PREGAME WARMUP

The general managers met over near Logan today and voiced approval on the NHL competition committee’s recommendations for next season (this is not the official vote — that comes later but then the players have a say as well … but this is a major step toward reality for the following tweaks):
1. Visors: incoming players required to wear them (much like helmets in 1979-80).
2. Hybrid icing: the linesman will decide if the attacking player has a chance to win the race. If so, let it play out; if not, he blows a no-touch icing like what you see in the Olympics and in college and high school hockey. The NHL will experiment with hybrid icing during 2013-14 preseason games and, if the NHLPA votes in favor, they’ll put it right in for the regular season.
3. Double-minors for high-sticking will be subject to review by the league (for further discipline).
4. The “attainable pass” rule on icing plays that allowed linesmen to judge a play to be a non-icing on the basis that it was a hockey play that didn’t pan out will be eliminated and returned to the old rule where contact with the puck is mandatory in all cases on the attacking side of the red line in order to avoid an icing call.
5. The net will change only in depth, from 44 inches deep to 40 (a slight expansion of Gretzky’s office).

You never know for sure how rules tweaks will work out until actual competition has a season of hockey to evolve in strategies and counter strategies. Often times, as is the case with the legalization of the two-line pass, the projected results don’t occur but other ones do.

Enter Scotty Bowman, whom I ran into in Tampa the night Peter Laviolette told his team not to skate the puck into Tampa Bay’s 1-3-1 neutral-zone trap. Bowman said at the time that he also didn’t like the red line coming out (for the purpose of two-line passes). Tonight he was more diplomatic on that point, but now he says he’d like the see the NHL return to three equal-length zones (ie. 10-60-60-60-10 instead of 11-64-50-64-11). Coaches are necessarily preoccupied with defense and the problem is, as he sees it, is wingers come back so deep to help the breakout because of the size of the end zone. From 1960-66 (the last several seasons of the Original Six league — funny we’d go there while the Bruins and Blackhawks are two O6 teams in the Cup final for the first time since the 70′s), there was not the kind of room back there for offense to possess the puck and wingers were able to cover the points, playing much higher on the sideboards.

GAME DAY

Marian Hossa is in, says Chicago coach Joel Quenneville, whose team is not backs-against-the-wall, but needs desperately to win tonight to avoid being in that position when the 2013 Stanley Cup final shifts back to Chicago.

The accents provided by Hossa are several, the most-important being his ability to be strong on the puck. The Blackhawks have lamented the fact they haven’t hung onto it too well when in the Boston zone.

Quenneville wants to see his team move it through the neutral zone with more speed, something they’ll have a better chance at tonight with dryer air making better ice and smoother strides and puck plays.

“The neutral zone’s been pretty tight for both teams, and getting through it with puck possession has been difficult for both teams,” said Quenneville. “We can be better in that area and we can be better in the offensive zone as well, but whether it’s puck protection or puck possession, getting through that middle of the ice is the ongoing challenge and the awareness of what we have to get through we talk about it. But certainly we want to make sure we’re better in that area fast.”

With Hossa back in the mix, expect a reunion of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Bryan Bickell. It will be the first time Kane and Toews have played on the same line 5/5 since Game 5 of the Kings series.

Meantime, Boston’s shutdown pair of Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg continues to be a problem for opponents in the playoffs. Quenneville was asked if he’s been too proccupied with Chara.

“I don’t know if we’re giving him attention or respect or whatever, but he’s certainly playing meaningful minutes and he’s going to be out there against top guys,” said Quenneville. “It’s not like we’re keeping guys off the ice. I think the score is always something we look at as well as who we’re playing against. I think the guys that are out there against him would like to play their game. Certainly, it’s a challenge getting through him and getting to the net whether it’s him on defense or anybody, but that’s the area we’ve got to get better at.”

Faceoffs were 40-16 for Boston in Game 3.

“We’ve looked at it and dissected it, really spent some time over the last couple of days to know that we have to be much more effective and efficient with awareness of what they’re up to, and let’s make sure that we win more than our share because it was very abnormal, one-sided in the last game. Could have been the difference in the game,” said Quenneville.

Spending much of the last two days analyzing that part of the game is a strong statement because, not only does it reflect on the weight Quenneville puts on that statistic, it also reflects on the series as a whole.

The Bruins are the team causing the Blackhawks to have to pay closer attention to ways they’re getting beat. It doesn’t mean they cannot turn this thing around — winning tonight would completely reverse momentum — but historically in evenly matched playoff series, the team rethinking and reinventing is almost always the one that ultimately loses.

So far, the Bruins are the monkey-wrench team in this series. They are the ’95 Devils in this series.

In regards two Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith going pointless through three games of the final — so has defense partner Brent Seabrook — Quenneville indicated more movement off the point might help.

With all due respect, I would like to see that. Keith’s lateral, diagonal shifting with the puck and without it is the most I’ve seen since Brian Leetch used to make it look so easy with the universal joints in his ankles. Keith isn’t quite the skater that Leetch was, but he gets an incredible amount of mileage with the puck at the point looking for his opening. Now, if by movement off the point Quenneville means Keith roaming down low — the Bruins get 90 percent of their movement that way (except for Torey Krug) — then I don’t know how that player can improve on his movement at the point.

“(The Bruins’) tendency is that went back to their team more than us, that was probably the one thing,” said Quenneville. “They’ve got some good skill and they’ve got some good technique, and trying to disrupt it is going to be the challenge.”

