Price Is Wrong, Bruins Say Their Goals Weren’t ‘Lucky’
By Duncan Day
May 3, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price (31) in goal during the second period against the Boston Bruins in game two of the second round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Bruins Deserving of Goals, Despite Price
The name of Game 2 for the Boston Bruins revolved around getting pucks on net, their signature style when scoring goals is a top priority. And they performed well in their latest playoff contest vs. the Habs. One can say that they satisfied their expectations.
The problem, though, is that the Bruins weren’t prolific in their scoring ways. Many of their best chances were promptly shut down by Canadians’ goalkeeper Carey Price.
In the end, however, Price faced 34 shots and saved 30 of them, notching a pedestrian .822 save percentage. Some may argue that the Bruins had a fortune on their side to gather a couple of lucky bounces for their four-goal tally. Three of the B’s four goals came in the third period. Price likes to think that Boston’s performance was a bit fluky. He recently talked to media about Patrice Bergeron‘s game-tying score.
“A puck that hits nothing and goes top shelf? That’s pretty lucky,” Price told reporters in Montreal on Monday, via a piece from ESPNBoston’s Joe MacDonald.
The Bruins have responded to Price’s statement, saying that the amount of scoring opportunities matters. If you outplay a team to put legitimate shots on the metalwork, then you’re deserving of points on the board.
“Sometimes you’ve got to be lucky to be good, right?” forward Milan Lucic said. “It’s hard to say that you’re lucky. You look at how many scoring chances we were able to create, not only in Game 2 but in Game 1 as well. We’ve done a pretty good job of creating those scoring chances and we need to do the same if we want to keep giving ourselves a chance to win.”
Defender Dougie Hamilton noted that Price appeared to be favoring a specific area in net. That’s why some of the Bruins’ high pucks on frame, notably Bergeron’s ‘lucky’ goal, snuck past the Habs’ goalie.
“€œI think we’ve definitely noticed that when he’s (Price’s) screened he’s looking low and he gets really low,” Hamilton said. “I think we can score a lot of goals up high when we have a net-front presence. I don’t know if we’re really trying, but we’ve noticed that.”