Game 5 Recap

Many are wondering whether the Bruins Stanley Cup hopes went out in an ambulance last night with the mysterious injury to Patrice Bergeron. I believe that the Bruins still have a shot at the Stanley Cup regardless of who is injured, but this is by far one of the biggest blows they could take. Yes, the Chicago Blackhawks were missing Jonathan Toews for the majority of the third period after a crushing hit by Johnny Boychuck, but something tells me the Blackhawks’ captain would have hit the ice had the Bruins tied the score. Today it appears that the injury to Bergeron may not be as bad as first thought, no one can know his status for Game 6. It appears as though Toews will give it a go Monday night for Chicago.

Once again, the Bruins struggled early, although they bounced back nicely towards the end of the first period, they were dominated throughout the 2nd period. Chara was once again a minus 2 after the first 2 periods and it appears as though the Chicago strategy of taking away time and space for him and Dennis Seidenberg is working. Claude Julien responded by splitting up the pair at the start of the third period and kept them apart for the remainder of the game.

Not enough pucks went on net for the Bruins. While Chicago was content with throwing as many pucks as possible on Tuukka Rask, who was tremendous down the stretch, the Bruins were being way to cute with the puck. Too many times they had me shouting in my living room, like a ‘pink hat’ fan during a power play, “Shoot it!”. David Krejci was the worst offender last night as too many times he opted for the extra pass which allowed the Blackhawks defenders to close down the shooting lanes. The Bruins never made Crawford work all night and that is disappointing given the amount of times they lit him up during Game 4.

Game 6 Preview

Well, this is it. The Stanley Cup will be in the building on Monday night and let’s hope that it stays in its case. If ever there was a time when you needed a strong effort from everyone at the jump, you would have to assume Monday night would be the time. As Tuukka Rask said after Game 5, “It’s kind of sad that we’ve got to lose a guy [Bergeron] like that to wake the team up and start battling out there.” I am very happy to hear Tuukka call out his teammates after that last game, because someone has to. Too many times now, this team has come out of the dressing room sleepwalking and that would be an unacceptable way to go out when the Stanley Cup is in the building. I am expecting a much stronger, consistent effort from the Bruins.

As for potential lineup changes,  I am fairly certain that Toews will be in the lineup for the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 6. For the Bruins however, it will be tough to predict what would happen with the Bergeron injury. If Bergeron is out, any one of these scenarios could play out: the most likely would be to move Chris Kelly up to center the second line, Soderberg could keep centering that line, Rich Peverley could be brought up from the 4th line, or, least likely, Tyler Seguin could finally get his shot to play some center on that second line. Look for Daugavins to get some play back in the lineup if Bergeron can’t go. I would also expect Claude Julien to keep Chara and Seidenberg separated as the D pairs return to their regular season pairings.

All in all, this has been one heck of a series. I know that the Garden crowd will be hyped and ready to go. The Bruins need to feed off the energy in the building and come ready to play. Remember what happened in 2011 in this same scenario, anything can happen with this Bruins team. It can be done, and this team is far from done. I believe it can happen. It starts with a win. Lets Go Bs!