BERGERON: DIDN’T MISS FTOREK LESSON

When he coached the Bruins a little over 10 years ago, Robbie Ftorek asked a handful of reporters outside the home dressing room what the most important thing a center needs to do on the faceoff. I was among the losers who confined my response to what the centerman physically does (I think I answered don’t let the opponent win it cleanly). Ftorek went around the horn and, when none of us in that group came up with the right answer, he gave it to us: As faceoff man, you’re the coach on the ice. You have to know where your teammates are and you have to make sure everyone knows what you’re all going to do if you win it and you all have to know what you’re going to do if you lose it.

Patrice Bergeron showed up in Boston only a few months after Ftorek was dismissed so, if there were a season in 2004-05, this would have been Bergeron’s 10th NHL season — it has been his 10th as a pro (honed his center skills that one year in the AHL with the P-Bruins).

The reason Bergeron cracked the lineup at age 18 was because the Bruins saw how he had embraced the acumen and subtles disciplines of the game that tend to show up only when a player has been around a decade. Well Bergeron’s been around a decade now, and the larger hockey world (and even some corners of the local chapter of the 3-sport media) is finally catching up on what a special player he is.
Bergeron went 24-for-28 in the faceoff circle in Game 3 not only because he’s the world’s best at it but because Brad Marchand is fast and tenacious and because Jaromir Jagr is a vacuum cleaner for hockey pucks. The Bruins play a team game on the dot, and the Blackhawks are the latest team that finds the Bruins’ unusual level of efficiency establishing initial puck possession to be a major problem.

“I think it’s about bearing down every time you’re at the dot, but also talking to your wingers and defensemen to win the battles for you also,” said Bergeron. “It’s not just about the centermen, it’s about five guys on the ice. There’s some really good centermen over there (in the Blackhawks’ room) and they do take a lot of pride in their draws as well, so we have to make sure we bear down.”

Earlier this week, Marchand called Bergeron the perfect person and the guy you’d want dating your daughter. But Bergeron did admit to what Tyler Bozak asserted during the opening round: that he cheats on faceoffs.

“I’ve always said — I think a lot of people have said that — ‘If you don’t cheat, you’re not trying to win ‘em,’” said Bergeron. “I guess we all cheat. It’s not just about us, it’s throughout the league. We’re all trying to find ways to time it. I’m going to keep doing that if it works.”

SEIDS’ GAME-DAY ROUTINE

“I’ve got a ritual,” Dennis Seidenberg explained to Channel 5′s Mike Dowling. “I do my dynamic warmup, do a couple runs back and forth, a couple jumps, and I do it (before) every game. Some days it’s easier than others. I do almost the same thing so it’s basic.”
Like most players, Seidenberg takes an afternoon nap of “between an hour or two,” a pregame snack and, depending on how the morning skate went, me and Krejc come to the game together.”
Apparently there is some competition during the skate that determines who drives.
The Seidenberg snack of choice: “As many calories as I can without feeling too heavy.”

We’ve noted in this space and on Twitter how Seidenberg was a high-end tennis player growing up in Germany, and his wins include future world No. 59 Denis Gremelmayr in a U16 tournament.
From Heiko Oldorp: Seidenberg was going to go with tennis at age 16, was quitting hockey and practicing tennis three hours a day. That’s when the German national team invited him on, and he reversed direction.
Seidenberg says he focused on gaining muscle during his developing years with the Philadelphia Flyers. Remember, he was a quiet but efficient member of the Phantoms team that beat the Providence Bruins (including Bergeron and Brad Boyes) in a brutal six-game 2005 AHL Calder Cup conference final.

Bruins coach Claude Julien says he did not know of Marian Hossa’s absence until he received the lineup card immediately prior to the game.

“I was as surprised as anybody else, but to be honest with you, there wasn’t any changes in our game,” said Julien afterward. “As I mentioned the other day when I was asked about another player, we don’t make our game plan based on an individual.
“I can definitely tell you they lost a pretty important player on their roster, but that doesn’t mean we change our game. I think it’s important we stick with what we believe in.”

Chicago coach Joel Quenneville confirmed an upper-body injury for Hossa.
“We’ll say day-to-day, we’re hopeful he’ll be ready for the next game,” said Quenneville.

As for the game itself, Quenneville, is settling into the idea that goals are going to be hard to come by against the Bruins.

“It’s a low-chance game, it’s a low-chance series,” he said after the game. “Scoring first is important, even though the winners of the last couple games prior to that didn’t score first.
“It’s hard to get A-plus chances. You have to manufacture the second, kind of ugly goals, tip screens, deflections. If they give up the rush, they’re not going to give up much, even though we had a couple looks in the third. The frequency of having high-quality chances in this series at both ends has not been there.”

Q on Rask: “We’ve run into some of the best goalies in the league here. Tonight we made it kind of easy on (Rask).”

Seidenberg on Chara’s pregame collision with Lucic: “He lost an edge. The ice wasn’t the best tonight. A few guys had to get their skates sharpened or their sharpness adjusted. … It feels like it’s sandpaper. When there’s a play to be made, you have to choose an easy one.”

Rask on the ice: “It started pretty good, but then it got pretty chippy and it’s hard to read the shots when the puck starts bouncing out there.”

Rask on winning in regulation: “A win is a win, we’ll take a win any day.”

STATSg
Patrice Bergeron went 24-4 in the faceoff circle, enabling the Bruins to get the puck across center with regularity.
As a team, the Bruins had a 40-16 edge on the dots. The biggest minuses for individual faceoff men: Michal Handzus 0-10 and Dave Bolland 1-7.
David Krejci was actually only 4-5. Chris Kelly was 8-3 and Rich Peverley 4-2.

The Bruins’ combat jacket went to Dennis Seidenberg, who called the start “decent” and “solid” but not a great start.

