Seguin = Man Crush.

In a season filled with ups and downs, last night's victory could have been the spark that Bruins Rookie Tyler Seguin needed.

In just his second career playoff game, the second overall pick in last summer's draft stole the show, scoring twice and notching two assists on the way to a 6-5 victory.

B's fans (like this guy) have been clamoring for this type of performance all season, and perhaps we can all point to last night as THE night. The Tyler Seguin game. Up until last night, no teenager had scored 4 points in a playoff game since Vancouver's Trevor Linden in 1989. The scoring outburst had the raucous crowd chanting Seguin's name from the rink to the rafters.

While the game had a blowout feel to it, (especially in the 2nd period) the Bruins almost blew another game thanks to porous defense.

The Bruins started the game right where they left off in game 1, allowing a soft goal just 13 seconds into the 1st. Adam Hall scored his first goal of the playoffs (Lecavalier, Thompson) to calm down the Garden faithful. Rene Rancourt had barely finished his last fist pump and it was already 1-0.

The much maligned power play unit had a great chance in the first, including a 5 on 3 opportunity, and cashed in at 13:58 as Nathan Horton redirected a Dennis Seidenberg blast to tie the game. Martin St. Louis scored in the last minute of the first to send the Bolts into the locker room up one.

Then Seguin took over. Taking an outlet pass from Michael Ryder, Seguin split the defense and placed a backhander top shelf, knotting the game at 2.

Vincent Lecavalier praised Seguin's effort, saying after the game, "I think it was his first goal, he went up the ice, just flying, and that was a nice goal, he was skating hard. He is a great skater. He is a smart player. The first two games for him have been great. We definitely have to keep an eye on him and make sure the structure we play is better and not give those chances."

Seguin will certainly get more attention, especially after his second goal, which put the Bruins up 4-2, and prompted the aforementioned Tyler Seguin chant. While the crowd was delirious, Lecavalier brought them back to earth one minute later on a PPG. Michael Ryder, relatively quiet since the glove save against Montreal, scored twice towards the end of the second.

The 6-3 lead chased Dwayne Roloson from the game, as Guy Boucher sent in Mike Smith for the 3rd Period. This was the third consecutive series the Bruins have forced their opposition to go to their back up netminder.

The change gave the Lightning a jump start in the third, scaring the Bruins fans with two goals and a furious effort to tie the game, including a beautiful stop by Tim Thomas on a Nate Thompson breakaway attempt.

The Bruins were able to withstand a man advantage when Tampa pulled Smith late in the third to preserve their 6-5 victory and sending the series back to Tampa Bay.

Seguin, the first star of the night, expressed relief after the game, saying "I felt more confident, more poised, and in big games I always want to step up. Tonight I had some lucky bounces, but I was trying to take advantage of all opportunities, and they were going in tonight."

Seguin's historic performance will be remembered for a while, and if the Bruins are to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, it will be largely thanks to Seguin's night.

Game Notes:

*While the powerplay unit was heartily booed at times, they actually looked much better in game 2. While the official score sheet has them down for 2 PPG's they truly only got one legitimate goal, the other PPG came with one devon left on the man advantage. The Bruins did a much better job moving the puck and created several good scoring chances. I would like to see them do a better job cycling the puck down low and creating opportunities in the slot rather than relying on slapshots from the point.

*Tomas Kaberle has been a lightning rod, no pun intended, since arriving in Boston. But last night I thought he was quite effective with the puck, carrying it through the neutral zone at times and looking for the open man. Kaberle had 2 assists in 15:25 of ice time. The increase in playing time is thanks to the B's many power play opportunities. While he still has work to do, I thought last night was a step in the right direction.

*The Garden crowd was ready for this game. This was easily the loudest and biggest crowd I have seen at the garden in my life. I was sitting up im the balcony and from up there you can literally feel the hunger for a title permeating throughout the night. Although the Bruins dropped 2 games at home vs Montreal and game one vs Tampa Bay the Garden can be a tough place to play if the crowd is into it.

*While the second period seemed like a big party, the Bruins underwhelming defense made it interesting in the third. In order to advance past Tampa Bay, the Bruins are going to have todo a better job shutting down the Tampa attack. 41 shots on goal isn't going to cut it. Tampa is just too skilled to allow that many shots on net. Thomas made some key saves but the defense in front of him must improve.

*Tampa Bay has zero fans. Last night was the first Bruins game I have ever been to where I didn't see a jersey of the opposing team. Like the sign in the mens room in the balcony said "Bigfoot. Loch Ness Monster. Tampa Bay fans."

*I was at the Greatest Bar before the game and WAAF was there doing some sort of promotion with an Xbox. The only problem was that they rolled out NHL 2k7! Just bush league all over the place. Wanna know the Bruins starting lineup? Sure you do. It was Savard, Bergeron, Brad Stuart, Chara, and Paul Mara. Needless to say not many people played. I thought about lighting up some people but decided to continue drinking instead.

*Speaking of drinking, I'm pretty sure the TD Garden has THE most absurd drinking rules in the United States. I am a RI licensed driver and I can't buy a beer there until I turn 25. I also found out that if you have a passport, you can purcase booze once you turn 21. As insane as that is, I also watched as a 21 year old from Manitoba use his Canadien license to buy a beer. So let me get this straight. If I was at a Bruins - Canadiens game in Boston, a 21 year old Canadiens fan could buy a beer and a US citizen from an hour away can't. Fucking Massachusetts. Just bowing to foreigners like I've never seen before.