Buffalo Sabres With Ruff locked up, Sabres set their sights high Pegula ticked off Sabres are done, excited to keep Ruff

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1 SPORT-SCAN Boston Bruins From street clothes to talk of town Ex-Ace playing in a full house Bruins vs. Flyers Bruins doing everything in their power David Krejci wants payback Flyers play head games Bruins-Flyers matchups Much owed to Claude Adam McQuaid makes presence felt Five keys to Bruins-Flyers series Buffalo Sabres With Ruff locked up, Sabres set their sights high Pegula ticked off Sabres are done, excited to keep Ruff Carolina Hurricanes Checkers stepping up to win Chicago Blackhawks Who will the Blackhawks keep? Who will go? Don t even think about trading Kane Hawks top priority is re-signing Crawford A little R&R could put Blackhawks back on top Columbus Blue Jackets Eastern Conference semifinals at a glance Dallas Stars Nieuwendyk moving ahead slowly Stars fans may not like it, but Sharks will make final four Reacting to Stars' stories on Kirk Muller, offer price Jack Campbell added as third goalie to U.S. squad at World Championships Detroit Red Wings Red Wings notes, quotes from Game 1 loss to Sharks Red Wings' penalty kill: Nice job, but too many chances San Jose 2, Detroit 1 (OT): Red Wings falter late in Game Drew Sharp: Red Wings suffer unlucky deflection on Jimmy Howard's big night Red Wings coach: Scrums are 'waste of energy right now' Valtteri Filppula's Euro education Octopus garden: A couple of ESPN.com writers like Datsyuk for first-round Conn Smythe San Jose 2, Detroit 1 (OT): Red Wings lose lead in third, Game 1 in overtime Blog: Red Wings drop Game 1 to Sharks Coach Mike Babcock happy Red Wings in the playoffs on his birthday The other side: Sharks' Jamal Mayers tries Twitter and whiskers Sharks bounce past Red Wings for overtime victory Red Wings need more than Jimmy Howard to survive this series Krupa's 5 keys Jimmy Howard's stellar play almost leads Wings to victory Wings' Kris Draper, Mike Modano to sit out Game Red Wings lose Game 1 to Sharks after Benn Ferriero scores in overtime Todd McLellan: 'Ultimate respect' between Sharks, Red Wings as second round begins NHL 4/30/2011 DAILY BRIEF Red Wings cont'd Red Wings' Valtteri Filppula hopes to continue strong postseason play against Sharks Kris Draper, Mike Modano are the scratches for Red Wings in Game 1 vs. San Jose Red Wings hope for consistent officiating in second-round series vs. Sharks Red Wings better than last season's team that lost to Sharks in second round The matchup: Detroit Red Wings vs. San Jose Sharks, second round of NHL playoffs Minnesota Wild Minnesota Wild will have 7 players represented at hockey's world championships next month Montreal Canadiens Gomez takes the heat for Habs Nashville Predators Nashville Predators get reminded of Game 1 failures against Vancouver Canucks Nashville Predators' Barry Trotz named finalist for NHL's Jack Adams Award Predators-Canucks: Game 2 preview New Jersey Devils Devils' Jacques Lemaire overlooked in Jack Adams Award voting New York Islanders Islanders' Tavares helps Canada to win at Worlds New York Rangers Drury, Prospal, Avery likely won't wear Rangers sweaters NHL Canucks, Predators to focus on goalmouth scrambles Crosby suffers concussion setback Capitals v. Lightning: A defensive battle? Canucks get through danger game Trotz back in the hunt again as top coach Canucks watch list Lightning storm back against Capitals, take series opener Return of concussion symptoms stalled comeback for Sid the Kid A Delight for Detroit: The Return of the Grind Line Capitals vs. Lightning: Youth Meets Experience in Goal Wayne Fish's Conference Semifinal Picks

