Second period Quick hits:

Derick Brassard evened the score at 2-2 early on in the second period when the Blue Shirts just flat out beat the Bruins to the puck on a few different occasions leading to the game-tying goal. It was Brassard’s 13th goal of the season. Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello each tallied an assist on the play.

Adam McQuaid and Dennis Seidenberg are having a very tough time keeping up with the speed of the Rangers. Each are sporting a minus-2 to this point in the game while being exposed with every shift. At some point, Claude Julien has to think about breaking up this duo.

The Bruins were rewarded with the game’s first power-play when Lee Stempniak was called for hooking. It was a great two minutes for the Black and Gold, but they could not find the back of the net.

Shortly after the B’s power play expired, the Rangers quickly regained the lead when Derek Stepan scored glove side on Rask for his ninth of the season. The B’s poor play in the neutral zone along with the speed of the Rangers is costing the B’s to this point.

Reilly Smith committed a penalty with 1:10 left in the period for tripping. It’s the first time the B’s are on the penalty kill on the night. Rask and company have killed off the first half of the power-play and the Rangers will have 50 seconds of power play time carried over into the third period.

The B’s will need to rally in the third to overcome another one goal deficit and it starts with throwing pucks on Talbot. The Rangers goalie has only seen 12 shots through two periods.

The Rangers play well when leading after two periods and the Bruins will have quite a challenge ahead of them if they want to sneak away with a win. The Blue Shirts are 21-0-1 when they’re ahead after 40 minutes, while the B’s are 4-12-0 when trailing after the middle stanza.