“We eliminated most of those rebound opportunities, and that’s what every team likes to do,” said Rask. “They start high shots from off the wing, and I was able to catch most of them with my glove. … It helps when we get the puck quick and just move it forward.”

GAME SUMMARY
THIRD PERIOD
The Bruins got it done, the greatest moment of adventure being a post hit by Bryan Bickell late in the game. Things got nasty between Bickell and Zdeno Chara in the slot, and the big guy fell atop the Chicago forward. In a related scrum, Andrew Shaw and Brad Marchand tangled and Shaw got the takedown — he did try to land a punch with Marchand on his back.
Rask earned his third shutout of the playoffs with the 2-0 win.

SECOND PERIOD
The Blackhawks started the second period the way they ended the first, applying pressure in the Boston end.
But the reformed third line struck again, as Tyler Seguin and Chris Kelly relayed the puck to Dan Paille who scored at 2:13 to put Boston on top, 1-0.
Buoyed by the goal, the Bruins took momentum through the period and Patrice Bergeron scored on the power play to make it a 2-0 game at second intermission.
Dave Bolland had crosschecked Kelly at 12:00, then Niklas Hjalmarsson took down Paille with 11 seconds remaining on the Bolland penalty. The 5-on-3 had just expired when Jaromir Jagr sent a goalmouth pass to Bergeron, who buried it from a bad angle at 14:05.
Tuukka Rask had not had to make the kind of saves he had to make repeatedly in the first period of Game 2, but Jonathan Toews started bearing down in the second period and he and Brent Seabrook set up Patrick Kane for his best look of the night. But Rask made the stop.
Jagr sent Bergeron to the doorstep again, but Crawford smothered his two shots. Peverley threw a scare when he batted a puck out of the air and Crawford had to fall to keep it out of the net.
Bolland ended the period in the box after a weak tripping call on Johnny Boychuk at the Chicago bench.
The Bruins bring the last minute of that one into the third period.

FIRST PERIOD
Marian Hossa was a surprise scratch for Chicago, having reportedly injured himself while shooting a puck during the pregame warmup.
The big winger’s absence forced coach Joel Quenneville to makeshift his top six, but the Blackhawks were able to gain a territorial advantage in the latter stages of the first period.
Their advantage was helped along by separate roughing penalties to Kaspars Daugavins and Shawn Thornton. On Thornton’s penalty, Chicago captain Jonathan Toews missed a glittering opportunity when his close-range shot trickled past the right post.
Then the Bruins got picked off some passes and got their own scoring chances on the same penalty. Chris Kelly sent Rich Peverley in alone, then Corey Crawford had to beat Dan Paille to a drifting puck, then Brad Marchand was home free and lost the puck off the end of a stick he would break when he got to the Boston bench.
Earlier Daugavins had the puck skip off of his stick, throwing himself offside and negating a 2-on-1.
Thanks to the rain and humidity, the ice surface was difficult for smooth passing plays and the teams had to simplify.
Milan Lucic turned the puck over coming out of his zone twice in the period.
Shots were 11-10 Boston in the first.
Bruins play-by-play announcer Jack Edwards tweeted that Zdeno Chara had stitches in the back of his head as a result of that collision with Lucic during the pregame warm-up.

PREGAME SKATE
My colleague Nick Tavares just noted a collision between Milan Lucic and Zdeno Chara at the “L” on the word “FINAL” just inside the Bruins blue line with a little over four minutes remaining in the warmup. Both players went for a ride and Chara’s helmet popped off. Lucic, who landed on the seat of his hockey pants, stayed on the ice. Chara went out the gate.

GAME DAY

If you’re going to read into tonight that the Chicago Blackhawks are 0-3 in Game 3′s in these playoffs while the Boston Bruins are 3-0, then also read in the following:
After the Blackhawks dropped Game 3 against Minnesota on the road, they won Game 4 at Minnesota and closed out the Wild in five.
After they fell behind the Detroit Red Wings, they also dropped Game 4 on the road to fall into a 3-1 hole, but they rebounded with three straight wins to take the series in seven.
The L.A. scenario in the Western Conference final was about the same as with Minnesota.
Asked to discuss, Chicago coach Joel Quenneville reiterated his main concern: two of those Game 3 losses were blown 2-0 leads, the other a hard-fought 1-1 games that went to Detroit (file under: they’re a good team, too).

So let’s look at the Bruins:
Boston won Game 3 in TO to go up 2-1, won an overtime thrilled to come home up 3-1, and proceeded to nearly blow the series, trailing 4-1 just short of the midway point of Game 7 in Boston. It’s a miracle they’re here.
Against the Rangers, the Bruins only lost Game 4. And they swept Pittsburgh.
Asked to discuss, Bruins coach Claude Julien said stats mean nothing going into this game.

Besides, when you look at the ebb and flow of each series, their outcomes were not closely hinged to Game 3 losses for Chicago any more than the wins are hinged to the Bruins.

Onto today: Blackhawks and Bruins in Game 3 of the 2013 Stanley Cup final here tonight (8 p.m. on NBCSN and 98.5FM).

Chicago has one change in store, as the talented but enigmatic Viktor Stalberg goes back into the lineup and Brandon Bollig comes out (read into this one of two ways: 1. Stalberg is a highly skilled underachiever with 9-14-23 totals in 47 regular-season games, but he’s only got 1 career playoff goal and it wasn’t this year; 2. Quenneville wants to accent speed and counterattack here in Boston, where the swift-skating Toronto Maple Leafs won two out of four and, as we know, were leading 4-1 midway through the third period of their decisive loss here.

Regardless of what Julien ultimate does with his fourth line in this series, expect the status quo tonight, which means a third line with Chris Kelly centering Tyler Seguin and Daniel Paille and a fourth line with Rich Peverley centering Shawn Thornton and Kaspars Daugavins.