2 Philadelphia Flyers Richards could be thorn in Chara's side again Flyers-Bruins scouting report Flyers Notes: Shelley may see action on fourth line Game 1: Bruins at Flyers Flyers will face a Bruins goalie unaffected by Boston's epic meltdown last year Boucher is Flyers' go-to guy in goal Broad Street Bully: Combat couldn't stop this die-hard Flyers' Briere knows Bruins remember Chara, Pronger give teams large presence Eastern Conference Semifinals: Bruins vs. Flyers FLYERS IN SEVEN PRONGER'S FEELING MORE LIKE HIS OLD SELF Boucher s name stands on its own as Flyers brace for Bruins McCaffery: Desperate measures are status quo for Flyers Flyers, Bruins ready to revisit epic collapse, comeback Flyers vs. Bruins playoff schedule Jackson's Five: Questions for Flyers-Sabres series Big, bad, bruising Bruins back with a vengeance Physical fourth line key to Flyers' success vs. Bruins Flyers notes: Bruins' Thomas is a real-life Gumby Pittsburgh Penguins Crosby's concussion 'not ordinary' Cooke vows to change ways Malkin: I could've played in 3rd round Bylsma nominated for coach of year Pens coach Bylsma a finalist for NHL coaching award Crosby suffers setback in concussion recovery Penguins' Cooke got counseling while not playing Penguins need to hire power-play coach Penguins Notebook: Bylsma is finalist for coach of year Crosby says he had concussion-related setback recently San Jose Sharks Benn Ferriero's OT goal lifts San Jose Sharks to a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings Mark Purdy: In Benn Ferriero's night of first the biggest is... game-winner Rivalry with Red Wings carries little hate, much respect Benn Ferriero's goal nets Sharks 2-1 win in opener With others scoring goals, Thornton steps up defense Previewing the Sharks-Red Wings series Tampa Bay Lightning Capitals coach says series isn't quite a mismatch Gagne injury a real worry Lightning beat Capitals 4-2 in Game Gagne taken from ice after head injury Tampa Bay Lightning beats Washington Capitals 4-2 in Game 1 of Eastern Conference semis Tampa Bay Lightning-Washington Capitals news and notes Tampa Bay Lightning lose Simon Gagne and Pavel Kubina to head injuries in Game 1 of East semifinal with Washin Tampa Bay Lightning's Guy Boucher not finalist for coach of the year Tampa Bay Lightning's Simon Gagne alert after hitting head on ice Gagne leaves game in first period Tampa Bay Lightning will not return to Traverse City next season, will play in Panthers' prospects camp Tampa Bay Lightning sells out all three home playoff games against Washington Capitals Games 3, 4 and 6 between Lightning and Capitals at SP Times Forum are sellouts, team says Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher insists it's David vs. Goliath Vancouver Canucks Canucks Lapierre becoming a Max factor Canucks-Predators also a battle of the bench bosses Canucks coach Alain Vigneault defuses power-play concerns NHL tells Vancouver auto dealer to ditch 'Go Canucks Go' sign Not hot to Trotz for Predators coach Canucks bench boss Alain Vigneault an NHL coach of the year finalist We Say Bieksa, Cherry Says Bieska Quinn, Larscheid among those invited to Bublé's big day Individual awards don't mean Jack What a difference five years has made for Canucks coach Alain Vigneault Predators vow to rebound after Game 1 embarrassment Canucks need to solve the riddle of Pred's goalie Pekka Rinne's glove Gallagher: Trade deadline decisions could make crucial difference if Canucks meet Flyers Samuelsson to self: Shoot the puck (he has one more shot than Cody Hodgson) Sharks clip Wings in series opener Alain Vigneault, Barry Trotz, Dan Bylsma up for Jack Adams Award Washington Capitals NHL playoffs: Capitals drop Game 1 to Lightning, NHL playoffs: Fortune doesn t favor Capitals in Game 1 vs. Lightning Capitals vs. Lightning: Tampa Bay relies on its supporting cast in Game 1 win Midseason addition Dwayne Roloson poses Lightning s biggest threat to Capitals Capitals drop Game 1 to Lightning, John Carlson misses most of final 25 minutes Lightning s Simon Gagne, Pavel Kubina suffer injuries in Game 1 win over Capitals Statistical analysis: Scouting the Lightning Lightning won t use fatigue as an excuse Capitals drop Game 1 to Lightning, John Carlson misses most of final 25 minutes Lightning s Simon Gagne, Pavel Kubina suffer injuries in Game 1 win over Capitals DALY: Caps stray from what worked and pay for it against Lightning Caps drop first game of second round with 4-2 loss to Lightning Gagne s injury a scary start to series Caps power play struggles haunt them in Game Lightning dominate Caps down the stretch, Tampa Bay's Simon Gagne leaves after scary fall Websites CNN/Sports Illustrated / VIEW FROM THE ICE Bolts' victory over Caps the result of smarts, strength -- not fati CNN/Sports Illustrated / INSIDE THE NHL Series breakdown: Capitals (1) vs. Lightning (5) ESPN / Red Wings-Sharks: LeBrun's final take Sportsnet.ca / Troubling trends Sportsnet.ca / No ordinary Joe TSN.CA / Power play the difference in Lightning-Capitals SPORT-SCAN, INC

