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BOSTON -- For the past two days, the Boston Bruins insisted their late-season funk was in the rearview mirror. There would be no more blown leads in the third period and no more lackluster starts. The skilled and physical Bruins would return.

Well, the Bruins kept their promises as they overcame an early Toronto Maple Leafs power-play goal and scored the next four goals, dominating the Leafs 4-1 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

David Krejci had a goal and two assists, Wade Redden had a goal and an assist and Nathan Horton and Johnny Boychuk both lit the lamp for the Bruins. Tuukka Rask looked solid between the pipes, making 19 saves, with James van Riemsdyk’s power-play goal in the opening period the only shot that beat him.

For the Leafs, James Reimer was under siege all night as the Bruins poured 40 shots on him.

Lucic-Krejci-Horton line clicks again: One of the big question marks heading into this series was whether Milan Lucic, Krejci and Horton could find their magic again. If Game 1 is any indication, the band is back together and the magic is there. In addition to Krejci’s three-point performance and Horton lighting the lamp, Lucic had two helpers and continued to look more like the Lucic who used a combination of grit, size and skating to earn two straight seasons of 20-plus goals. The chemistry was back as Horton and Lucic got to open spaces to benefit from Krejci’s playmaking skills, and Krejci looked a lot like the player who was a candidate for the 2011 Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Bruins defense provides offensive boost: Prior to Game 1, coach Claude Julien lauded Redden for his recent play and puck-moving skills. Redden continued to impress with his goal and an assist, but the Bruins' entire defense did a great job of moving the puck and creating offense in Game 1. In addition to Boychuk's goal, Bruins defensemen helped in peppering Reimer and controlling neutral zone play.

Power play looks better: While the Bruins’ power play (1-for-5) can certainly still be better, it did convert once and moved the puck a lot better. The passes were crisp, and there was less hesitation. If that continues, the scoring production will increase.

Suspension coming for Ference? Andrew Ference could very well be sitting out a game or more after elbowing Leafs forward Mikhail Grabovski in the head in the first period. No penalty was called, but the replay clearly shows an elbow to the head.

Bruins have two goals called back: Things could have been even worse for the Leafs if not for two Bruins goals being called back. The referees and replay officials got it right in calling back a Tyler Seguin shot that clearly rang off the post 1:10 into the second period. But Patrice Bergeron’s no-goal was a bit questionable as the referees claimed the whistle was blown before Bergeron pushed it into the net. But even if the refs were wrong, the rule states if they intended to blow it and didn’t do it in time, then it’s still not a goal.

Bad blood boils at end: In addition to Ference’s questionable hit to the head of Grabovski, there was plenty of hard hitting throughout the game. As time wound down in the third period and it was clear the Bruins would win, the Leafs decided to let the Bruins know they were still there, taking plenty of extra hits after the whistle and then stirring things up at the final buzzer. The result was a Chris Kelly-Leo Komarov fight. It should be a physical Game 2.

Hamilton and Peverley sit: Not surprisingly, Julien kept Dougie Hamilton in the press box as a healthy scratch. The defenseman struggled in his last few games of the regular season, and Julien seems to have opted to take the learning-from-up-top route he took with Seguin as a rookie to start the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs. While Rich Peverley might have had an off season, one would think Julien would prefer playoff and Cup experience in the lineup instead of an inexperienced Kaspars Daugavins. But it was Daugavins playing with Kelly and Jaromir Jagr for Game 1.

Here’s what the rest of the lineup looked like:

Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Daugavins-Kelly-Jagr
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton

Defensemen
Zdeno Chara-Dennis Seidenberg
Ference-Boychuk
Redden-Adam McQuaid

Goalies
Rask
Anton Khudobin

BOSTON -- The Bruins have been searching for consistency as they try to recapture their identity in time for the Stanley Cup playoffs. But one hallmark of consistency recently has been the goaltending of Tuukka Rask.

Throw away the relief appearance he made in the 5-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, because no goalie was going to stop the bleeding of another mental collapse by the Bruins there. What can't be ignored, though, is that with a 30-save shutout in the Bruins' 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday, Rask has two shutouts in his past two starts.

"It's important for him, obviously, and what we've been through, I think a lot of players right now, you still see certain guys fighting the puck a little bit, but at the end of the day, your goaltender plays a big role in your success," head coach Claude Julien said of his goalie's recent play. "A game like tonight, if we don't have good goaltending, the minute you get a breakdown the puck could be in the back of your net. You need a guy to stand tall and be good, and you need a guy to go into the playoffs with confidence; hopefully that's what Tuukka's creating here."