Thornton’s ice time has been marginalized especially in Campbell’s absence, but Julien is hopeful that he can get more shifts out of the fourth line in Games 3 and 4 because as coach of the home team he gets the last line change.

“Let’s not confuse something. (Thornton is) not in the lineup because of what he brings in the dressing room — no, we’ve got a lot of guys that do that, he’s in our lineup even though his minutes go down because he deserves to be there,” said Julien. “He’s great on the forecheck, he’s actually a lot smarter player than probably a lot of people give him credit for. He reads plays well, he doesn’t get himself in trouble much, gets the puck out of our own end and certainly his presence makes our team better.

“We’ve seen that, at times, we’ve had to pull him out, and no doubt our team is a lot more comfortable with him in our lineup for all the right reasons.”

CRUX OF THE MATTER

The Blackhawks’ furious start to Game 2 may not have been sustainable — much like that push the Bruins made on Toronto late in Game 7 of that series — but it’s also true that the Bruins did things in Chicago to get themselves off the ropes.
One of those things was making some big, open-ice hits. Johnny Boychuk came up with a couple of his patented body launchers, but Torey Krug had a big open-ice hit and Boychuk says it was necessary.
“Everybody has to be hitting,” said Boychuk. Open-ice stuff, too? “Yup. Well, you’ve got to have guys coming back and, you know, support for your hit like that to force pucks. You have to have support to do anything. When you do that, it usually creates chances for your team.”
So how do Boychuk and the Bruins make sure Game 3 doesn’t start like Games 1 and, especially, Game 2 when the Hawks hit the ice like they were shot out of a cannon.
“Do the same thing, come out in the first period, go as hard as you can and hopefully get that first goal,” said Boychuk. “Just keep pressing, pressuring them.”

“We know they did have a great first (period of Game 2) and we had a subpar first. It was a bad combination for us,” said Andrew Ference, “It’s fine if the other team has a great first, but you have to obviously control what you can control, and be more towards the top of our game. Often those two will counterbalance each other and pieces will fall on as they do if both teams are playing well. But it’s a bad thing when you have only one team that’s playing great and the other team’s struggling.”

Now on home ice, the Bruins know they cannot allow the same thing to happen.

“Everybody is honest with each other when you get off fortunate with a period when you know you’ve been thoroughly outplayed,” said Ference. “I think that’s the way everybody felt and said, ‘Alright, that’s enough of that. Let’s get on with it. So it is about what you do in the future. You take the luck and you take the good goaltending just like you take anything else.”

And go be better next chance you get at it.

Ference, who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, has been better in the playoffs than he was in the regular season, especially early on. His contract status has not been a distraction, but it’s in the back of his mind.

“Well I’d be lying if (I said) it was completely blocked out,” admitted Ference. “Obviously, that’s kind of a thing — that’s like life. It kind of occupies the same part of the brain as dropping your kids off at school, picking up groceries and doing that kind of stuff. That’s kind of away-from-the-rink thoughts, but as far as in-game stuff or preparing for a game is status quo. You’ve got no other choice. If that’s on your head and you’re playing a game, you’re going to be awful.”

Because European pro hockey seasons start and end sooner than they do in North America, Ference noted that Daugavins is 10 days short of playing a full year straight.

CRUX OF THE MATTER
Chicago coach Joel Quenneville, last speaker of the day who was asked to address the whys and wherefores of the turnaround in play last night in Chicago.

“Yeah, I thought we had the right start. Had a great first period. Did everything we wanted except get to two (goals),” started Quenneville, who downplayed the stat of the day — the Blackhawks are 0-3 in series this year (Rink Rap agrees, if you look at each game, they don’t feed into any common theory).
Quenneville didn’t think his team was off its game in the second period, but he didn’t like the third. He stopped short of crediting the Bruins with deterring his players’ speed, but noted that they stopped moving. “We got away from what made us successful in the first period. You know your opponents are going to get their turn. You’re going to have to defend and play in your own end.
“I thought our overtime wasn’t very good. I thought we were on our heels a little bit more. We didn’t get involved in the attack. But we got to know against this team that trying to make plays could lead to trouble. I think the simpler we play it, the more of a direct approach, it can play in our favor. I thought we were standing still too much and on the receiving end because we weren’t attacking.”

“I don’t know whether it was what they did or what we didn’t do. Might have played a part in us getting slowed down in the middle of the ice. The neutral zone, the way they check, defend, they’re very patient in that area. Trying to make plays in there only plays into their favor. Let’s make sure there’s a purpose when we do go through the middle of the ice.”

Both he and Julien preach simplifying the game, but the coach that lost the last game is the one who invariably preaches it louder and more often.

Rink Rap asked Michal Handzus, the well-traveled 6-foot-5 center, what qualities are in common among the Cup-contending teams that have brought him in to be a finishing piece in recent years:

“Well, I think the championship teams, usually when there is adversity, they embrace it, they have fun with it. They’re just looking for the challenge,” he said. “I think you need that. It’s a long road to win the Stanley Cup.
It’s four games. You get a lot of adversity, tough moments. You have to have fun with it, look at it as a challenge. I think that’s what you need to go forward.”

Andrew Ference’s stuck hockey glove, anyone?

Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald noted that Julien is attempting to become the first Bruins coach ever to win the Stanley Cup twice. Good call. Turns out that both times the Bruins won the Cup twice in a three-year period (1939 and ’41 and 1970 and ’72), they made coaching changes following the first of those championships. Now we know that Harry Sinden ironically left hockey in 1970 over a salary dispute and only came back in October ’72 as “managing director” (ie. Milt Schmidt’s effective if not literal replacement as GM — Schmidt left in ’74 to mentor the expansion Washington Capitals). The late Tom Johnson, then already in house as a retired player helping in management, coached the Bruins to the ’72 championship.

