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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Anze Kopitar, who was so vital to the Kings in their Cup run last season, has struggled to produce lately. (Jae C. Hong)

By Allan Muir

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

• The Kings are rolling, but star center Anze Kopitar is fighting it with just one goal in his last nine games. And he’s not the only one struggling: Jonathan Quick ranks 24th in goals against and 41st in save percentage but he hasn’t lost the trust of his teammates.

• Funny thing about lousy teams dressing a bunch of kids down the stretch: they sometimes find a way to win. The Dallas Stars were buzzing on the energy provided by newcomers Alex Chiasson and Lane MacDermid in an unexpected 3-1 win over the Ducks that pushed them two points further from the Seth Jones Sweepstakes.

• “Hey, Rob…what are you doing tonight?” 43-year-old former roller hockey star Rob Laurie was an emergency backup in net last night for the Ducks.

• The new-look Buffalo Sabres found another way to win Friday night. Luke Adam, Jochen Hecht and Brian Flynn broke long scoring droughts to lead the effort.

• Cory Conacher was “decent, if not spectacular”  in his debut with the Senators.

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Minus a few teeth, but otherwise fine after taking a puck to the jaw, Sidney Crosby hung out with his teammates. (Photo by Gene J. Puskar/AP)

By Allan Muir

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

• Sidney Crosby is out of the hospital and on his way to recovery. He stopped by the Pens’ practice on Thursday where Coach Dan Bylsma was hoping the time on ice would help acclimate the team’s new players to Pittsburgh’s system.

• New details emerged on the Roberto Luongo-to-the-Leafs trade talk…and they ain’t pretty…

• Zack Kassian is back with the Canucks after being sent to the AHL for a behavior timeout. So, apparently hanging out at the bars with your buds is frowned on when you’re supposed to be rehabbing a back injury.

• Ben Bishop was dazzling in his debut with the Lightning, stopping 45 shots for his second career shutout. That sound you hear emanating from up north is thousands of Senators fans, gently rocking themselves and repeating, “Robin Lehner is the future….Robin Lehner is the future…”

• Jaromir Jagr gave the Bruins the net presence they needed in his Boston debut.

• No one knows why there’s a WWE belt hanging in Marian Gaborik’s locker, but no one was asking after his stellar debut with the Blue Jackets. The 4-1 win was Columbus’ first regulation victory in Nashville in seven years.

• New center Derek Roy displayed immediate chemistry with Chris Higgins, helping the Canucks romp over the Oilers.

• Joffrey Lupul is 50/50 to practice today after being demolished early in Toronto’s Thursday night loss to Philly.

• Montreal GM Marc Bergevin took some heat for a quiet trade deadline, but he’d already made his big deal when he acquired Michael Ryder. The streaky winger kept up his sizzling pace, scoring two more Thursday night to power the Habs over the Jets. That’s s nine goals in 11 games for the sniper.

• With the season lost in Calgary, they’re starting to cheer for losses with all eyes on the draft.

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Douglas Murray is a new Penguin because family came first for Jordan Staal. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

A notated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories about Jarome Iginla…and other stuff:

• Jordan Staal’s decision not to extend his contract with the Penguins last summer was the first step on the path to this week’s pre-deadline trading frenzy in Pittsburgh.

• All that airlifted talent doesn’t add up to more pressure on the Penguins, says James Neal. It simply ups their hunger to get the job done.

• Oh…and the Penguins shut out the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night, 4-0, to win their 14th game in a row. The thing that stood out to me in this one: how relentless the line of Crosby/Dupuis/Kunitz was on the forecheck. If this is what their compete level looks like in March, I can’t wait to see them in May.

• Jarome Iginla said the chance to win the Stanley Cup convinced him that Pittsburgh was the right place for him.

• The Calgary Herald breaks down how the Iginla trade came together.

• Steve Simmons says Jay Feaster should have been smart enough to say no to an Iginla trade. Meanwhile, Flames fans are left to wonder what might have been if Feaster or his predecessors had ever managed to acquire a true No. 1 center to play with Iggy. Our own Stu Hackel called it a crime.