Regardless of the inconsistency in front of him, Rask seems to be entering the zone that a team needs its goalie to be in for the playoffs. An even-keel approach is crucial for a goalie, and Rask is doing his best to fall back into that mindset.

"It's huge," Rask, who is now 19-9-4 with a 1.97 goals-against average and .930 save percentage, said. "I think for a goalie really the biggest challenge always is to play your style and trust in your instincts. You have to play the game the way you always play it, no matter how each game goes. If you have a bad game, you have to go to [the] next game, and it's a challenge to not change anything, but you have to stay with your game still. That's the challenge. Right now, I think I'm able to do that, and I'm looking forward to that challenge in the playoffs."

As for the shutouts, Rask is just happy to have his game where it needs to be to help his team win and build confidence going into the playoffs.

"It's better than letting in five or six goals, for sure," Rask joked. "I don't know. Every game is different. Sometimes you just get the bounces. Today, they had a post or two. Sometimes, the puck just bounces your way, and sometimes it doesn't. I just try to feel good about myself every single game and feel comfortable out there. If it's a shutout or not, it doesn't matter as long as you play good and you win like today."

MONTREAL -- The Bruins have been reminded before how much Patrice Bergeron means to the success of their team.

While they have delivered in the past and collectively filled Bergeron's skates to survive, they showed in their 2-1 loss to the Canadiens on Saturday at the Bell Centre that it might take some time for them to find that group effort to do so once again. Bergeron now has missed the past two games due to a concussion.

"We need guys to step up more," coach Claude Julien said following his team's third straight loss to the Northeast Division-leading Canadiens, who are three points up on the Bruins. "It's as simple as that."

One guy who didn't step up in Julien's eyes was Tyler Seguin. After Bergeron suffered the fourth concussion of his career Tuesday, the Bruins moved Seguin into Bergeron's spot as the second-line center with Jaromir Jagr and Brad Marchand on the wings. Seguin was in this situation before as a rookie when Bergeron suffered his third concussion and missed the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Seguin stepped up and delivered then with six points in two games, including two goals and two assists in Game 2 to help the Bruins tie the series at 1-1. Bergeron would return and help the Bruins go on to win the series in seven games and then eventually the Stanley Cup in seven games as well.

Although Seguin's defensive game has improved, he hasn't been able to catch fire in a bottle again the past two games. In a pivotal division game with his team trailing 1-0 early, Julien switched Seguin back to wing. So Jagr ended up paired with two very defensive-minded forwards in Gregory Campbell and Daniel Paille. Yes, Paille scored his seventh goal of the season, but when Jagr was acquired Tuesday, no one envisioned one of the game's most prolific scorers would play on an energy line. However, such is the case when your best all-around player is not in your lineup.

"This is a big game and they're a really good team that is really good in the offensive zone and I don't think Tyler was ready for that," Julien said. "I had to put a centerman with experience there and put [Seguin] back on the wing. I thought Jags had a good night with Paille and Campbell, and it kind of stabilized the lines a bit, but one line tonight didn't give us much and the other two were good. To win these kinds of games -- especially with the injuries we have -- we need everybody to step up, and we didn't have that tonight."

Center David Krejci, along with linemates Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton, was invisible. They most likely were the one line Julien was referring to that didn't give much. Krejci blamed the "bad" Bell Centre ice as a reason for the Bruins' failure to score on a power play in the final minute of regulation. Lucic appeared to realize that through two games without Bergeron, the Bruins have failed to step up.

"He's a big part of this lineup and he brings a lot to this team," Lucic said. "But in saying that, I think the biggest issue we've had in the past 10-15 games is consistency throughout this lineup and getting all 20 guys going at the same time. I think as much as -- and I'm not taking anything away from Bergy -- as much as he brings that extra element to our team, I think it's our system and everyone buying into it is what makes us successful. I think we need to get back to that."

Lucic referenced the 2011 Eastern Conference finals but made it clear that he and his teammates have to fill the void.

"[Bergeron] was hurt the first two games against Tampa back in the Eastern Conference finals, and we had guys step up, especially in that Game 2 where we were able to get that win," Lucic said. "So we're going to need the same thing with guys stepping up and everybody carrying the load."

BOSTON -- Is Bruins coach Claude Julien trying to create or quell a goalie controversy between starter Tuukka Rask and backup Anton Khudobin?

Julien's recent comments regarding Rask and his choice to start Khudobin two straight games last week started some rumblings that Khudobin may be given a chance to challenge Rask for more starts and were curious to say the least.