3 Boston Bruins From street clothes to talk of town By John Powers The observation was made to Andrew Ference a few days ago that Michael Ryder appeared to be back to his old self in this hurly-burly playoff season. I m assuming his old self is a good thing? the Bruins defenseman replied, grinning. Well, I figured I d ask. Ryder s old self is unequivocally a good thing. The man who didn t score a goal for more than a month was the same one who scored two goals against Montreal in the game that brought his ursine colleagues back even in a series they seemed destined to lose. The same one who arguably made the biggest save in franchise history by a Bruin not in goalie gear. If you look at his numbers he s a playoff performer and he has been the whole time he s been here, remarked fellow forward Shawn Thornton. I m pretty sure he was in Montreal, too. He embraces this time of year and steps up. Ryder and linemates Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley, who weren t assembled until the crocuses came up, are a major reason why the Bruins are playing at Philadelphia this afternoon in the opener of their Eastern Conference semifinal series instead of wielding a sand wedge. Of the 17 goals the Bruins scored against the Canadiens, that unit accounted for six, all but one in the pivotal third and fourth games that revived the club on the road. Those three guys have not disappointed, said coach Claude Julien. Back in October, if you d bet on that trio wearing the same jersey you could have won the State House s golden dome. Kelly was playing for Ottawa and Peverley for Atlanta. When they arrived on Causeway Street in February, Ryder was at the beginning of a one-goal-in-20-game drought that left observers scratching their heads and the man himself thinking more while producing less. When you re looked at to score goals, Ryder said, it s a different kind of pressure that s on you. Once Ryder scored 25 for the Canadiens in his rookie season seven years ago, the expectations quickly became enormous. When he returned after his Swedish sabbatical and added 30 and 30 during his next two years, Ryder was being hailed as a sniper extraordinaire who had an uncanny knack for getting to unlikely places, popping up in the middle of a scene like Bugs Bunny with a Bauer stick. He always blows me away, said Ference. Because you watch him out there and he s not the fastest skater in the world, but somehow he gets around guys and he s able to hold on to the puck in a dangerous area of the ice and do it often. He really finds his area in the slot and gets some good shots away. I m still not really sure how he does it. Scoring that way is not so much science as it is art, and Ryder appeared to be en route to mastery. Which is why even after he managed only 14 goals in and was benched for most of the playoffs, Julien still wanted him along when he was hired here three years ago and the Bruins paid Ryder $12 million for a three-year deal. Julien had coached him at Hull in juniors, Hamilton in the AHL, and at Montreal, so he knew what Ryder could do and Ryder knew precisely what Julien wanted from him. It has its perks, I guess, he said. And sometimes it doesn t. He had me since I was a junior and he knows what it takes to get me going. In another sense, sometimes it s like he still thinks I m a kid back in juniors. One thing about Julien s approach that hasn t changed between then and now is that ice time is dependent upon performance. When Ryder wasn t scoring on the power play this season, he was removed from it. When he wasn t scoring at all in March he was removed from the dress list and listed as a healthy scratch for dates with the Flyers and Blackhawks. We had a little meeting beforehand, but I had no idea I was going to be scratched, said Ryder, who d suited up for 172 straight regular-season games. It was definitely disappointing. You don t want to be in that spot. You always want to be playing. But I ve been there before, so I can understand it a little more. I knew when I got back in I just wanted to make sure to prove to everybody that I want to be there for playoff time. One big goal in his second