Bruins Krug On Gresh & Zo: We Need To Make Montreal Change Their Game
BOSTON (CBS) - Bruins defenseman Torey Krug joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Andy Gresh and Scott Zolak on the phone Wednesday for his weekly interview.
With Game 1 between the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins scheduled for Thursday, Krug and his teammates will have had five days off by the time the first puck drops -- which isn't nearly as long as the Canadiens' layoff, who haven't played since April 22.
There are certain advantages to having a long break in between series, as Krug notes, "It's important to get those extra days. That's one of the benefits about closing out a series early and not starting the next one. You get those extra days rest and you get to spend a little time away from the rink and heal those minor bumps and bruises."
Two players on the Bruins dealing with bumps and bruises are Chris Kelly and Daniel Paille, who by all accounts are inching closer and closer to a return. So those extra days rest could ultimately mean the difference in the series.
During the regular season the Canadiens beat the Bruins three out of four times, so Gresh was curious to find out if the outcomes of those games will change the Bruins' postseason approach.
"When you look at the games that we played against them we really just took ourselves out of it and we didn't even give ourselves a chance to win," said Krug, "For us we just have to focus on ourselves, come to the rink and focus on our system."
Afterwards, Krug kept going back to the point that the playoffs are a different animal. The Canadiens have a unique ability to get under the skin of the Bruins with their pesky play, and because more is at stake now, maintaining composure and discipline will be a huge factor in the series.
"It's a key to the series for us to keep those emotions in check. It's a long series. We understand two great teams are matching up and it's probably going to go pretty long.
"We have to understand there's going to be turning points and momentum shifts within the series, and it's important that, maybe when things don't go our way, we have to keep our emotions in check and let things get out of control," said Krug.
Aside from keeping the emotions in check, Krug insists the B's must force Montreal to change their speedy, skilled style of play in order to advance.
"They're a good group up front. They're a pretty deep team. With [Daniel] Briere on the fourth line you know they're a deep team. They have a lot of dangerous guys, whether on the first line or the fourth. Then you add [Thomas] Vanek in there at the trade deadline and you've got a different team.
"We'll have an opportunity to win some games. We just gotta make sure we make them change [their game]. We don't want to change anything about us," said Krug.
Listen below for the full discussion, including the scouting report on Habs goalie Carey Price and much more:
Torey Krug Interview
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