After a 23-save performance in the Bruins’ 3-2 shootout win over the Maple Leafs on Monday night, Rask is 15-4-3 and second in the NHL in goals-against average (1.90) and save percentage (.928). He also has two shutouts and could be considered for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goalie. Khudobin has been good as well going 6-3-0 with a 2.31 goals-against average and .916 save percentage. While Rask had lost his previous two starts, he has by no means been the problem with the Bruins' recent lackluster play prior to Monday night’s win.

That’s why it was rather surprising to hear Julien call out Rask for not making “timely saves” following the Bruins’ third-period collapse in a 3-2 loss to Winnipeg last Tuesday. But even more surprising was Julien’s response when asked about Rask making timely saves Monday.

“Yeah, that’s what we need every once in a while,” Julien said. “Their goaltender [James Reimer] did the same thing at their end.”

Once in a while? Rask clearly has given the Bruins timely saves and more on most occasions this season. As center Patrice Bergeron pointed out following the game, the Bruins' recent struggles were the result of a lack of focus from his teammates in front of Rask.

“I think it’s about everyone picking it up, and I think that’s not just for [Rask], but for ourselves, for us as a team,” Bergeron said. “We had to be better overall, and we still need to better. I think it was a step forward. We still have some work to do, and that’s the way it goes. You’ve just got to keep fighting through it, but we have a lot of confidence in [Rask], and he does the job, so we’ve got to do it in front of him as well.”

Later in his postgame remarks, Julien again was asked about Rask and whether his performance was back to the dominant play he has shown for most of the season. The Bruins' bench boss got a bit defensive as he seemed to realize the effect his comments could have in the media and among fans.

“I don’t think Tuukka’s been bad at all guys,” Julien said. “I hope people didn’t read into Khudobin playing two games, because I think Khudobin deserved to play two games. He’s played well all season long, he played well in Ottawa, and this was an opportunity to get him two games in a row and that’s all it was. We’ve got a busy week this week and I needed Tuukka fresh and that’s all it was. So certainly had nothing to do with that.

“And Tuukka to me has been good and he’s never been bad, he’s been great and he’s been good. But you know, we’ve gotten some pretty good games out of him and I don’t think we can necessarily point the finger at him for losing any games for us this year.”

Julien then was asked how he felt Rask -- who to this point has only said he didn’t blame himself for the late goals in Winnipeg -- may be dealing with his coach's comments. Julien cited last season when Rask and Tim Thomas split the goaltending duties as an example.

“I don’t know, I think it’s one of those things that everybody reads it whichever way they can. And you know that from the goaltender last year,” Julien said.

Rask basically has taken the high road since Julien’s comments in Winnipeg. But one has to wonder if Julien is trying to light more of a fire under his netminder by starting a controversy or if he is simply being the blunt coach he always has been? If Rask continues to play the way he did Monday and for the better part of this season, we may never know as such comments would be completely out of place.

BOSTON -- After the Boston Bruins suffered a 1-3 record on their recent four-game road trip through Pittsburgh, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Toronto, the Bruins are back home and will host the Maple Leafs to close out the home-and-home series tonight at TD Garden.

During Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Maple Leafs, the Bruins’ recent offensive struggles continued, scoring only twice on 33 shots. Defensively, Boston allowed only 13 shots, which gives coach Claude Julien a clear indication the team’s back end is doing its job.

In order to find a consistent scoring punch, Julien changed his lines during a 45-minute practice on Sunday. He replaced struggling forward Milan Lucic with Brad Marchand on the team’s top line, but the coach is not focused solely Lucic’s inability to score, which hasn’t occurred since Feb. 24.

“It’s pretty simple. When you don’t play well, you don’t look at just one guy,” Julien said Monday morning. “You don’t look at one line. You look at the whole team. Right now it’s not about one individual -- it’s about the whole team.”

When asked if the Bruins need to be play a more physical, angry game against the Maple Leafs, Julien wanted to focus on his team.

“I think we need to be angry with ourselves,” Julien said. “The Toronto Maple Leafs, this is a team that has improved. Randy’s [Carlyle] done a great job with them. They’ve added some toughness. They’ve added some size. They’ve got a certain structure that allows them to play well. There are a lot of good things going on with that team, so we recognize that.

“What is disappointing is that right now we’re not playing the type of game we should. Tonight, if we’re mad, we’ve got to be mad at ourselves for not playing our game, and going out there and being a little bit more hungry. Hopefully our work ethic and the talent we feel we have on our team will take over.”

