played most of the game without three starting defensive

(Sports Network) - A pair of Original Six rivals will battle in the playoffs for the first time in 40 years on Thursday, as the Boston Bruins host the New York Rangers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. You can catch all the action on TSN beginning at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. Plus you can chat and get updates from TSNs hockey personalities with TSN.cas Game Night Blog on the TSN GameTracker. Although the Rangers and Bruins have met nine times in the playoffs this is the first encounter since the 1973 quarterfinals, when New York downed Boston in five games. Both clubs enter this series after being pushed to the limit in the opening round. The Rangers beat Washington in seven games, closing out the series with Mondays 5-0 win in D.C., but Bostons Game 7 was much more dramatic. Thanks to a ferocious comeback in the closing minutes on Monday, the fourth-seeded Bruins are still alive in the playoffs. Boston nearly blew a 3-1 series lead to the Toronto Maple Leafs in Round 1, losing Games 5 and 6 before falling behind 4-1 in the third period of the decisive contest in Boston. Boston was down 4-1 after Nazem Kadri tallied 5:29 into the third period, but the Bruins scored three unanswered goals and tied the game on Patrice Bergerons marker with 50.2 seconds left in regulation. Bergeron then netted the game-winner 6:05 into overtime to cap a 5-4 comeback win and move Boston into the Eastern Conference semifinals. Now, the Bs find themselves in the second round for the fourth time in five seasons. The only exception was last spring when Boston lost to Washington in the opening round the year after winning the franchises first Stanley Cup since 1972. While Bergeron came up with two big goals in Game 7, fellow forward David Krejci led the way on offense for Boston in Round 1. Krejci, who led Boston with 23 points on 12 goals and 11 assists during the 2011 title run, paced the Bs with five goals and eight assists against Toronto. With his defensive ability, Bergeron could be Bostons most important player up front. He won the Selke Trophy last year as the NHLs best defensive forward and is one of three finalists for the award this season. Bergeron led all Boston forwards in ice time in the opening round, logging just over 20 minutes a game as he posted three goals and an assist against the Leafs. Krejci, Bergeron and Nathan Horton, who had four goals and three assists in the opening round, combined to score 12 of Bostons 22 goals against Toronto. Milan Lucic also recorded nine points on two goals and seven assists against the Maple Leafs, while Jaromir Jagr failed to score but chipped in with four assists. The 41-year-old Jagr leads all active players with 193 career playoff points (78 goals, 115 assists). Johnny Boychuk added two goals from the back end in Round 1, but Zdeno Chara led all Boston defensemen with eight points on one goal and seven assists. The big Slovakian also led the Bruins with an average of 28 minutes, 54 seconds of ice time per game over the seven contests. With fellow defensemen Andrew Ference, Wade Redden and Dennis Seidenberg all battling injuries, Chara may actually see his playing time increase in the second round. Seidenberg and Ference did not practice on Wednesday, while Redden skated briefly before leaving the session early. Bruins head coach Claude Julien isnt saying whether any of the three players will be available for Game 1 on Thursday. The injuries mean Julien may have to ask for more minutes from unproven defensemen like Dougie Hamilton and Matt Bartkowski. Goaltender Tuukka Rask went 19-10-5 with a 2.00 goals against average during the regular season but he posted a 2.49 GAA in seven games against the Leafs. All told, the Finnish netminder is 11-9 with a 2.57 GAA in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the backbone of the Rangers is goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and the reigning Vezina Trophy winner certainly showed his worth in the opening round against Washington. After posting consecutive shutouts against the Capitals in Games 6 and 7, the 31-year-old Swede finished the series with a 1.65 GAA and .947 save percentage. He has eight career postseason shutouts and five of them have come since the start of the 2012 playoffs. Lundqvist enters Round 2 riding a scoreless streak of 120 minutes after allowing his last goal -- an overtime game-winner -- to Washingtons Mike Ribeiro in Game 5. Logging the big minutes in front of Lundqvist are defensemen Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh, who both averaged more than 25 minutes of ice time a game in Round 1. Girardi and Michael Del Zotto led the Rangers blue line with one goal and one assist each, while Steve Eminger chipped in with two helpers. Like the Bruins, New Yorks most glaring weakness is scoring. The Rangers have enough talent up front to sustain pressure, but they often wind up with little to show for it. Leading the charge for New York on offense in the opening round was Derick Brassard, a player who was acquired at the trade deadline in the deal that sent Marian Gaborik to Columbus. Brassard tied four other players for the team lead with two goals against the Caps and he also recorded seven assists. Arron Asham, Brian Boyle, Carl Hagelin and Derek Stepan each posted two goals for New Yorks balanced scoring attack in Round 1. However, the Rangers are waiting for Rick Nash and Brad Richards -- the clubs two most expensive skaters -- to chip in on offense. Nash, who comes with an annual cap hit of $7.8 million, was acquired in a trade with Columbus last summer to help make New York a more formidable offensive team. He did lead the Rangers with 21 goals in the regular season, but had just two assists in the seven-game set. Richards, who signed a nine-year, $58.5 million contract prior to the 2011-12 season, had one goal in the opening round. A former Conn Smythe winner for Tampa