On Thursday night, fans were treated to 60+ minutes of hockey between two teams days removed from a grueling seven-game series in the first round of the 2013 NHL postseason. For the first 40 minutes of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, it was pretty obvious that both the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers were feeling the effects of their Game 7s played on Monday night. It was sloppy hockey from two tired teams in a game that seemed to be headed for irrelevancy, surely not to be remembered in playoff folklore for it’s thrilling moments and edge-of-your seat exciting.
Things changed in the third period, but hey, that’s nothing new–especially for the Bruins.