If Julien decides to keep his lineup changes the same as Sunday’s practice, here’s what it’ll look like:

Brad Marchand-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Daniel Paille-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Milan Lucic-Rich Peverley-Jordan Caron
Jay Pandolfo-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton

Tuukka Rask is expected to start in net.

BOSTON -- The Bruins host the Eastern Conference’s last-place team, the Florida Panthers, tonight at TD Garden.

The Panthers are 1-3-1 in their last five games and are trying to hang on for a playoff spot, trailing the eighth-place New York Rangers by eight points. Florida has been riddled by injuries this season with a total of seven players out of the lineup, including forward Stephen Weiss, who is out for the remainder of the season with a broken wrist.

So, Bruins coach Claude Julien’s message to his team after Thursday’s morning skate was a simple one: Don’t take the Panthers for granted.

When asked what he expected from the struggling Panthers, Julien said he’s focused only on his team.

"To be honest, it’s what I expect from our team more than theirs right now,” Julien said. “Not to say anything about their team, we know they’re banged up, we know they’ve had a lot of injuries and they’ve had their fair share of struggles, but in this league there’s no such thing as an easy game and we should know that by now.”

The Bruins have uncharacteristically surrendered three third-period leads in three of the last six games, including a 3-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

Julien is looking for a complete effort against the Panthers.

“It’s more of how we’re going to bounce back from a real disappointing loss. Our decision-making [Tuesday] wasn’t as strong as it should have been,” said the coach.

“We need to bounce back with a strong outing, a 60-minute effort we keep talking about, and hopefully that will get us back on track,” added Julien.

Forward Shawn Thornton agreed that the Bruins need to play smarter hockey and finish games stronger.

"We need not to sit back as much,” he said. “Our decision-making with the puck needs to be better. We’ve made some mistakes that are uncharacteristic of us, as far as giving away pucks in areas that we usually don’t. If we played the same brand of hockey for the whole game then we’ll be fine, but it’s when we start to switch things up a little and ad-lib is when we get ourselves in trouble.

“There’s no panic button. Yes, it’s happened a few times lately, but there’s no hitting the panic button, we just know we need to be better for 60 minutes instead of 54,” he added.

Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask, who missed Tuesday’s game with the flu, was the first goalie off the ice this morning and is expected to make his 19th start of the season. He’s 13-2-3 with a 1.96 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage. The Panthers’ Scott Clemmensen (2-3-2/4.28/8.52) will start for Florida.

BOSTON -- It has become clear (and painfully if you’re a position player trying to score) that goalies in the NHL are now being protected like quarterbacks in the NFL. Goalie interference calls seem to be more prevalent than ever, as referees clamp down on the infraction and have shown zero tolerance with forwards, who at times don’t even seem to make contact with the goalie.

Many players, however, were not ready for the extensive clamp-down.

“They're very sensitive to that, and it's not just us,” Bruins head coach Claude Julien said Tuesday. “It's all around the league. They've really tightened up and maybe they're sending a message to everybody to kind of stay away from the goaltenders. Once we start being a little better about that, they might soften up a little bit on those calls.”

The Bruins and the Maple Leafs both had goals called back in the Bruins’ 1-0 win at Toronto on Saturday. The Canadiens, whom the Bruins play tomorrow, were the beneficiary of a goal (that would’ve tied the game at 2) called back in their 2-1 win over the Senators in Montreal. The replays of all three apparent goals did not do much to support the goalie interference calls, and on Tuesday Julien questioned both "non-goals" in his team’s win at Toronto Saturday.

“To be bluntly honest, it was questionable on Tuukka [Rask],” Julien acknowledged. “And then it was obviously extremely questionable on Brad [Marchand]. [James] Reimer sticks his pad out to start with and trips Marchand outside of the crease to start with and then we score.”

Bruins goalie Rask -- who appeared to embellish a bit on the goalie interference call that nullified a Cody Franson goal Saturday -- denied any exaggeration of interference on the play and said he feels for the referees in such a position.

“I don't know if they're keeping a closer eye on those or not, but calls are made during the play,” Rask said. “Sometimes they're questionable, sometimes they're not. I know that people have said I was flopping around [at Toronto Saturday]. I know they're tough calls for referees to make, too. Sometimes goalies like to challenge and come out of the crease a little bit and then they get bumped, so it's kind of tough to not make that call, but it's a fine line too. I'm sure the referees have been told to keep an eye on those and to try to make the right call.”

BOSTON -- If there is going to be any carryover tonight from the Milan Lucic-Ryan Miller incident last season and the bad blood that ensued between the Sabres and Bruins after that, neither team was letting on following their game-day skates at TD Garden on Thursday.

