Lines Remain The Same For Bruins Ahead Of Game 3
BOSTON (CBS) - With the Boston Bruins getting both of their goals in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final from a new-look third line, why change things up for Game 3? Claude Julien went back to the line of Chris Kelly, Daniel Paille and Tyler Seguin during Monday's morning skate, ahead of Game 3 against the Chicago Blackhawks at the TD Garden.
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Boston's top two lines also remained the same, as did the fourth line -- with Rich Peverley centering Kaspars Daugavins and Shawn Thornton. "I just season people. I'm just a seasoner," Thornton joked about his two new linemates. "Slump-buster they call me. Come up play with me then move up to a better line and then go score." In general, the Bruins don't expect much change at all in Game 3. They're all expecting another hard-fought, one-goal game, one that will probably need some extra hockey to determine a winner. "Yeah, you kind of have to," said forward Brad Marchand. "You see both the games, both overtime games. It just seems like it is going to go that way, but every game's different and a lot of it goes with bounces and everything like that. I guess that's what we have to prepare for."
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"That's just the certain styles that both of us play, and I think both teams are still adjusting to it but shouldn't be that much of a change," said Daniel Paille, who netted the overtime game-winner in Game 2. "It's the finals so there shouldn't be too many crazy leads like normally, but I think it's when you have an offensive fire power like them and then our kind of style like us, we try to play to a close game."
The Bruins enter Monday night's Game 3 a perfect 3-0 in Game 3's this postseason, while the Blackhawks are 0-3. But as the Bruins will tell you, that doesn't mean anything.
"I'm going to tell you the same thing that I told everybody when we asked those questions about not being able to close, this and that. Stats at this time of year don't mean a thing," said Julien. "No matter what we are, what they are, it's about winning this game tonight. I don't pay much attention to stats when it comes to that stuff. We've seen those things change. It just takes one game to change the stat. So I'm going to focus on what we need to do tonight."
"That means nothing right now," said Marchand. "It's a completely different series, completely different time. That has no bearing on tonight's game."
"Hopefully that continues tonight but just because that's the record that doesn't mean that's what is going to happen," said Thornton. "It's going to be a really, really tough game, just coming back home. Being (in Boston) doesn't mean anything so, we're going to have to bring everything right off the hop."
But if there is one certainty it's that, after playing the first two games of the series on the road, the Bruins will return home to a loud and rowdy crowd for Game 3.
"It's always a lot of fun to be in your hometown and play in front of your crowd, especially the Finals where everything is so crazy," said Marchand. "You saw how Chicago was. It was still fun to be in an atmosphere like that but we are very happy to be home."
"It's going to be important for us to come out and win this first game," said defenseman Johnny Boychuk. "That's ultimately the goal; to win both games. If you want to come out with a split at home, you're crazy. We're going to need to be at our best because we know they're going to be coming out hard. They're a phenomenal team."
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