Bruins Should Rebound In Game 5
BOSTON (CBS) - I know we all like to use stats to our advantage in this business. In the NHL playoffs we always look at how Bruins teams have fared in the past. 0-26 when down two games to none in a best-of-seven series… 8-0 when scoring first… etc
Good stuff, but useless in many ways. Especially when it comes to the 2010-11 Boston Bruins.
The Bruins let a great opportunity slip away in Game 4 Saturday afternoon as they blew a 3-0 first period lead en Route to a 5-3 loss. Instead of coming home for Game 5 up 3-1, they returned to Boston tied at 2-2.
Bad game.
Is it the end of the Bruins? Maybe in years past, but not this season.
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The Bruins have been a resilient group all season long. Any time they faced adversity they put it behind them and rose up to the next occasion. They slump? They find a way to fix it. The fans are calling for the firing of their head coach? They rally around him with a stellar and motivated effort the next game.
This isn't the team that didn't respond when Matt Cooke arguably ended the career of Marc Savard.
In the postseason, same deal.
This isn't the same team that lost Game 7's the past few years. Or the team that was up 3-0 in the series and 3-0 in Game 7 in their series a season ago with Philadelphia.
This group of men is different. They respond time and time again.
They go down 0-2 to archrival Montreal while losing the two games at home. What happens? They win the next two at Montreal to even things back up. They lose Game Six in a frustrating manner in Montreal to force a Game 7. Then in Game 7 they give up the lead late and are forced to overtime. The pressure is huge on them too. They lose Game 7 and Claude Julien is gone and maybe Peter Chiarelli. What happens? Nathan Horton nets the game-winner (someone not here last year btw) and the Bruins move on.
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Next up: the Philadelphia Flyers, the team that handed many members of the team one of the worst losses in the history of professional sports. It was as crushing a series loss as you could ever be dealt.
What happens this time around? A sweep. No questions asked. Done. Say good-bye to that demon. It reminded me of the 2003 and 2004 Red Sox. A gut-wrenching walk-off Game 7 loss one season followed by immediate revenge the next season. Done. Good-bye history.
In this Eastern Conference Final series, after an 8-day layoff the Bruins laid an egg in Game 1 at home. How do they respond? A wild, find a way to win 6-5 victory to even the series at 1-1.
And now, after an easy 2-0 Game Three victory, the Bruins blow a 3-0 first period lead and fall by a pair of goals 5-3. The hometown fans are crushed. They blew a huge opportunity they're thinking.
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The team itself? Basically, we'll fix our mistakes and get ready for Game 5.
Will the Bruins win Game 5? I think so. You never know though.
However, if they do, I don't think it will have anything to do with history.
This team seemingly wants to make its own history. And don't put it past them.
See you Monday night at the Garden.
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.
