Bruins vs. Capitals: Ten thoughts through two

Here are five thoughts with the Bruins trailing the Washington Capitals by a 2-1 score after the first 20 minutes at TD Garden.

1) Gigantic goal for Milan Lucic at the end of the first period with five seconds to go until the intermission. Patrice Bergeron worked like a dog against Jay Beagle to make sure the Bruins won the face-off and then Lucic managed to snap a wobbly wrist shot through Tomas Vokouns legs after hed put together a very good first period. The Bruins are starting to show the ability to quick strike opponents with rapid goals in succession again, and score goals right before the conclusion of periods. Thats the sign of a team finding their legs again. Lucic with points in six straight games, and a huge goal after Vokoun looked well on his way to a big afternoon against Boston.

2) Patrice Bergeron is in beast mode today. He was fighting off Washington attackers to hold the puck behind the Caps net while setting up Brad Marchand for a one-timer earlier in the period and he wouldnt accept defeat on that key offensive face-off at the end of the first period. Hes unstoppable when hes playing heavy on the puck like he is today.

3) Joe Corvo once again having issues clearing pucks from the front of the net. He couldnt get the puck away from the net before Matt Hendricks pounced on it to score Washingtons second goal of the first period. Corvo had a couple of good games, but today is a regression to bad Corvo.

4) Ten hits for the Bruins this afternoon including Zdeno Chara rattling Mathieu Perreault with a glass-shattering hit over by the penalty boxes. It smashed the glass between the penalty box and the fan seating immediately behind it. Bruins outhitting the Caps by a 10-5 margin in the first period.

5) Interesting to see the Bruins going with seven defensemen to start this afternoons game as Benoit Pouliot battles with an injury suffered in Toronto. Looks like this is the team that Boston wants to go with from here on in and wanted to see if Mike Mottau could play a little forward along with his defensemen role. Good versatility by Mottau.

Here are five thoughts from the second with the Bruins trailing the Washington Capitals by a 4-2 score after the first 20 minutes at TD Garden.

1) Bruins looked sloppy and selfish in the second period after battling themselves back into it with a short burst. Nothing more selfish than David Krejci flinging the puck at linesman Jean Morin in a fit of pique after an off-sides call. Morin skated by Krejci, barked at him and then whistled him for an unsportsmanlike conduct that left Boston shorthanded. Bruins cant take selfish penalties like that when theyre trying to win games and close with some strength down the stretch.

2) Rough times continue for Greg Zanon, who took a pair of penalties in the second period including a holding call when Matt Hendricks got the drop on him from the outside and a roughing call when he dropped Mathieu Perreault with what looked like a good hit. Hes having a tough time getting settled into a role here in Boston. Tim Thomas has played pretty well today to all those wondering about potentially playing Marty Turco today. Not his fault Bs defensemen are playing like the keystone kops.

3) A rough game for Dennis Seidenberg as well. He crashed into Adam McQuaid behind the net and that resulted in chaos in their own end before Jay Beagle fired a laser past Tim Thomas to put Washington ahead. A lot of sloppiness from the Bs defensemen corps today: Zanon, Seidenberg and Corvo all struggling.

4) A minus-2, no shots on net and a bad penalty for David Krejci today. This is the kind of inconsistency that can be maddening when hes played well with Tyler Seguin and Milan Lucic recently. Hes been good in the face-off circle, but hes doing anything else effectively.

5) Johnny Boychuk is tough as hell. He takes a shot off his right foot and needs help walking down the runway. But hes immediately out and on the bench before play begins again, and finishes off the period with a problem.