Unless you’ve got a serious craving for some top notch wings, it’s time to get on the horn and cancel that day trip to Buffalo. You can officially file Wednesday’s game seven under “no longer necessary”, as the Boston Bruins have eliminated the Sabres four games to two after a riveting 4-3 win at the TD Garden in game six on Monday night.
The series is over. The Sabres’ season is over. And the Bruins, those pesky, underwhelming, offensively inept Bruins, are moving on to round two. Who’d have thunk it?
For those that frequent the Bruins' locker room during the team's postgame interactions with the media, one thing is blatantly obvious for anyone seeking a quote from David Krejci: either get within a yard of the young center or wait for the transcript. The young, articulate Czech native is as soft-spoken as they come.
But on Monday night, with his team facing what was essentially a must-win situation to avoid returning to Buffalo for a game seven, Krejci needn’t make a peep to the press. He did all of his talking on the ice. The crafty pivot, who was eerily quiet through the first five tilts with just two points, exploded for two goals and chipped in an assist to help Boston win just its second playoff series since 1999.
Now in his third career postseason since securing a full-time role in the later stages of the 2007-08 regular season, Krejci was asked if he feels like an experienced playoff veteran.
“I don’t think I – I don’t believe in experience. I just go out there and try to play my game, you know.” Krejci said. “I’m not looking [at] what happened in the past. I just want to play my game and help the team to win.”
Boy, did he ever. Krejci opened the scoring in the first period, tipping in a Mark Recchi feed from 15 feet out directly in front of Ryan Miller. The goal marked the first time in the series that Boston struck first.
“That’s what we wanted to do for all the first five games, and [it] didn’t happen. It happened today. It was huge, to play with the lead the whole game, and it’s much more fun when you have a lead, you know, so I think we controlled it pretty good and we didn’t sit back. We kept going forward and got a couple more goals in the third and that’s why we won the game.”
Just 1:01 into the second period, the B’s doubled their advantage while on a rare 4-on-3 PP. Krejci gathered the puck at the left point and alertly found Mark Recchi alone to Miller’s left.
But the momentum gained from the veteran’s big goal was short-lived, as Patrick Kaleta cut the lead back to one just five minutes later. Defenseman Dennis Wideman shipped an errant feed up the center of his own zone directly to Adam Mair. Mair quickly fed Tim Kennedy who found a wide-open Kaleta in tight.
“See that’s the thing that I can’t do as we get into tighter games and as the playoffs go on. That was dumb.” Wideman unabashedly said of the play.
Thankfully for the Bruins’ blueliner, Krejci wasn’t done bringin’ the noise. With 12:42 to go in regulation, he buried his second goal of the night when a Milan Lucic centering pass found him open in the slot.
Asked to assess his new linemate’s performance, Krejci seemed elated by Lucic’s effort in game six.
“He won so many battles for me.” Krejci said of the left winger. “On my second goal, you know, it was basically all his work so I’m very happy [with] the way he played.”
After Boston College alum Nathan Gerbe helped the Sabres close to within a goal, again, just 22 ticks later, it was Krejci’s other winger that put the final nail in Buffalo’s coffin.
Dennis Wideman snuck down the right side with the puck and threaded an absolute needle through a sea of bodies. When the frozen, vulcanized rubber came to rest, it found itself on the stick of Miroslav Satan, who quickly controlled it before depositing Boston’s fourth goal into a wide open net.
“He showed it tonight [that] he has it in him.” Krejci said when asked about Satan’s penchant for big goals. “Every time we need someone to step up, he can be that guy, and he did it tonight again.”
Without his center’s three-point night, however, Satan never gets the opportunity to shine in the spotlight.
“David had two goals and an assist, so that’s great, you know, when you see guys stepping up.” Zdeno Chara said. “Every night, you need somebody else to really pull the trigger.”
Krejci, now looking forward to a chance to come up big again in round two, discussed an unwavering confidence he always held in the team’s ability to get there.
“Yeah, we knew we always had it in us. Some guys had a tough year, but we knew it was in us. I think we showed it in the first round, but you know, it starts right now and we got to do the same thing in the second [round].”
RASK UNPHASED BY DOUBTERS
With their foe still undetermined, hinging on the outcome of game seven between Montreal and Washington, the Bruins must now wait until Wednesday evening to prepare for their conference semifinals opponent. If Krejci and his teammates are able to elevate their games once more, and Tuukka Rask’s superb run continues, no opponent can expect the B’s to play the role of doormat in round two.
When told that many will presume they have no chance for the second straight postseason series, Rask simply replied “Yeah. Who cares?”
“Every time, no matter how you finish, people are going to pressure you or say you have no chance. We don’t care about that. We just play our game and try to get the wins.” The rookie netminder, who stopped 27 of 30 on the night, said. “Going into the playoffs, anything can happen.”
If you’re persistent, I’m sure you can pry any Sabre away from plotting out their summer vacation long enough to agree.
*stay tuned for a full series recap and much more in the coming days leading up to round two*
JC
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