The Sabres went out and added 6-foot-8, 270-pound enforcer John Scott and agitator Steve Ott in the offseason, and many said it was so they could stand up to the Big Bad Bruins. With that in mind, there was plenty of media speculation that a "Slapshot"-type game could be in store tonight, but both sides did their best to deflect such speculation.

“I have no problem with anything. It’s their choice to build a team any way they want,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien when asked what he thought of the Sabres' offseason moves. “Speculation is speculation as far as I’m concerned, and that’s all it is until something happens. We’ve played our style of game forever and we don’t plan on changing that. There’s nothing, as far as I’m concerned, to be worried about.”

Julien then suggested that maybe reporters should ask Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff about his team’s plans tonight and why they made those additions.

Which they did.

"It was just overall team toughness, make us a grittier team," said Ruff. "It had nothing to do with the Bruins. You try to win the puck battles and the territorial battles. We have to win a game. Not coming out of here with points is not being successful. In a short season, we need points. We've answered the physical challenge. We've been there for each other from day one in this. We play a gritty style, a hitting style. We have to win games."

As far as Ruff and the Sabres are concerned, the Lucic-Miller incident is over and in the past.

"We dealt with [Lucic] last year," Ruff said. "We had a game where Paul Gaustad fought Lucic and [Robyn] Regehr fought [Zdeno] Chara. We played a couple great games against them and came away with points. Hockey is about winning the game, winning the mental battle, winning the physical battle. It's about winning the territorial battles."

Scott was asked the same questions and was preaching the same mantra, but did say that if he were a Sabre when Lucic barreled over Miller, he would’ve answered the bell.

“I would’ve done something, that’s for sure,” Scott said. “If I was on the ice, I would’ve done something. And if not, in my next shift I would’ve done something.”

Scott was then asked what he will do if the chance to fight Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton arises.

“Then I’ll fight him,” he said. “I’m not afraid of him or anyone.”

But while both sides expect a physical game, they say their focus isn’t on dropping the gloves but on getting the win.

“We’re all aware of who they added and what’s going on, but we have to focus on our team and our game,” the Bruins' Dennis Seidenberg said. “If something happens, we have enough guys that can take care of things, so we’re not worried about that.”

BOSTON -- There’s no confusing current Bruins coach Claude Julien and former B’s bench boss Don Cherry. Actually, Cherry stands out above all others in the game of hockey for his flamboyance.

But Julien surpassed Cherry for third on the Bruins’ all-time wins list with Monday’s 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes for his 232nd win.

It’s not like Julien is too concerned with his personal achievements because he cares more about the team concept.

“Obviously it’s always nice to hear those things, but as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t put too much emphasis on that stuff,” he said. “It’s probably something you can look at after you’ve retired, look at those numbers. But the one thing I know is I’ll never be as flamboyant as Grapes, he’s got me beat big time on that. I might have more wins, but he deserves the credit in that area. I’m extremely boring compared to him.”

Julien now has Bruins legend Milt Schmidt in his sights with 245 wins.

WILMINGTON, Mass. -- Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien would rather discuss something other than his team’s power play this season.

Actually, he’s never really enjoyed the subject because it’s an area the Bruins have struggled, both past and present. Boston is 3-0-1 in this season despite the fact the power play is 1-for-17. The Bruins went 0-for-3 in Friday’s 4-2 win over the New York Islanders, so Julien had his special teams working again during practice on Sunday at Ristuccia Arena.

After the hour-long session preparing the team to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., Julien was asked again about the power play.

“I thought I was going to get away with at least one day without that question,” Julien said with a smile. “All I’m going to say is our power play mirrored the way some of our best players played. Our best players weren’t our best players. Our fourth line did the job to keep us in there, but again, it was one of those games where we weren’t very good and it reflects everything.

“The results really haven’t been there, the end results, but the power play, we’re four games in and I’d say three of the four games we’ve moved the puck well.”

Then Julien mentioned that the team has hit a couple of posts during the PP and had another would-be goal disallowed against the Rangers.

During the 2011-12 season, the Bruins were ranked No. 15 on the power play, scoring only 43 goals in 250 chances for a 17.2-percent success rate. The Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings were ranked 17th after scoring only 49 goals on 289 chances for a 17-percent rate.

During the 2011 postseason, when the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, they were ranked No. 14 among the 16 playoff teams, scoring only 10 power-play goals in 88 chances for a 11.4-percent success rate.

