There were some signs on how this one could go before the game even started. Despite being practically a must-win for the Bruins, they were forced to swap Jonas Gustavsson in for Tuukka Rask at the last moment due to illness. How last minute? They had called up a backup from Providence, an hour or so away, who wasn't able to make it in time for warm ups.
The play itself started fairly slow. Both teams traded so-so chances in a steady back and forth for the first few minutes. It wasn't too long before Boston was able to grab the lead off of what looked like a fairly innocuous breakout.