FanHouse Chris Phillips

Have you ever heard an announcer make some cliche reference to the two-goal lead being the hardest to protect? Never made much sense to me, seeing as how a two-goal lead is always better than a one-goal lead.

The Penguins, however, seem determined to prove the two-goal lead is the hardest to protect, as they've developed a troubling habit of coughing them up late in games. On Saturday, Pittsburgh entered the third period of its game against Ottawa with a 3-1 lead, only to watch it slip away as the Senators stormed back for a 4-3 shootout win.

It was a great night of rivalries in the NHL on Tuesday, including a classic original six tilt in Boston, where the Bruins pulled out a 3-1 win over Montreal.

Tim Thomas stopped 34-of-35 shots, and even inserted himself into the rough stuff when he clobbered Montreal's Andrei Kostitsyn just moments after he sent Aaron Ward into the boards.

Kostitsyn gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead early in the second period, until Zdeno Chara added a pair of power play goals later in the period. David Krejci put the game out of reach late in the third period, scoring 17th goal of the season, helping lead the Bruins to their third straight win. Montreal had won four in a row, and eight of its past nine entering the game.