Forcing a break in the action

Lucic check shattered pane of glass in the second period

Milan Lucic always wondered what it would be like to take out a pane of glass with one of his thundering blasts.

Now he knows.

Twenty ticks into the second period, Lucic drove Toronto defenseman Mike Van Ryn into the glass with such force the fourth pane next to the Zamboni entrance shattered. Neither player was hurt, although Van Ryn skated away from the check while teammate Alex Steen picked off bits of glass from the back of his jersey.

"To experience it is pretty cool," Lucic said of the glass-shattering check.

Lucic’s satisfaction, however, was tempered by the injuries the incident caused. Two fans were treated for facial cuts on site by emergency technicians, then were transported to a local hospital for further examination.

Two other fans suffered cuts on their hands while attempting to wipe glass off themselves. The game was delayed for approximately 10 minutes while the pane was replaced and the glass cleaned up. TD Banknorth Garden officials cleared fans from the first two rows and relocated them in a suite.

"I just went in there to finish the check," said Lucic. "Went through the glass and unfortunately hit the two people who were sitting there. I felt a little bad for them after. Hopefully, they’re all right. I saw them bleeding. It would be nice for me to do something for them because I felt bad they were cut open like that on an unfortunate and unlucky thing for them.’’

Krejci killing time

When a second-year NHL player can earn a coach’s confidence on the penalty kill, it’s an indication of his maturity, hockey sense, and all-around game.

David Krejci will take it.

"I'm happy with every opportunity that I’ve gotten," said Krejci before last night's game. "I had kind of good PK time at the end of last season.

"I’ll take any time I get on the PK this year."

Against Ottawa, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo, when the Bruins were without P.J. Axelsson because of back spasms, coach Claude Julien tabbed Krejci for increased shorthanded ice time.

In those three games, Krejci logged PK times of 3:46 (Ottawa), 2:35 (Pittsburgh), and 3:07 (Buffalo). Against Ottawa, Krejci was on the ice for captain Daniel Alfredsson’s power-play goal.

On Tuesday, Krejci was on the ice when Buffalo forward Clarke MacArthur tipped captain Craig Rivet’s power-play shot past Manny Fernandez. Last night, Toronto went on the power play seven times and Krejci saw 3:19 of shorthanded time.

‘‘We already thought he was a pretty good PK guy," said Julien. "Right now, we're trying to stabilize some pairs and get as many guys as possible who can do that job. You've seen [Marc Savard] slide in there at times, and [Phil Kessel] as well. It’s a matter of trying to do that without creating too much damage and giving those guys a chance to better themselves and gain that confidence.’’

With Axelsson out, Krejci was paired primarily with Stephane Yelle, a veteran penalty killer. Krejci took most of the faceoffs when he was with Yelle. Entering last night's game, Krejci averaged 1:43 of shorthanded ice time per game. Overall, Krejci had averaged 17:22 of ice time, fifth among Boston forwards.

Krejci is known as an offensive-minded player, but believes playing shorthanded can keep him engaged for more scoring opportunities.

"You're always in the game," Krejci said. "Even if you make mistakes, the next minute you're right back on it and you forget about it. You stay in the game and stay focused. You just do what the team needs you to do. Everybody has the same job on the PK. If there's a perfect opportunity to score a shorthanded goal, you go for it. You don’t stay out too long. You don't waste energy.

"You keep it short."

Dennis the menace

In the first period, Dennis Wideman landed the biggest hit by a Bruin this season. As Matt Stajan stickhandled into the Boston zone, Wideman lowered his shoulder and buried it in the Toronto forward’s chest. The hit was clean and caught Stajan with his head down. After the following whistle, Toronto defenseman Luke Schenn tried to get at Wideman and was called for roughing. It was the only hit Wideman was credited with last night ... Kessel’s three-game goal streak was snapped. He put two pucks on net, but had five other attempts blocked ... Toronto forward Jason Blake was a healthy scratch. Blake (1-2--3 in six games) is in the second season of a five-year, $20 million contract.