Here are five thoughts from the second period with the Bruins leading the Washington Capitals by a 1-0 score after the first 40 minutes of action at the Verizon Center.
1) Ten saves in the second period, and 15 saves altogether for Tuukka Rask in an impressive, midseason form performance. He stoned Justin Williams on a breakaway, stuffed Williams again at the post, and flashed a glove save on Jay Beagle from the left circle. A lot of high degree of difficulty stops, but Rask was up to the challenge.
2) The Bruins defense had a bit of a meltdown in the second period as the Capitals turned up the offensive pressure, and the Black and Gold had to rely on Rask to bail them out. You start to see how a good offensive team will be able to force the issue with Torey Krug, Adam McQuaid and Kevan Miller headlining the B’s defense.
3) Kind of a weak boarding call on Brett Connolly, but the right winger still looks like he’s going to be taking a lot of penalties this season. I’m not sure if his instincts are off or if it’s him just being a little late to plays away from the puck, but he has been whistled for a lot of penalty box trips since being traded to Boston.
4) Five blocked shots for Joe Morrow tonight. He’s still all in to win an NHL job, and that’s good to see.
5) Colin Miller couldn’t hold onto a puck at the blue line on the power play that caused a Justin Williams breakaway, and he was completely bailed out by Rask. But Miller also made a nice play walking the blue line with the puck on a later PP that allowed the Bruins to keep pressuring in the offensive zone. His speed and reaction time to the puck is very, very good.