Bruins vs. Penguins Game 2: Score, Twitter Reaction and Analysis

Boston exploded for four first-period goals and cruised the rest of the way to destroy the Penguins, 6-1, in Pittsburgh Monday night. The win gives Boston a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final.  

Brad Marchand netted two goals in this one, scoring the opening and closing goals of the first period.

USA Today passed along this colorful tweet of the victory: 

After the Bruins took the series opener with an easy 3-0 win, this marks the first time the Pens have lost consecutive home games since their first two home matches of the season.

Obviously, this places the Pens in a desperate situation. They now have to win four of five games, with three of those games being on the road. 

Making matters worse for the Penguins is the fact that their goaltender situation is in disarray once again. Tomas Vokoun didn't even make it out of the first period; he was yanked after allowing three goals on just 12 shots. 

Marc-Andre Fleury was barely any better. He wound up allowing three goals on 17 shots.  

ECHL play-by-play man Ian Tasso highlights what could be problematic about this for the No. 1 seeds:

For what it's worth, it is far too easy to pin all of the Pens' problems on goaltending—nor is it accurate. The netminders were getting little to no help from their defense or turnover-prone offense. 

Pittsburgh's troubles early in this series can't be pinned on any one player—they are simply being outplayed from top to bottom. The Bruins wasted no time proving that would again be the case on Monday. 

Less than a half a minute into the game, Sidney Crosby couldn't find control of a loose puck. This opened the door for Brad Marchand to storm in and exploit a vulnerable Vokoun. Putting the puck on his forehand, Marchand sent a high shot to the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. 

The unfortunate start was the exact opposite of what Penguins coach Dan Bylsma was hoping for. The Montreal Gazette's Dave Stubbs tweeted:

At least Bylsma can take solace in the fact that he was right.

The early goal set for a frenetic pace to this game. The action was fast and furious, and for the Penguins, it was a little too furious. The Pens were eager to play physical hockey, and they had a 16-7 lead in hits at the end of the first period. However, this left them way too vulnerable. 

After some near-misses, the Bruins took advantage of this vulnerability once again. In the 14th minute, just after an expiring Pittsburgh penalty, Nathan Horton exploited the home team's inability to clear the zone to hand Boston a 2-0 advantage. 

The floodgates were open at this point. Just two minutes later, the Bruins used a quick series of passes to set up David Krejci for a wrister that beat and chased Vokoun from the game. 

The Penguins offered up a glimmer of hope in the 19th minute when Brandon Sutter wristed a beautiful shot high into the back of the net to narrow the gap to 3-1. 

The optimism didn't last 30 seconds. Before the first came to an end, the high-scoring period was not done offering up excitement. Marchand went for his second goal of the night with nine seconds left in the first period—the first shot Fleury had faced. 

Meanwhile, I don't think the Bruins would have any complaints if Marchand did this every period: 

Despite the Penguins opening up the second with a line of Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz, Pittsburgh couldn't get anything going. They were struggling to even make a good push. The Globe and Mail's David Shoalts illustrates that point in his own way: 

Of course, it wasn't all the failures of Pittsburgh; Boston was making sure to play tough defense, and everything we need to know about this game can essentially be found in a two-minute stretch in the second.

Marchand made a terrible decision by taking down Crosby when he had no real reason to. However, the Pens couldn't even muster a single shot on goal in the two-minute man advantage. As the game entered the third, if the Penguins were entertaining any hopes of a comeback, they quickly put those hopes to rest. 

For the second time in this game, the Bruins scored in the first 30 seconds of a period, when Patrice Bergeron took a magnificent pass from Jaromir Jagr before giving the Bruins a 5-1 lead. The remaining 19 minutes were merely academic at that point, but that still didn't stop the Bruins from tacking on another with less than two minutes in the game. 

There is little to nothing positive for the Penguins to take from this game. They must do their best to forget it, and try to somehow reverse momentum as the series shifts to Boston. Game 3 is set for Wednesday at TD Garden.