Which Bruins team will show up at the ACC tonight?
May 4, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Milan Lucic (17) and center David Krejci (46) congratulate right wing Nathan Horton (18) after a goal scored on Toronto Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer (34) during the second period in game two of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Game three of the series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and our Boston Bruins is tonight. It’s being played in the Air Canada Centre, and it’s going to be one of those games where the Bruins will have to play like they did in game one. Actually, they will probably need to play a little better than that. The Bruins are going to need to be physical, they will need to be focused, and they will definitely need to not earn any dumb penalties.
“I mean if you’re Toronto right now and you haven’t been in the playoffs for that long your fans have got to be excited over there,” said Coach Claude Julien. “We know it’s going to be noisy and there’s going to be a lot of electricity in the air. And we have to face that. We’re the bad team coming in and what you’ve got to do is focus on your job and hopefully not let that kind of stuff throw you off your game.”
The Bruins will need to lay it on hard and heavy on Leafs’ goalie James Reimer. In both games he did things you wouldn’t expect of a playoff goalie. He lost his stick for extended amounts of ice time, lose control or not know where the puck was while it was rattling around the outside of the crease. (Then again, they did score four on Tuukka last time out so perhaps I’ll shut up now.) If they put the pressure on him, he’ll crack and give up those soft goals.
Paging Jaromir Jagr! Jaromir Jagr, you’re needed to come out of hibernation and dance with the puck. It’s disappointing that you are on the third line, but I don’t think Julien is going to mix up the lines at this stage of the game. In truth, we’ll need the third line to buckle down and give their best performance yet. (In lieu of that, give extra time to the Merlot Men to compensate.)
It’s gotten so serious, Tyler Seguin has quit Twitter cold turkey so he can concentrate on the playoffs.
“We know what they can do. I think we played a good game, but I don’t think we played our best game.” stated David Krejci after game two. “That’s how it goes in the playoffs sometimes, so we have to regroup tomorrow and get back at it on Monday.”
If the Bruins from game one show up, I still go with the Bruins in six. If the Bruins from game two show up, they might want to check the local courses for tee times. The action starts at 7:05 in Toronto. For all you local folks, it will be played on NESN.