Bruins Bergeron: 'We Know We Can Do It'
BOSTON (CBS) – The Boston Bruins are just one win away from a trip to the Stanley Cup finals, but their focus is on closing out the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night.
"We don't want to think about that," Patrice Bergeron told 98.5 The Sports Hub's Gresh and Zolak on Tuesday. "The last one is going to be the toughest one to get."
The Bruins gutted out a 3-1 Game 5 victory Monday night, giving them a 3-2 series lead with Game 6 on Wednesday in Tampa. With the score tied 1-1 late in the second period, Bergeron thread the needle to rookie Brad Marchand, who put in his first goal of the series. For Bergeron, the assist was his team-leading 15th point of the postseason.
Listen: Bergeron On Gresh & Zo: "We Expected Smith In Goal"
"(Zdeno Chara) came down, he was low so I kind of yelled at him to let the puck go and take the guy for me," said Bergeron recalling the goal. "He read what I meant and obviously doing that, Marshy was going to the net. I just sort of hit him back door and he made the easy tap in."
The Bruins found themselves down 1-0 just over a minute into the game. The B's did little to counter that in the first period with just four shots on goal, so a pep talk was needed during the intermission.
"After the first we all kind of talked about it," Bergeron said. "We said we were lucky we were only down 1-0 after the 20 minutes that we just played. We had to wake up and step up as a team and play desperate."
Read: Thomas "A Little Bit Lucky" On Downie Stick Save
The Bruins were able to put their Game 4 collapse behind them, blocking out the final 40 minutes in which they gave up five unanswered goals. After the game, goaltender Tim Thomas "Guaranteed" the Bruins would win Game 5, something Tampa Bay used as bulletin board material.
But Thomas' teammates had his back, and said it would be a problem if the team was not confident in themselves.
"I don't think it mattered to be honest with you," said Bergeron. "Obviously we're all confident; we know we can do it. It's not disrespect from Tampa, they're a great team. When you head into a series you want to win, that's why we're playing hockey. I don't think there's anything bad with what he said."
Every game of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Bruins and Lightning can be heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub with pregame coverage beginning 60 minutes before each game with the Dunkin Donuts Bruins Pregame show.