• The Senators are no longer counting on Jason Spezza to return this season.

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By Allan Muir

Joffrey Lupul has played brilliantly in his first two games back with the Maple Leafs since missing most of the season with a broken arm.

We’ll have to wait a while to see if that hot streak continues into game three.

Lupul was handed a two-game suspension today by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for a wildly blatant head shot on Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman in last night’s 4-2 Toronto win.

“As the video shows, after Hedman passes the puck, Lupul approaches from the side and recklessly targets Hedman’s head by elevating and making it the principal point of contact,” Rob Blake said in the DPS’ explanatory video.

By “elevating,” Blake means Lupul left the ice prior to making contact, which he pretty much had to do to avoid slamming into the 6-foot-6 Hedman’s elbow. But once a player “leaves his feet,” he’s asking for trouble from DPS.

Fortunately, Hedman wasn’t hurt on the play and that, combined with Lupul’s absence from the league’s Big Book O’ Mug Shots, added up to the two-gamer and the forfeiture of more than $45,000 in salary.

Was it a fair call? As the season goes on, it’s getting tougher and tougher to compare one suspension to another, but taken on it’s own merits, this one passes the smell test.

By Allan Muir

Good thing the Maple Leafs know how to play without Joffrey Lupul. They could be doing a bit more of it very soon.

Lupul, who just returned to action Saturday after missing the last two months of the season with a broken arm, is all but certain to be suspended after a flagrant elbow to the noggin of Tampa defender Victor Hedman Wednesday night.

This head shot was so blatant it’s sure to end up on the league’s how-not-to video compilation.

Was the hit late? Check.

Was the head the principal point of contact? Check.

Did his skates leave the ice prior to the hit? Oh yeah, they do.

The only mitigating factor in Lupul’s defense is that Hedman, though clearly dazed in the aftermath, was able to return to action later in the period. Hopefully he won’t have any late-onset symptoms in the next 24 hours.

As for Lupul, well, the timing couldn’t have been worse. He was brilliant in his return on Saturday, netting a pair of goals against the Jets, and scored the opening tally in Toronto’s 4-2 win over the Bolts tonight. He was clearly feeling it after that lengthy layoff. Now he’s likely to be out for 2-3 games, which would include a critical home-and-home duet with the Boston Bruins.

And speaking of bad timing: It’s probably best not to knock the block off an opponent when Gary Bettman, Colin Campbell and half of the NHL’s heirarchy are in the building.

Is Sidney Crosby better than Mario Lemieux? The debate about two Pittsburgh greats may be more complicated than you think. (Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

A notated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:

• How does Sidney Crosby match up against Mario Lemieux? TribLive breaks it down. Really, that Pittsburgh has had both of them is as ridiculous as John Derek marrying Bo Derek after Ursula Andress. (Note: you must be at least 50 to appreciate those references.)

• The Blue Jackets have earned points in 10 straight? Unbelievable. Sergei Bobrovsky took it to another level last night, making 39 saves to win a game in which his team didn’t score. Check out this number: his save percentage over the last eight games is .976.

• You know how routs are usually kinda boring? Last night’s 8-1 pantsing of the Stars by Chicago was the exact opposite. It was like watching the Globetrotters pull out every trick to humiliate the Washington Generals, a jaw-dropping display of skill and effort that showcased the best the NHL has to offer. What a perfect night for Dallas owner Tom Gagliardi to fly in his family from Vancouver for the game. Oh, well maybe not…

• BREAKING NEWS: Chicago GM Stan Bowman thinks his team is pretty good. “I’d be comfortable [going into the playoffs] with the group we have,” he said when asked about what his team needs ahead of the trade deadline.

• Speaking of fun to watch, today’s Boston-Pittsburgh matinee stacks up as a beauty. It goes at 12:30 EDT on NBC.

• The Pens should put up a far better fight than the Caps did yesterday. That meek effort made it four losses in five for Washington and has to give GM George McPhee reason to question whether he has the right mix to move into next season.

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