On the new combination of Kelly between Paille and Seguin:
“We didn’t have much going. At one point I thought that line would give us something. They responded well. Got both goals tonight. It’s a hunch from a coach. I know that Dan is a great skater, can make a lot of things happen. Seguin after the first period was one of the guys that picked up his game. Kelly was one of the guys that was good right from the start. I put those three guys together and they answered.”

On the Bruins’ resurgence:
“Like I said earlier, I think we started skating. It kind of at least leveled the play a little bit more. In the
first, they were skating and we weren’t. It was totally lopsided. It was a hard period to coach and to watch. I think after that first period, we just decided to get our legs moving, moving the puck forward. I still thought we battled the puck in the second period. We weren’t managing it well. But our legs were moving. Slowly things started going
our way.”

Chicago coach Joel Quenneville blamed his team’s fade on abandonment of their game plan:
“I thought we slowed ourselves down. I don’t think we got the puck behind them. I think we were in front of them too
much. I think that played into their hands.
“Certainly getting two (goals would have been nice in the first period), maybe we left something out there. Had everything right in that first part of the game. Had some good looks, as well. Did what we were looking to do. But, hey, it’s a long game. You know, we got to be better than that.”

Chris Kelly on his game-tying goal in the second period:
“Well, I think on my goal it was a great five-guy effort. Andrew (Ference) made a pinch, Tyler was in on the play and got it to Daniel, and Daniel took it to the net. I just happened to be there, tapped it in.
“You know, I thought Paille played extremely well the whole night. His goal, great pass by Seguin. I thought both of them played extremely well. Their feet were moving the whole night.”

Tuukka Rask on the rough start and the turnaround:
“Well, we definitely were in survival mode there for a bit. It looked like they had more guys out there than we did. They were bouncing on every single puck in front of net, had a lot of chances. We definitely played pretty bad. But, you know, it was good that we were only down by one and regrouped after that.”

OVERTIME
Jagr hit a post, making it two posts in two games for the Bruins during overtime. Marchand made the transition play at center to get Jagr his look.
The Bruins pressed for the winner but couldn’t get it.
Chicago defenseman Nick Leddy was under pressure by Paille when he flipped the puck over the glass but, after a huddle, the officials said the puck deflected off Paille’s stick so no penalty was called.
The Blackhawks got away with a more certain penalty, as Jagr’s stick was held by a fallen defenseman in the Chicago zone. The Hawks actually generated a scoring chance back up ice, and the non-call loomed as a point of controversy.
The Bruins won it 13:48 when Brandon Bollig turned the puck over coming out of the zone, and the speed of Paille, Seguin and Kelly factored as Seguin passed to Paille for a perfect shot off the post and in.

THIRD PERIOD
The continuation of Boston’s power play yielded nothing, as the Bruins couldn’t get a clean entry against the best team they’ve faced at challenging the puck right at the blue line.
Once again the Bruins were more efficient at even strength.
Jaromir Jagr carried in and passed up a clean look for a pass to Brad Marchand, and Crawford got in front of the shot.
Seguin dug up a chance for David Krejci from the slot, but Crawford made his best save of the night.
Michael Frolik and scrappy Andrew Shaw led a Chicago surge that evened out the tempo.

SECOND PERIOD
Dave Bolland tripped Brad Marchand early in the second period, but Frolik hit Rask in the mask with a backhand shot on the penalty kill.
Tyler Seguin weaved through the penalty killers for Boston’s only significant chance on the power play, but Crawford turned it away.
Boychuk went out for holding Patrick Sharp, sending the Blackhawks on the power play. The kill was almost complete when Rich Peverley misplayed the puck onto a Chicago stick, leading to more pressure.
Boston’s forwards made some open-ice hits in the second period, which the Bruins hoped would slow the Blackhawks. There was no way the Hawks could sustain their first-period tempo, but even on a level playing surface the Bruins weren’t able to muster much on Crawford.

Chris Kelly finally got puck luck as Dan Paille pulled the puck around Nick Leddy from behind the net and out in front where Kelly tied the game at 14:58 of the second period.
The goal ended a 21-game drought for Kelly and was his first goal since April 17 against Buffalo.
Brandon Saad drew a tripping penalty on Dennis Seidenberg at 17:11, but the Bruins got the best scoring chance. Paille sent Marchand on a partial breakaway, but Brent Seabrook hacked at him and his shot hit the post.
The stripes didn’t let the next one go, as Johnny Oduya tripped Marchand on what looked like another short-handed chance.
The Bruins finished the period on the powerplay and will carry the man advantage 1:14 into the second period.

