Just a few things that caught my eye:

• Joe Thornton's first period might have been his most dominant playoff performance. Ever. Jumbo? Nope. Larger than life ... including the massive man beard.

• Stick a fork in the Rangers. That stupid defensive system is sinking them. Bu-bye, Torts. Maybe Patrick Roy is holding out for a gig on Broadway instead of in Mile High. 

• Dang, Brent Burns looks good as a forward, doesn't he? But what does it mean for his fantasy value if you can't roll him on the blue line?

• The Rangers look like they're sleepwalking their way through speed dating. They just sat back and let the Bruins come to them. Every single time. The puck would leave the zone and in would come a new date. Over and over and over again.

• Small consolation as a Barrie Colts fan, but I have to say I LOVED the old-fashioned butt kicking the London Knights took at the hands of the Halifax Mooseheads tonight. Final score? 9-2. Detroit prospect Martin Frk had a hattie and an assist, and top prospects Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin each had three helpers. Looks good on ya, Dale Hunter.

• Daniel Paille looked like a superstar in just 11:10. It's his turn to wear the army jacket.

• What was Drew Doughty thinking on that slash late in the first? The Kings killed the penalty, but that was about as stupid a move I've ever seen from him. It was like he lost his mind there for a second.

• The Sens-Pens are on tap tomorrow night. Stick a fork in the Sens, too. That double-OT effort was pure luck. Sorry, Sens fans.

• Dustin Brown took a licking tonight. First, it was an errant Patrick Marleau elbow to the head in the first and then an earthquake of a hit from Logan Couture in the second. I'm not sure how he was able to get up after that second hit.

• Speaking of Brown, what's up with the Brown - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams line? Crickets make more noise than they have this series. Wow. The Kings need a whole lot more from their big guns.

• Sometimes the refs put their whistles in their pockets. Sometimes they just screw up. That puck was not dead. It wasn't even hidden. It was trickling through Antti Niemi and rolling over the line. And it might just have gotten them back in the game after being schooled up to that point.