The Bruins wouldn’t quite reveal what the discussion was inside their dressing room following the second period Friday night.
But if you listen to what the Bruins had to say following their 4-1 victory in Game 4 of their best-of-seven series with the Capitals, reading between the lines, you don’t have to be a private investigator to figure that out.
“Especially a guy like Millsy (Kevan Miller) who steps up for every guy in the room. We felt like we have to get it done for him and he’s a big part of our team,” said David Pastrnak.
“You never want to see a hit like that, Millsy is a huge part of our team. He sticks up for everyone, we wanted to do that for him and making sure we do it the right way and we’re beating them on the scoreboard and not taking stupid penalties,” said Matt Grzelcyk.
Miller left the game in the second period after taking a late hit up high from Capitals’ defenseman Dmitry Orlov. Miller was sent to a local hospital for further evaluation.
Orlov was originally issued a five-minute major for the hit.
But after reviewing the play, the infraction was changed to a double-minor. With Charlie Coyle being assessed a roughing minor on the same play, the hit only gave the Bruins two minutes of power play time.
“What happened there is their guy left his feet borderline late and drove right through his chin. He (the ref) skated by and told me that when they reviewed it he made contact first to his shoulder I guess, or whatever he said, upper-body, I forget,” said head coach Bruce Cassidy.
“But it didn’t look that way from our vantage point. Kevan is at the hospital undergoing some CT’s. Obviously frustrating to watch that call and even a review go by the wayside—essentially a two-minute minor.”
It took 23 seconds for the Bruins to respond, Brad Marchand striking on the man advantage to give the Bruins the 1-0 lead.
They did not look back from there.
Leading 1-0 after two, the Bruins got goals from Pastrnak,—on the power play 29 seconds into the third— Coyle and Grzelcyk to put the Bruins a win away from advancing to the second round.
“That was our main focus going into the third to get it done for him and at least get the momentum on the power play in the third,” said Pastrnak. “It was a huge response to stepping up for Millsy.”
Often teams can let the emotion of seeing one of their teammates injured on a play get to them emotionally, ultimately boiling over into trouble.
But much like they did in March when Tom Wilson concussed Brandon Carlo with a hit to the head, the Bruins got revenge on the scoreboard.
And with that revenge on the scoreboard, the Capitals are now facing elimination, their season on the line.
“We just tried to regroup more than anything, especially in the playoffs and in a big game like that you can kind of get off track, but we have a lot of great leaders in the room and everyone made a point to refocus,” said Grzelcyk.
Their power play to start the third period was a carryover penalty from the second, assessed to Anthony Mantha who was called for goaltender interference. A play where Mantha made zero effort to avoid contact with Rask.
“We had a power play to start the next period, wanted to make sure we capitalized on that,” Grzelcyk added.
Once again contact on one of their players they weren’t happy about, once again the perfect response.
Miller’s always the first Bruin to step up for his teammates, but this time, Miller wasn’t there to step up for himself.
And this time, his teammates returned the favor.
Boston Bruins Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»