Bruins crush Penguins 6-1 to take 2-0 lead

Boston Bruins' Brad Marchand celebrates his goal in the first period of Game 2 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

PITTSBURGH — Brad Marchand scored twice during a four-goal first period and the Boston Bruins routedthe Pittsburgh Penguins 6-1 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals on Monday night.

David Krejci, Nathan Horton, Patrice Bergeron and Johnny Boychuk also scored for Boston, which hardly broke a sweat while going up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series. Tuukka Rask kept Sidney Crosby and the rest of the NHL’s top offense in check once again, stopping 26 shots.

Game 3 is Wednesday night in Boston.

Brandon Sutter netted Pittsburgh’s lone goal. Tomas Vokoun gave up three first-period goals on 12 shots before being replaced by Marc-Andre Fleury.

The move did little to blunt the momentum in what has quickly become a one-sided series. Boston held Pittsburgh’s top-ranked power play scoreless for the second straight game, and the Bruins looked like the team marked as the Stanley Cup favorites, not the star-laden Penguins.