FIRST PERIOD

The Blackhawks came out storming as they had in Game 1, and Tuukka Rask had to come up with five of the game’s first seven saves.
Boston’s best scoring chance in the early going turned into a rush for Chicago when Bruins defensemen Dennis Seidenberg had an open look from the right point but had his stick snap in two as he was pushing on the puck.
The Hawks took it the other way, and defenseman Nick Leddy got a similar shot on Rask, who made a big glove save.
Andrew Ference was first to go to the penalty box for tripping Bryan Bickell, who was trying to wrap the puck around to the front of the net. Patrick Sharp had the best chance on a curl pass by a rushing Leddy, but Rask stopped the puck.
Jaromir Jagr got a big chance on the ensuing shift, but Corey Crawford grabbed his shot aimed for the top corner.
The Blackhawks’ big forwards tried to get on Boston’s defensemen early, but in Game 2 the Bruins fought back as Johnny Boychuk and Torey Krug landed big hits in the opening period.
Patrick Sharp made it 1-0 Chicago on the fourth rebound of a Patrick Kane attempt. Michal Handzus’ right skate was in the crease, but the officials rejected the Bruins’ complaint.
It was Sharp’s ninth of the playoffs, tying him with David Krejci for the league lead.
Chicago nearly scored again as Krug made another neutral-zone turnover during a line change. Marian Hossa had the first shot, but a backchecking Nathan Horton blunted its power. The chaos didn’t stop there, as Jonathan Toews jamed at the net before Krug and the Bruins were rescued by the proverbial whistle when the referee loses sight of the puck.
The Blackhawks enjoyed a 15-3 shots margin through the opening 12:33.
Marcus Kruger set up Michael Frolik for an open shot from the slot, but Frolik missed the net.
Jagr, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand had Boston’s best shift of the first period, and Johnny Boychuk and Andrew Ference pinched from their point positions to sustain the attack. The shift did not produce a shot, but Boychuk did deck Dave Bolland in the neutral zone, his third big hit of the opening 20.
Kane, Sharp and Handzus continued to cycle on Boston’s fourth line, forcing an icing.
Rich Peverley had open ice after he picked off a misplayed puck, but Crawford pokechecked his chance away. It counted as Boston’s fourth shot of the period against 19 for Chicago.

“He’s day to day. That’s what he was (Thursday). That’s why he practiced today,” said Julien today. “We’ll have to make a decision on him tomorrow. It was encouraging to see him out there today. If he feels good tomorrow, he’s in the lineup, simple as that.”

It would be a gigantic lift for the Bruins, should Horton come back and play uninhibited, for two reasons: 1. He is integral to the chemistry David Krejci and Milan Lucic have capitalized on in these playoffs, putting all three linemates at the top of the playoff scoring list for the entire league; 2. After such a devastating loss in Game 1 triple overtime, even if the Bruins mean what they say as they preach the resilience that’s been such a big part of their success these past several seasons and especially when the won the Stanley Cup in 2011, this is something that would add back the energy that would be hard for some of the players to muster as the grind of Game 2 takes hold.

WEEI.com reported that Horton faces offseason surgery.

SCOTTY SCOOTS TO CHICAGO
New Bedford native Scott Allen, the well-traveled hockey coach, is on the move again but not because of a job change. Allen remains under contract with the St. Louis Blues’ AHL affiliate, but the team known as the Peoria Riverman is moving to suburban Chicago, where the Vanouver Canucks’ prospects had been playing as the Chicago Wolves.
The Canucks reportedly want to move their minor-league team closer to home — Abbotsford, B.C., is an excellent location but is currently affiliated with the Calgary Flames. So, for now, the Canucks prospects are without a home, which makes Bruins fans shed tears.

The Bruins finished the second overtime playing with house money and will start the third OT with 1:08 left on their man advantage for too many men on the ice. The Bruins deserved to win this in regulation, but deserved to lose it in the second overtime.

It’s expected that they score here or lose the game.

And, though it should not have turned out that way — Kaspars Daugavins made the good-ice choice on bad ice, pulling to the backhand and losing out on back pressure from Oduya and a poke from Crawford — and what should have been his OT GWG went by the boards, it eventually did go Chicago’s way when Michal Rozsival’s wrister from the right point hit Paille’s stick, then Bolland in the slot and finally Shaw at the post and it was over.

For the Blackhawks, it’s a 4-3 triple-OT victory that has to come as a great relief, considering they trailed most of regulation. For the Bruins, it’s a great effort gone for naught and, pending Nathan Horton’s situation, could be a devastating loss.

It seemed as though Gregory Campbell, the subject of the Yankees’ draft board (ie. “this is the makeup we’re looking for”), would be this year’s Horton. The guy that went out on his shield and the guy they’d win it for. But now it’s possible that Horton could be Horton.

The first-line forward without a contract and one whom, it was assumed going into the 2013 season (given the fragility that follows serious concussions and an enigmatic regular season to follow an enigmatic sequel 2011-12 season) that Horton would be let go to free agency, especially with the salary cap decreasing significantly for next season.

But Horton’s playoffs have been so compelling (pretty much an encore of 2011) and he has emerged as a major factor in David Krejci’s success, so those plans have to be reconsidered as the Bruins wait for the second-tier forwards they invested so heavily in to produce.

The next big thing you’ll hear about the Bruins in the two down days between Games 1 and 2 (Saturday night) will be Horton’s status.

The Bruins were on the powerplay during the first overtime when Horton got hurt. He was at the Chicago net jousting with defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson when he pulled up with an apparent upper-body (old shoulder?) injury and went straight to the bench, not to be seen again.

FIFTH PERIOD
Tyler Seguin skating in Horton’s place to open the second OT.

Bruins were severely outplayed, unlike the first OT, but they almost won it when Toews got caught in Chicago’s second too-many-men penalty of the game. Chara hit the post on a deflection.

There will still be 1:08 remaining on the powerplay when triple OT begins.

This has been a strong overtime for Boston’s third-liners, and it’s been necessary with Horton out and Marchand struggling even to get pucks out of the defensive zone.

FOURTH PERIOD
Just as the Bruins were pouring it on in the Chicago end, Nathan Horton collided in front of the Chicago net with defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson and left the ice in obvious pain. He did not return for the duration of the first overtime.

THIRD PERIOD
The Bruins looked to be in good shape, up a goal entering the third period of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final in Chicago, but even an insurance goal wasn’t enough as the Blackhawks got goals from Dave Bolland and Johnny Oduya to send the series opener to overtime.