“People have to take a step back here and understand, I could throw a lot of things at you guys, whether it’s L.A. that won a Stanley Cup without a great power play, I think Tampa right now has just said they don’t even practice their power play because they realize that the 5-on-5 play is what wins Stanley Cups,” Julien said.

“People have to take a step back here and maybe breath a little easier here with this stuff, and not make a mountain out of our power play. We certainly want it to work well, but it’s not the end of the world. We’re still winning some hockey games. We’re still unbeaten in regulation and our power play is giving us some momentum, and it’s given us some chances. We hope, with time, we’ll get more results than we have so far.”

Even when the Bruins players are asked about the subpar power play, they give the standard answer but also seem to be tired of talking about it.

“It’s one of those things, and when all you do is hear it, it weighs on players too,” Julien said. “For us, we’re just trying to focus on what we have to do and not worry about what’s on the outside. For some reason, it seems to be a real popular topic, but our guys are working hard at it. The power play, so far, looks a lot better than last year and I don’t think anyone will argue about that fact.”

Bruins forward David Krejci says all the team needs is a little bit of luck to bounce its way on the power play, and the players are confident it eventually will happen.

“It’s coming and we’ve got good enough players to make it happen,” Krejci said. “It’s been a while, so hopefully we can crack it tomorrow.”

Julien is more than happy to discuss how good the team’s penalty-killing unit has been. It’s been perfect. The Bruins are 17-for-17 on the PK this season. In the last few seasons, Boston has maintained a strong penalty-killing unit. It was ranked 11th last season and allowed only 43 goals in 260 times shorthanded.

“Our penalty kill has been as good as you can ask it to be, and not by luck,” Julien said. “We’ve definitely done some outstanding work, especially on the 4-on-3s and the 5-on-3s where we’ve hardly given up any scoring chances on those and that speaks volumes. Our penalty kill is certainly where it needs to be.”

Just don’t ask the coach about his power play.

BOSTON -- The New York Islanders come to town with a 2-1-0 record after beating the Maple Leafs, 7-4, Thursday night in Toronto. The Bruins are 2-0-1 and Boston coach Claude Julien is expecting New York’s best effort Friday night at TD Garden.

“This is a young hockey team that has a lot of skill, obviously, up front,” Julien said after the Bruins' morning skate. Their back end also has some guys that can move the puck well -- not only that, but can shoot the puck very well, also.”

Since the Islanders’ Evgeni Nabokov has started all three games in net so far for New York, fellow goalie Rick DiPietro will get the nod tonight against the Bruins.

“They’ve had some pretty good goaltending since the beginning,” Julien said. “They’ve done a good job, they seem to have their guys playing fairly well. Watching the game last night, they’re certainly capable of scoring goals.”

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins are expecting a full house for their annual Black & Gold scrimmage at 7 p.m. Tuesday at TD Garden.

It’s the only game they’ll play before the lockout-shortened, 48-game season begins Saturday at 7 p.m., when the Bruins host the New York Rangers.

“It’s pretty exciting to realize how quickly [the scrimmage] got sold out,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien. “As I’ve often said, we’ve got some pretty loyal fans here. If anything, they miss the game more than anything and they’re looking forward to seeing our team back on the ice. Our job this year is not to disappoint them.”

As part of their season-long incentives for the fans, admission for this scrimmage is free, but fans had to secure tickets prior to the game. Since all 17,565 complimentary tickets have been distributed, the game will be live-streamed for fans on bostonbruins.com, beginning at 6:55.

“It just shows you that they never really were against, I would say, the players,” said Bruins captain Zdeno Chara about tonight’s sellout. “They want to see the hockey games. We all want to play hockey, they all want to see hockey.”

The Bruins will play their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, which should be a good test since the P-Bruins have already played 35 games this season.

“The fans are so excited to see the hockey and obviously to be supporting their own team, so now they’re going to have the chance to see both teams -- the whole Boston Bruins system of players. It’s going to be good.”

Since it’s the lone game action for the Bruins before the puck drops Saturday, Boston will try to simulate a regular-season game.

“I just try to think like it’s a practice type of thing,” Tuukka Rask said. “I know there will be a lot of people watching us, for sure, but for us it’s just a matter of trying to find our game and getting ready for Saturday.

“We’ll try to build that momentum going into Saturday. You just try to gain that confidence that you feel good about yourself going into Saturday. It’s good that Providence has played half a season and they’ll give us a good game, for sure.”

Now that the Bruins are in Day 3 of training camp, Julien said he has seen a gradual improvement in the players who did not play overseas during the lockout. The Bruins had a total of 12 players go overseas.

