Thornton's Key To Game 7 Win: 'Have Everyone Show Up"
BOSTON (CBS) – The clock is ticking down to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, and the Boston Bruins are ready to battle for their first championship in 39 years.
"I'm excited. It's Game 7, I wish we could play right now. Let's get this thing going," said forward Shawn Thornton Wednesday morning from Vancouver.
But the Bruins will not let pregame nerves get in the way of the ultimate goal.
"We're not looking at the cup right now, we're looking at what we need to do right now to get the cup," said Coach Claude Julien. "I don't think it's much different before Game 6. We know it's win at all cost. Our guys seem to thrive on that. I don't think it's an issue dealing with the pressure. I think our guys are ready."
"A wise man once told me, there are two ways to handle a situation like this," said forward Milan Lucic, a Vancouver native. "You can either feel the pressure or apply the pressure. We've been through this situation before. Game 7's are big, and hopefully the same outcome will be here tonight as the last two."
Julien, Lucic Keys To Game 7
The Bruins have won two Game 7's during this playoff run, in the first round against the Montreal Canadiens and then against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Finals. The one difference, they were in Boston and not Vancouver, where the Bruins have yet to win a game during the Finals.
"We have to have everyone show up. I don't know if we've had everyone going in this building the last three games," said Thornton. "We didn't play the game the right way either. We have to do things properly to get out of here the way we want to."
"The start will be key," said Lucic. "It seems like we haven't brought our physical game here to Vancouver. If we can just focus on that, moving our feet, and just playing a more relaxed game. It feels like we've been tense the last few times we've played here. If we can do that, I like our chances."
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The Bruins have scored just two goals in Rogers Arena, both coming in a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 2. They have yet to put much pressure on Roberto Luongo, who they chased from two of the three games in Boston.
Now they have to get the offense going, because there is no tomorrow.
"I think we have to be a little better offensively," said Julien. "We didn't give much here defensively, but we didn't create enough offensively to really be a threat. We talked about net-front presence, the physicality so we can turn pucks over and get the fore-check going. Those kinds of things are important to us tonight, and we want to get to them early. I think it's important to bring that element from the start."
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"It's important that everything comes to play right now," Julien added. "You can't talk about an element here and an element there, you need your total game to win a Game 7. That's what we have to bring. We have to focus on all of that, were capable of doing it all."
"It's up to us to realize there is no tomorrow," the coach said. "If you want to live through something that's going to stay with you the rest of your life, this is the day."
98.5 The Sports Hub is the only local station to listen to every game of the Stanley Cup Finals. Coverage begins an hour before each game with the Bruins Pregame show hosted by Dave Goucher & Bob Beers.
