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| Boston Bruin |
Boston Bruins Logo - No Game 7 date with anxiety and nail-biting this time. The Bruins’ presence isn’t even required for a Game 6 back in Detroit. The Big, Good Bruins wrapped up their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series with the allegedly dangerous Red Wings with a 4-2 victory at TD Garden, winning four straight games to make Joe Louis Arena just another desolate and empty building among the many in Detroit. The Bruins have reached the Stanley Cup Final in two of the previous three seasons. But this year’s team looks like the Claude Julien Bruins 2.0, replete with previously lacking elements. It’s like the Bruins downloaded new software for an already powerful piece of hardware.
The Bruins were determined to avoid such drama this time, playing Game 5 like it was a Game 7.
“It’s huge,” said center Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins never trailed in Game 5. The Red Wings tied the game at 14:41 of the second period, but you always felt like the Bruins were in control.
If ice is oxygen in hockey, the Bruins asphyxiated the Red Wings, stifling their shots, their speed, and their creativity. The high-revving Red Wings scored just six goals in five games.
With the teams tied, 1-1, and trading penalties, Detroit was on the man advantage after a dubious Loui Eriksson goalie interference call had truncated a Boston power play. It was a big game, big goal, and so I’m not afraid to show it.”
The Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011 with a feckless power play. If the Bruins lift Lord Stanley’s silverware this time, it will be with a power play that is tough on opponents, not tough to watch.
The Bruins, who had the third-best power play in the NHL during the regular season, finished the series 6 for 16 on the power play. They allowed Detroit to convert just 2 of 20 man-advantage opportunities.
Boston opened the scoring with a power-play tally at 3:27 of the first.
Like in Game 3, Dougie Hamilton cruised into the Detroit zone on a one-man rush. Montreal is an old rival, but this is a Bruins team with a new playoff look.