“The guys who didn’t play, you can see an improvement every day,” Julien said. “I find that it’s starting to level off pretty quickly, but what we’re going to have to be careful of is, obviously, the schedule part of it.

"Guys who are used to every day, or every second day on the ice, can handle that. The guys who haven’t played, we’ll have to see how they do in regards to that. Hopefully they do well, but right now I have no complaints. If anything, I’m pleasantly surprised at the pace and the sharpness in our hockey team right now.”

WILMINGTON, Mass. -- Last summer, Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien and his staff spent time trying to figure out what would work best for the team’s power-play unit. It’s been an area of concern for for Julien in recent seasons. The team wants that aspect to improve during the lockout-shortened 48-game season in 2013.

On Monday, Julien and the coaches spent most of Day 2 of training camp working on special teams. There are some new ideas and new faces on the power play, and Julien was pleased with the way both units played during the two-hour practice at Ristuccia Arena.

“We’ve got some personnel in some places this year that we feel will give us a little bit more,” Julien said.

The first unit included David Krejci, Zdeno Chara, Nathan Horton, Milan Lucic and Tyler Seguin. This unit has a different look to it with Krejci on the point with Chara.

“David sees the ice very well and I know he’s very comfortable on the right side, and with Zdeno, as a pair I think they can do a great job,” Julien said.

Horton and Lucic are down low with Seguin waiting for the big one-timer. Krejci also said he’s fine on the point.

“I’m comfortable there,” he said. “It’s new for me in Boston, but I’ve played there before. I’m going to have to adjust myself pretty quickly here, but I don’t think there will be any issues.”

The second unit featured Dougie Hamilton, Dennis Seidenberg, Patrice Bergeron, Chris Bourque and Brad Marchand. Hamilton, a rookie, did not look lost while working on the PP.

“He looked good,” Bergeron said. “He seems to be pretty poised with the puck and he’s making the right play. He’s a good player, very smart and he doesn’t look like he’s 19 out there.”

Even during the lockout, the coaching staff revised and worked on the power play.

“When we had a little bit more time, we kept working on it,” Julien said. “We also had the opportunity to go to Providence and watch their team play. We saw a guy like Chris Bourque doing a pretty good job on the power play, and we know Dougie Hamilton is another guy who sees the ice well and moves it well, so those are things we started with today.

“To be honest, I liked the results. I thought our power play was moving the puck well in practice today and we were doing a lot of good things. We’ll keep working on that, and we’ve mentioned in the last little while, an area of improvement was [the power play] and hopefully we’ll get the thing done this year.”

Boston ranked No. 15 on the power play during the 2011-12 season. The Bruins scored only 43 goals on 250 power-play opportunities for a 17 percent success rate. The Nashville Predators led the league with a 21.6 percent success rate, scoring 54 power-play goals on 250 opportunities.

Even during the 2010-11 season, when the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, they did it with a subpar power play. Boston scored only 10 power-play goals on 88 opportunities during its 25-game run in the postseason.

“I think [the coaching staff] looked at it a lot during the lockout,” Seguin said. “I think all of us in here know we need to make our power play better. Hopefully we can improve that.”

Now, with a shortened season, special teams will play a critical role in the team’s success.

“It’s a short season and we don’t have that much time, so special teams on both sides are going to be important,” Bergeron said. “We don’t have that much time to work on it, so today was the perfect day to do that and we’ll be ready when Saturday comes.”

The Bruins host the New York Rangers in the season opener at 7 p.m., on Saturday at TD Garden.

WOBURN, Mass. -- Boston Bruins president Cam Neely and coach Claude Julien are both “cautiously optimistic” that the NHL lockout will end soon and the game will be back on the ice in time to save at least part of the 2012-2013 season.

When the NHL and the NHLPA met last week in New York, there was a lot of optimism that a deal could be near. But like many other times during negotiations, talks broke down. The latest report is that the NHL is about to officially cancel all games before Dec. 30. The two sides are trying to restart talks this week, but so far nothing is scheduled.

“Like everybody, the emotions run high and then they go low, depending how it all plays out,” Neely said at a Target store, where he and Julien were gathering an assortment of toys for kids in local hospitals. “I think everybody was feeling cautiously optimistic at the board of governor meetings that we were going to get something done but unfortunately it didn’t happen.

“I’ve been half full this whole way, so I’m staying half full. It’s frustrating. A lot of people thought we’d be playing by now, but I still feel optimistic that something will get done. At least that’s my hope.”

Julien agreed.

