescheduled game against Pittsburgh.

The gesture was reminiscent of one offered by baseball’s New York Mets in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, when the team wore the caps of the city’s police and fire departments onto the field.

Both teams also are wearing special patches on their jerseys for the game. The Bruins are wearing a Boston Strong ribbon:

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Ryan Miller was pulled Friday night after some misadventures with the puck and four goals allowed. (Jerome Davis/Icon SMI)

By Allan Muir

An annotated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:

• We’ve seen this before, haven’t we? A proud goaltender, waving in mock appreciation as a home crowd serenades him with a Bronx cheer? Yeah, Ryan Miller seemed as tired of the First Niagara Center crowd as they were of him after a couple of brutal goals led to an 8-4 Rangers’ win that ended Buffalo’s playoff hopes. Very easy to see him demanding a trade after that display.

• “Yes sir, just like clockwork, you can count on Brad Richards to record a hat trick once every 896 games.” That’s the great lead from Larry Brooks, writing about the veteran’s first career three-goal game in the rout of the Sabres.

• Like everyone else in Boston, the Penguins experienced an unusual day on Friday.

• It became apparent early on that as long as the manhunt for the bomber continued, the show could not go on in Boston. The postponement and rescheduling of Friday’s game means the Bruins play their final six games in a span of just nine days.

• A struggling Milan Lucic could be benched for today’s rescheduled matinee against the Penguins. That should please Bruins fans who are tired of watching him float through games.

• Mike Heika, who offers as entertaining a read as anybody out there these days, says the Stars were taught a valuable lesson in how to impose your will by the St. Louis Blues on Friday night. They probably would have preferred two points, but that lesson might pay greater dividends down the road.

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Boston’s Kenmore Square is deserted with the city in lock-down during the manhunt. (Elise Amendola/AP)

By Allan Muir

UPDATE 10:19 PM
With the successful conclusion to the hunt for the Boston Marathon bomber, the NHL has confirmed that the Boston-Pittsburgh game will be played Saturday afternoon at 12:30 EDT. The Bruins will now play their final six games of the season in a span of just nine days.

UPDATE 3:17 PM
It’s official, finally. Here’s the word, direct from the league:

The game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins scheduled for tonight at TD Garden has been postponed, the National Hockey League announced today.

The game has been tentatively rescheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, April 20, at TD Garden beginning at 12:30 p.m., Eastern time. The game’s status will be formalized no later than 8:30 a.m.

The game between the Penguins and Buffalo Sabres, scheduled for Saturday night in Pittsburgh, has been moved to Tuesday, April 23 at 7:30p.m., ET.

It’s worth noting the use of the word “tentatively” ahead of the rescheduled date. There’s no way of knowing at this point if life in the city will be back to normal by that point, so we could be going through this again tomorrow. Good on the league, though, for specifying the time by which they’ll make the call on that one.

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By Allan Muir

And that’s how you do it.

That’s how you show a city’s indomitable spirit. How you honor its heroes and remember those who were lost.

The fans who packed Boston’s TD Garden for tonight’s game between the Bruins and the Sabres let out their grief and pride at once with a national anthem for the ages.

Rene Rancourt, the local singer whose own anthem performances are legend, sang the first few lines of the Star Spangled Banner then, wisely, handed it off to the crowd. The moment, after all, was theirs to serve as a proxy for the heartbroken but resilient city.

And they rose to the occasion, getting louder and louder with a rousing, emotional effort that will stand with Chicago’s 1991 All-Star Game anthem as one of the most stirring moments in hockey history.

Well done, Boston.

***

Before the game, the Bruins ran an emotional video tribute to Monday’s heroes and victims.

The final score–a 3-2 shootout win for the Sabres–wasn’t the ideal finish for the partisan crowd, but this moment put the evening back into perspective:

Great salute at end of Sabres / Bruins game. #BostonStrong http://t.co/aWfNeNkmxC—
THE STATS GUY (@TH2NSTATSGUY) April 18, 2013

According to Steve Ott, the idea of the post-game center ice salute was put together during the pre-game skate by Bruins captain Zdeno Chara and Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek. The show of unity made for a heartfelt end to the hard-fought contest.

Emergency crews respond after two explosions near the finish line rocked the Boston Marathon on Monday. (AP)

By Allan Muir

An NHL source has informed SI.com that tonight’s game between the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators has been postponed. There is no information at the moment regarding when the game might be rescheduled.

The decision was made by the league after discussions with the teams and the city of Boston in response to the tragedy at the Boston Marathon this afternoon. The league says it “wishes to express its sympathy to all affected by the tragic events that took place in Boston earlier this afternoon.”

Kevin Dupont of the Boston Globe has reported that Bruins players arriving at the rink have been told to go home.

Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray released a statement this evening. “The thoughts and prayers of the entire Ottawa Senators organization are with those people affected by today’s tragic events in Boston. We fully support the National Hockey League’s decision to postpone tonight’s game. Our entire team is safe and together. If possible, we are hoping to return to Ottawa this evening.”

While it is an insignificant concern at the moment, rescheduling the game won’t be easy given the already compacted nature of the NHL calendar. The Bruins had their Feb. 9 game against the Lightning postponed due to a weather-related emergency. That game was rescheduled for April 25.

The Bruins are playing every other night between now and the season’s end, meaning another rescheduled game could require a stretch of three games in three nights. The Senators play on Boston’s off nights through April 23, meaning there are three apparent dates available: April 24, 26 or 28. The TD Garden appears to be open on all three of those nights.

By Allan Muir

The way Brendan Shanahan saw it, Anton Volchenkov had a choice. With Brad Marchand squarely in his sights, he could have blasted the Boston winger with a legal check, or he could have done something stupid.

Volchenkov went with Plan B. And so the New Jersey defender will sit out four critical stretch games.

Shanahan’s video explanation captured what everyone who watched the play saw. This was a cheap shot that could, and should, have been avoided.

“Rather than make a full body check, Volchenkov extends his elbow, making significant contact to the side of Marchand’s head,” Shanahan said. “Although Marchand…is stopping and turning his head away from Volchenkov to avoid the full force of the impending check, that doesn’t contribute or explain the reckless elbow contact to the head on what could’ve been a legal collision. He sees Marchand clearly, and if anything, Marchand’s actions just prior to contact forced Volchenkov to extend his elbow even further.”

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By Allan Muir

Chances are that Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov has earned a few days off at a time when his floundering team, losers of eight straight, can least afford his absence.

Anton Volchenkov earned a five-minute major and a game misconduct for delivering a vicious elbow to the head of Bruins forward midway through a 5-4 Boston win on Wednesday night.

Of course, the Bruins can’t afford to lose their leading goal scorer, either. And that should be clearly addressed by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety on Thursday.

It’s tough to imagine DOPS watching this video and not burying Volchenkov for this flagrant cheap shot. He didn’t just lead with his elbow. He had it up early. Really early. Hard to argue accidental contact here. Add in that Marchand was injured on the play and didn’t return to action, and Volchenkov looks cooked.

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