Oduya scored at 12:14 of the third period on a shot from the right point that was going wide until it hit Andrew Ference’s skate and banked in behind Tuukka Rask.
It was a tough way for the visiting Bruins to cough up the lead after having the advantage on the scoreboard almost the entire game.
Milan Lucic had a big game out of the gates for Boston, scoring the Bruins’ first two goals and assisting on Patrice Bergeron’s power-play tally that made it 3-1 in the third period.
Lucic powered home the first goal at 13:11 of the opening period after David Krejci jumped out of Niklas Hjalmarsson’s way at the endboards, and Nathan Horton hit Lucic in the slot for a quick snap making it 1-0 Boston.
Rask had just made a big save at the other end on Marian Hossa.
Bergeron’s goal early in the period came on Boston’s only power-play of regulation time, but Chicago came back with a goal by Brandon Saad that made it 3-2 before Oduya’s tying goal.
Rask started the middle period with a big save on Marian Hossa, and Lucic doubled Boston’s lead in the aftermath of that save. Lucic beat Patrick Kane at the center boards, then Hjalmarsson before working a give-and-go with Krecji and blasting a high-slotter off Oduya’s stick and past Corey Crawford to make it 2-0 Boston just 51 seconds into the frame.
But rookie Brandon Saad answered with a big shift that lifted Chicago out of a temporary lull. The Blackhawks rookie took advantage of two Horton turnovers — Boston’s wingers for the most part failed to adher to “that heavy game” that Claude Julien preaches — and he fired from the slot. Rask had no chance and it was a one-goal game (2-1) at 3:08 of the second period.
Andrew Shaw continued to try to outpest Brad Marchand, but Torey Krug decked him with a shoulder in the neutral zone.
It was Krug’s finest moment of the game, but the rookie defenseman got tricked into firing a diagonal headman pass during a shift change, and Shaw picked it off and set up Bolland with the goal that made it 3-2.
The Bruins got into penalty trouble in the second period, piling a too-many-men call atop a high-stick in which Zdeno Chara went to cross-check Shaw but it slid up his chest and he sold it with the whiplash move.
The Bruins, particularly Dennis Seidenberg, did a fabulous job on the 5-on-3 penalty kill, as Chris Kelly and Bergeron blocked shots. Duncan Keith had his chances but didn’t get his shots through.

SECOND PERIOD
Tuukka Rask started the middle period with a big save on Marian Hossa, and Milan Lucic doubled Boston’s lead in the aftermath of that save. Lucic beat Patrick Kane at the center boards, then Hjalmarsson before working a give-and-go with Krecji and blasting a high-slotter off Johnny Oduya’s stick and past Corey Crawford to make it 2-0 Boston just 51 seconds into the frame.
But Brandon Saad answered with a big shift that lifted Chicago out of a temporary lull.
Saad took advantage of two Nathan Horton turnovers — Boston’s wingers for the most part failed to adher to “that heavy game” that Claude Julien preaches — and he fired from the slot. Rask had no chance and it was a one-goal game (2-1) at 3:08.
Shaw continued to try to outpest Marchand, but Krug decked him with a shoulder in the neutral zone.
Lucic had another big shift, but it did not yield the hat trick.
Rask continued to play great in net, denying Jonathan Toews, then Hossa and Bickell.
The Bruins got into penalty trouble, piling a too-many-men call atop a high-stick in which Chara went to cross-check Shaw but it slid up his chest and he sold it with the whiplash move.
Boston, particularly Dennis Seidenberg, did a fabulous job on the 5/3 kill, Chris Kelly and Bergeron blocked shots. Keith has a lot of possessions, but didn’t get his shots through.

FIRST PERIOD
The Krejci line had scoring chances on both of its first two shifts.
Torey Krug made the first bad turnover, but Shaw passed instead of shooting.
Chicago landed a series of early hits on Boston’s defense and bottom-six forwards.
Andrew Shaw created a scoring chance for the Blackhawks and Zdeno Chara issued several post-whistle shoves at Shaw.
The icing by Daniel Paille was indicative of ways the Hawks can pressure the Bruins’ system outlet plays. They cover a lot of ground.
Krejci and Lucic worked a short-pass sequence from defense to offense, Krejci finishing with a shot on goal.
Bruins lucky to survive turnover, Rask stops Kane from slot.
Bergeron scoops rebound off the end boards from under Brent Seabrook and Jaromir Jagr set up Marchand, but Crawford wowed the crowd with a sensationalized glove save.
The bigger Crawford save came after on a rebound that Tyler Seguin pushed through traffic.
Lucic powered home the first goal at 13:11 after Krejci jumped out of Niklas Hjalmarsson at the endboards, and Horton hit Lucic in the slot for a quick snap, 1-0 Boston.
The Bruins’ first line is en fuego.
Overall, the Bruins bounced back to outshoot the Blackhawks, 11-8, in the opening period of the final. More impressively, everyone caught up to Chicago’s puckmovers and finished their checks.

PREGAME

The Bruins and the Blackhawks are about to commence on a finals matchup that had never happened in the almost-century they share as “original-six” NHL franchises, and one that over the past five years was easy to wish for. Now it’s here.

The Hawks, whose start challenged the record books and coasted to the league’s best record (36-12-0 – over a full 82-game season it translates into a record 61.5 wins and 123 points). The only team ever to win 60 games in an NHL season was the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens, who would go on to capture their second of four straight championships.

Bruins fans with white playoff beards remember them well.

Are the Blackhawks that good? Can any team in the salary-cap era of enforced parity be that good?

Chicago had to purge several key players from its 2010 title team because of the cap, and they’re back in the finals after two disappointing finishes.

Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews loom as a modern-day version of Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, but they enter these finals with surprisingly underwhelming statistics. Both scored 23 goals in 47 regular-season games – in a normal season, that’s 40 – but it hat trick in the clincher over L.A. for Kane to reach 6 goals in 16 playoff games. Toews assisted on two of those, but comes into the final with 1 goal.

If Tuukka Rask could completely shut off Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, he should be able to handle these guys, right?

But the Hawks have two things the Penguins didn’t have, an old pro named Marian Hossa (7-7-14) and a group of defensemen who won’t wilt under forechecking pressure.

Beyond that talent advantage, Chicago GM Stan Bowman has rebuilt the Blackhawks’ forward lines around the core that won the Cup in 2010, and he’s done it despite substantial losses that summer as the team cut salary to comply with the cap.

As a right winger, Dustin Byfuglien matched Patrick Sharp’s 11 playoff goals in 2010, but now he’s the leading defenseman for the Winnipeg Jets. Defenseman Brent Sopel and burly winger Ben Eager went with Byfuglien to Atlanta in the same trade. Veteran Andrew Ladd (3-3-6) went to the Thrashers (now Jets) in a separate deal, and Kris Versteeg (6-8-14) was dealt to Toronto. Goaltender Antti Niemi (2.63, .910), who signed a free-agent deal with San Jose, wasn’t a great loss. Also leaving via free agency in 2010 were winger Adam Burish and veteran center John Madden. The changes kept coming in 2011, as Brian Campbell and Tomas Kopecky went to Florida in separate deals, and Troy Brouwer went to Washington for a first-round pick.

Chicago has a new goalie, Corey Crawford, and a back-up (Ray Emery) who was so good early on that his name was garnering Vezina Trophy talk.

On the back end, GM Stan Bowman has augmented his top three of Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson with journeymen Johnny Oduya and Michal Rozsival and young puck mover Nick Leddy.

Up front, the mainstays are Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp. Dave Bolland, who was injured this season, has not produced the way he did in 2010, but Bryan Bickell (a rookie playing part-time in 2010) is a primary scoring threat now with 8 playoff goals.

The new supporting cast up front includes older players like Michal Handzus (who was expected to play the John Madden role but has become a top-six solution), along with Andrew Shaw, Michael Frolik, Marcus Kruger, and rookie Brandons Saad and Bollig, the latter of whom it seems may have taken Viktor Stalberg’s place in the lineup … could be coach Joel Quenneville trying to light a fire under the talented Stalberg, who is 0-3-3 and a minus-1 in 15 playoff games.

If Stalberg sits, he’ll have company in extra forward Dan Carcillo, who was a regular with the Philadelphia Flyers the last time Chicago won the Cup.

It’s a very different supporting cast than 2010 with a player like Byfuglien, but still a team with many weapons.

The operating theory that this is a maturing nucleus is one I don’t see the evidence of. There are still streaky performances (Kane and Toews have not, barring the clincher vs. L.A., lit it up in the postseason) and questionable moments (Toews needing Seabrook’s counseling in the penalty box and Keith earning a 1-game suspension for his high stick on Jeff Carter in Game 3 of the Western Conference final).

Jury’s out on leadership (I get a feeling Brad Marchand will test it), but there’s no debating the excellence of this team or the many ways they can win a game.

Another old rivalry shall be revisited with the 2013 Stanley Cup starting Wednesday at the United Center. It will be the first ever Cup final between the Bruins and the Blackhawks, who met three times in the playoffs in the modern era (1967-): Boston 4, Chicago 0 (1970 semifinal); Boston 4, Chicago 2 (1974 semifinal); Chicago 2, Boston 1 (1975 preliminary round — Game 3 was the final NHL game that Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito would play together, a 6-4 season-ending loss at Boston Garden); Boston 4, Chicago 0 (1978 quarterfinal).

Here’s the schedule of the 2013 Stanley Cup …

Game        DATE        TIME (ET)        Chicago vs. Boston        Networks                
Game 1        Wed., June 12        8 p.m.        Boston at Chicago                NBC, CBC, RDS

Game 2        Sat., June 15        8 p.m.        Boston at Chicago                NBCSN, CBC, RDS

Game 3        Mon., June 17         8 p.m.        Chicago at Boston                NBCSN, CBC, RDS

Game 4        Wed., June 19        8 p.m.        Chicago at Boston                NBC, CBC, RDS

*Game 5        Sat., June 22        8 p.m.        Boston at Chicago                NBC, CBC, RDS

*Game 6        Mon., June 24        8 p.m.        Chicago at Boston                NBC, CBC, RDS

*Game 7        Wed., June 26        8 p.m.        Boston at Chicago                NBC, CBC, RDS

* if necessary

Game 5 of their series is 8 p.m. tonight on NBC with the Blackhawks ahead 3 games to 1. Chicago would have home ice on the Bruins, but Boston would have home ice should the Kings come back and win three straight to advance.

Here’s the Bruins’ press release with the ticket info …

STANLEY CUP FINAL TICKETS: The Boston Bruins announced June 7, that tickets for the club’s first three home games of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final series will go on sale on Tuesday, June 11, at 12:00 noon ET.

Tickets will be available for purchase at the TD Garden Box Office, on www.bostonbruins.com and via phone by calling Ticketmaster at 800.745.3000. Due to the anticipated demand and limited ticket inventory, the Boston Bruins are also offering fans an alternative opportunity to purchase tickets to the 2013 Stanley Cup Final through a Second Chance Drawing. Fans may register for the chance to purchase two tickets to Home Games 1, 2, or 3* of the Stanley Cup Final beginning now through Wednesday, June 12 at 9AM. Selected entrants will be notified Wednesday, June 12 between 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Tickets are subject to availability. To register, visit bostonbruins.com/playoffs.