Bruins-Lightning Games 'Stressful,' But Chiarelli Used To It
BOSTON (CBS) – The Eastern Conference Finals has brought Bruins fans some very exciting games, but also a lot of headaches and heartache.
As fun as they are to watch, the games can be difficult to stomach. Even for the Bruins front office.
"It has been difficult; it just ramps up series to series," Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli told 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher and Rich Wednesday morning.
"This series has been a little more difficult because there hasn't been a lot that you would expect from game to game, and within games," he said. "You get used to it; it's been my job for a while so I'm used to it. But it's stressful."
Listen: Chiarelli On T&R: Seguin Will Play Game 6, "No Question There"
The Bruins can end the stress, at least against the Tampa Bay Lighting, with a Game 6 win Wednesday night in Tampa. A win would punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1990.
Boston would like to avoid another slow start, much like they got off to in Game 5. The Bruins found themselves in a 1-0 hole early on, and had just four shots in the first period.
"I think its nerves to tell you the truth," said Chiarelli. "We were certainly mentally ready for that game the other night. If you take out that period, the last two periods I thought we were as good as or better than them. It's a three period game and we won two periods, that's the way I look at it."
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The Bruins only shot the puck 20 times in the Game 5 victory, but were able to pull out a 3-1 win.
Rookie Tyler Seguin came into the series, the first playoff series of his career, with a bang scoring three goals and helping on three others in the first two games. Since then, he has struggled a bit, recording no shots in Game 5, and the rookie has seen his ice time go down as a result.
Shawn Thornton has had to take a seat on the bench since Patrice Bergeron's return, but even with Seguin's recent struggles, the Bruins GM sees the 19-year-old getting plenty of chances in Game 6.
"He'll be in tonight, no question there," said Chiarelli.
"You're not going to expect him to have those games every game like the one he had when he had four points," said Chiarelli. "That was a terrific game. The games following those games he's been good. He hasn't been real good, so I can understand why the time goes down a bit. What happens within a game, there's different situations where you go back to line combinations that maybe address those situations better."
Chiarelli also said everyone was healthy and ready to go for Wednesday night, so there is no worry about defenseman Johnny Boychuck after he took a big hit from Steve Downie in the third period of Game 5.
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.
