It was only 1-0 and there was still a period and a half left to play. But when Brad Marchand connected with David Pastrnak for the first goal of Game 4, you could feel that Pastrnak’s goal would be all the Bruins would need.
And it was.
“Proud of the guys, especially the way they played today,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said after his team punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final with a 4-0 victory in Game 4.
“They earned the right to be there. We’ve earned the right to be where we are, to go to the Stanley Cup Final. We’ve beaten three good teams. There’s some unfinished business.”
The Bruins are back in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013. Since then, it’s been a wild ride for a Bruins core that will play in their third Stanley Cup Final in nine seasons. They’ve missed the playoffs twice, been eliminated in the first round once, and second round twice since ’13.
Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Zdeno Chara, Tuukka Rask and Marchand were here for both cup appearances in ’11 and ’13.
They’re excited to do it again in 2019.
“Yes, it's very special, means a lot. I mean we've kind of grown up together, you know, obviously we've been around together for so long and it's been, it's been a fun ride to be part of with these guys as the core group of leaders,” Bergeron said. “And like I said before, you realize how hard it is to get to this point, so you're going to be thankful for that.”
The grind of an 82-game regular season is a difficult one. The Bruins seven-game first round series with the Toronto Maple Leafs and six-game second round series with the Columbus Blue Jackets were difficult ones. Their four game sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals however, was not.
“I mean, you look at the way that, the reason we've been successful, it's because we've had each line and every d-pairing step up and play big in big situations,” said Marchand who finished Game 4 with a goal and an assist. “So when, when you have been able to rely on everyone, it just makes it easier to do your job out there and just focus on what you can do and what you're expected to do and we all just gel together in those situations.”
The Bruins were the better team in the series in large part to their special teams play and of course, Rask.
The Bruins finished the series 7-for-15 on the power play, while the Hurricanes scored just once on 14 tries. In Game 4, the Bruins converted twice on the man advantage.
“It’s tough when you lose the special teams battle every single night against these guys,” Hurricanes captain Justin Williams said.
As for Rask, he was absolutely brilliant once again this series, by far the best player on the ice for either team.
“I mean, I don't have words for it. Like they're getting grade-A's in the slot and he's just standing up and seeing them right in his glove,” said Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy. “I sat on the bench tonight and I would just see, like a grade-A and just kind of shake my head like how easy he made it look, making some of those saves. And I don't know, he's just, he's unbelievable. I've always had that belief in him. I know everyone in that room has, he just looks like he's having fun out there and, you know, we're, we're all reaping the benefits of it.”
Rask finished the series with a .956 save percentage and a 1.25 goals against average. Rask also stopped 20 of 21 high danger scoring chances according to
Natural Stat Trick. With a goals against expectancy of nine, Rask allowed just five goals in four games.
It appeared after the Hurricanes dominated the opening period of Game 1, only to come unraveled in the third period, the ‘Canes really never recovered mentally. They had their doors blown off in Game 2, and then scored just one combined goal on home ice—where they were undefeated in the first two rounds—in Games 3 and 4.
Regardless of how the rest of the Western Conference Finals plays out, the Bruins will have to wait about a week before they kick off the Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden.
“There's going to be time off. Don't think we can start any earlier than a week from now,” added Cassidy. “So that, that's a long stretch for us from typically what we've had. So, we'll sit down, probably make a call or two, maybe to someone who's been down this road and see how they handled it.”
It’s understandable to worry about too much rest cooling off a Bruins team that has now won seven straight playoff games. But it sounds like some rest is exactly what Chara needs. The Bruins captain missed Game 4 with an undisclosed injury.
Cassidy expects his captain to be ready for Game 1.
“We found out this morning he wasn’t going to be able to go and he's dealing with an injury,” said Cassidy.
“This time off will help him. I believe he'll be ready to go for Game 1 whenever that is. We don't think it's serious, but I've said that before about some of our guys and found out later [its worse].”
Boston Bruins Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»