Bay in 2004, Richards recorded six goals and nine assists for the Rangers in last years playoffs. The Rangers won two of three meetings against the Bruins this season, but the clubs havent played each other since Feb. 12, when New York notched its second OT victory of the season against Boston. Despite winning two of the three games, Lundqvist had a lofty 2.95 GAA against Boston this season, while Rask went 1-0-2 with a 2.62 GAA. Nash paced New York with three assists in the season series, while Gaborik led the team with three goals against Boston before being traded. Lucic, Horton and Brad Marchand each notched two goals for the Bruins. Game 2 of this series is scheduled for Sunday in Boston. The Bruins were 16-5-3 as the host during the regular season and 2-2 in the first round. New York was 1-3 at Washington in Round 1, posting its only road win in Game 7. The Rangers were 10-12-2 as the guest in 2013. Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys . James, who turned 29 on Monday, injured his groin Friday during the Heats overtime loss at Sacramento. He sat out the following game, a 108-107 win Saturday in Portland, before coming back to help send the Nuggets to their seventh consecutive loss. Cheap NFL T-shirts . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington. http://www.cheapnfljerseyselite.com/ .Y. -- Syracuse has turned up the defence at the right time all season, and when High Point threatened to pull off a monumental upset the second-ranked Orange did what they do best with their quick hands and savvy play. Wholesale NFL Womens Jerseys . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. Wholesale Black NFL Jerseys .05 million next season unless Graham and the Saints subsequently agree on a long-term deal. The designation was released Monday after the deadline passed for NFL teams to use franchise or transition tags on players becoming free agents. NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Florida Gators arent in the mood to pick apart a road win in the Southeastern Conference, especially after last weeks ugly loss.No matter what they might need to fix.Jordan Scarlett ran for a 4-yard touchdown with Eddy Pineiro adding a pair of field goals as No. 23 Florida held off Vanderbilt 13-6 Saturday.A wise man once said, `you even have to bring your ugly babies home from the hospital, and that was ugly, Florida coach Jim McElwain said. In fact that might have been what someone told my dad when I was born. But I feel really good that our guys found a way to win.Florida (4-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) came up with two interceptions and two sacks on a day where the Gators defense otherwise struggled against one of the nations worst offenses with three starting linemen missing most of the game.Ralph Webb ran for 110 yards as Vanderbilt outgained Florida 265-236 in total offense. The Commodores (2-3, 0-2) had a final chance to force overtime until Nick Washington intercepted a Wade Freebeck pass with 54 seconds left sealing the Gators win.The Gators never trailed and led 10-3 after Scarlett scored on a 4-yard touchdown run, and Pineiro kicked a 42-yard field goal as the half expired. Pinero added a 26-yarder with 8:17 left.Florida had a chance to pad its lead after Vanderbilt punter Sam Loy fumbled the snap and lost the ball with 5:07 left with the Commodores trailing 13-6. But Austin Appleby fumbled the snap on second-and-goal at the Vanderbilt 1 with 2:56 left giving the Commodores one last chance.Its beyond me how you fumble the ball on a quarterback sneak at the end of the game, McElwain said. It happened, and yet our defense stepped up. They had to step up twice.THE TAKEAWAYFlorida: This set up as the perfect trap game for the Gators between Tennessee and LSU against an opponent theyve dominated over the years. The Gators had the majority of the 30,565 fans in Florida colors and still came out sluggish. Still, the Gators take home their third straight win and 25th in the last 26 games in thiis series.dddddddddddd McElwain complimented the turnout by the Gators fans.I really think it had an effect on one of those third downs when they were coming out of their end zone, McElwain said.Vanderbilt: The Commodores finally showed signs of the stingy defense that ranked in the top 30 nationally in a lot of categories last season. Better yet, Webb gashed a defense that had been giving up only 76.5 yards rushing.This group is playing to win, Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason said. Were not satisfied with moral victories. There are no moral victories in football. This team is growing up and playing extremely hard.POLL IMPLICATIONSThe Gators barely stayed inside the Top 25 after being routed by Tennessee . Voters will have to decide how impressive Florida was against Vanderbilt.THE REPLACEMENTSThe Gators played most of the game without three starting defensive lineman. Senior defensive tackle Joey Ivie missed the game with a thumb injury that will sideline him at least a month. Defensive ends Bryan Cox Jr. and Jordan Sherit played sparingly with injuries. Without them, sophomore defensive tackle Khairi Clark made his second career start, and defensive ends CeCe Jefferson (sophomore) and Jabari Zuniga (freshman) saw extensive time.Obviously, we were missing some guys, but I feel like we played well, Gators defensive tackle Caleb Brantley said.DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTVanderbilt had forced only two three-and-outs in each of the Commodores past three games. The Commodores opened this game forcing the Gators three-and-out on their first two drives. Adam Butler also had two sacks on one drive for a defense that hadnt managed more than one sack in each of the past three games.UP NEXTFlorida: The Gators return home to host LSU, the only SEC team to beat the Gators during the regular season last year in winning the Eastern Division.Vanderbilt: The Commodores visit Kentucky still looking for their first SEC win. ' ' '