“Like everybody else, you get excited and see it’s coming along and you’re keeping your fingers crossed,” Julien said. “I’m cautiously optimistic because the one thing I do know it’s more complicated than a lot of people think it is and at one point we have to make sure we get this done right once and for all, so we don’t have this work stoppage every so many years. You want to do it right and hopefully that’s what happens here."

If the sides are able to come to an agreement, the schedule will be cut at least in half. During the 1994-95 season, the NHL was forced to reduce its schedule to 48 games after a similar work stoppage. Neely was playing for the Bruins at the time and knows what type of hockey will be played if a deal can get done.

“I was a player when we played that 48 games and it was like a sprint towards the playoffs,” explained Neely. “So it’ll be just that, I don’t know how many games if we do end up playing how many we’ll be able to get into the schedule, but it’ll be a sprint to the playoffs and everybody will know that. It’s just a matter of what kind of condition the players are going to be in because it’s going to start off fast and furious.”

The one thing about hockey is there are no casual fans. Hockey fans will come back and watch. At least that’s what league and Bruins are counting on.

“I’m hopeful,” Neely said. “I know they’re going to be upset and rightfully so, but I’m hopeful because of what’s gone on the past few years and we’ve been able to put a team on the ice that’s competing for the Stanley Cup and we’ve won a Stanley Cup. I think our fan base is very excited about our team.

“We haven’t changed much from last year to this year, and even from our Stanley Cup team, we haven’t changed all that much. Our fans are excited about our team and I don’t see that changing. There will be some fans who are upset, but the excitement should still be there.”

Neely and Julien, along with other members of the Bruins coaching and management staffs, participated in team’s annual toy shopping event to benefit children at local hospitals. Neely’s carriage was full and he spent $400 on an assortment of toys for children who will be in the hospital during the holiday season.

As Neely was leaving the Target store, shoppers were shaking his hand and asking for quick pictures. He was then asked what he wanted for Christmas and he quickly responded:

“Like most of us, dropping the puck sometime soon. That would be a great Christmas gift.”

HAVERHILL, Mass. -- Claude Julien returned to the bench on Sunday, leading a group of young players to a tight victory. And this was one impressive team too.

The Boston Bruins coach was the special guest instructor for a youth team that won a charity raffle for his services. He helped direct Winthrop to a 3-2 victory over Watertown.

"I had a lot of fun today," the 52-year-old Julien said. "It certainly brought back a lot of memories."

Julien addressed the team made up of 8- and 9-year-olds before and after the game. He also met with the other team and signed autographs for as long as it took for everyone to get items signed.

While everyone enjoyed the experience, Julien is eager to return to his regular job.

NHL owners have locked out the players for the third time since commissioner Gary Bettman took office in 1993, including a work stoppage that canceled the entire 2004-05 season.

"That's something I have no control about," Julien said. "Unfortunately, I'm just a bystander like everybody else, waiting for the signal to go back to work -- and that's all I know and that's all I can say.

"Like anybody else, I think the fans want to see hockey back. I'm no different and I think the people that are involved in those negotiations want the same thing as well. That should be underlined."

Julien isn't permitted to talk to his players, but he has heard about some Bruins who got "banged up" playing over in Europe. Goalie Tuukka Rask injured his groin, and Julien was asked about upper body injuries for Rask and Patrice Bergeron.

"That's going to happen," said Julien, who was coaching Montreal when the 2004-05 season was wiped out by the labor dispute. "Our players are banged up all year long. You knock on wood and you hope that nothing serious happens. Being banged up is part of the process. I wouldn't expect them to all come out of there with absolutely nothing because that means they didn't get involved much.

"What they do over there is of their choice. They have to live with the consequences and so do we. At the end of the day you hope that when we start over again everybody's healthy and we're a fresh team."

While he waits, Julien has to stay busy with other things -- and Sunday he was the prize in a Bruins Foundation raffle.

"To be honest with you, for me today is a day about being here with the kids and making the most of the situation," he said. "That's what I've tried to do. (I) came in here and enjoyed a real fun hockey game. That's all you can do in these situations, is take advantage of what's given to you and for me it's an opportunity to get involved a little bit with youth hockey and give back."

The Bruins went out of their way to make the experience a memorable one for the youth players, who received Bruins shirts with their names on the back. Team strength and conditioning coach John Whiteside put the players through stretching, and the kids even had to sign a "contract," which entered them into a deal with Bruins president Cam Neely.

"This is awesome," said Steve Indrisano, the actual coach of the team that won its first game of the season Saturday and won again Sunday. "We're giddy. This is great."