game back the penalty shot that beat Atlanta, 3-2, and clinched the division title did much to secure that. It got the weight off my shoulders, said Ryder. It was a pretty intense game. To get that goal was huge for me as a confidence boost. Not that he needed a lightning strike to jolt him back to life. I ve been in the league long enough to know what I have to do to get myself going well, Ryder said. I know I have to be skating. When I move my feet, everything else just seems to fall in place. Once he, Kelly, and Peverley had a few dozen shifts together there was synergy, with the trio potting five goals in the final five games of the regular season. We do a lot of good things as a line, Ryder said. We wanted to make sure in the playoffs that we came in and were a difference-maker. They were more than that in the Montreal clan war. No Boston team that had lost the first two games of a playoff series and 26 did ever had survived. But Peverley and Kelly helped breathe life into the Bruins with goals in the 4-2 victory in Game 3. Then, after Ryder had negated the hosts first goal in Game 4, he evened the series in overtime, banging home Kelly s feed from behind the cage. Obviously, he s got a great shot, said Kelly. He finds that quiet area and when he has the puck on his stick, most times it s going to the back of the net. Had the Bruins gone down, three games to one, they likely would have been finished. Now, they needed only to win twice on home ice to defy history. Ryder did his part in Game 5 by keeping a puck out of the net, swatting aside a bid by Tomas Plekanec with Tim Thomas deked and down. That save might have saved the series, said Peverley. The trick was Ryder s ball-hockey skills, honed in Newfoundland. I always wanted to be a goalie, he said. I had the gear. I played a little bit when I was younger. Then his father said enough and Ryder morphed into a sniper. That s how he became the $12 million man and that s how he earned his keep last week when his co-workers were on life support. I know this is the time of year when I have to step it up, he says. And if Messrs. Thomas, Rask, and Khudobin should happen to get sick at the same sushi stand, Ryder won t mind stepping in. He ll wear whatever assemblage he s asked to, as long as he s logging ice time. May is no time to be in street clothes. Boston Globe LOADED:

4 Boston Bruins Ex-Ace playing in a full house By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell Last year s playoffs proved to be an education for Brad Marchand. The young forward was a member of the Black Aces, the extra players with the Bruins during the postseason in case of injury, etc. Despite not being in the lineup, Marchand witnessed what it took to prepare for the NHL s second season. This year, he was a key reason the Bruins beat the Canadiens in seven games. He had one goal and four assists in the series and brought a great deal of energy. He s looking forward to the second round, which begins today in Philadelphia against the Flyers. It s crazy being here and being in the NHL playoffs, fighting for that Stanley Cup, said Marchand, who turns 23 May 11. I don t care what happens points-wise or anything like that, as long as I don t create any goals for the other team, I m happy. Before turning pro, Marchand competed in the postseason for Moncton, Val d Or, and Halifax of the Quebec League. He said even though it was at a lower level, it was beneficial. When you re in any kind of playoff, it always helps you, he said. You kind of know the situation, how much the level of intensity picks up and what s on the line every night. Nothing is like being in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but you do gain experience and a little bit of leadership from every level. Marchand could feel how much was on the line prior to Game 7 against the Habs. It was weird, he said. You re sitting in the room before the game and everyone was pretty quiet. You were hoping it was because everyone was confident and focused, but you never know how everyone s nerves are. It was definitely nerve-racking, anything can happen in a Game 7, but everyone was anxious and pretty excited. I was pretty excited, I d never been in a Game 7 before. I was looking forward to that. I thought it was going to be a pretty fun game. I was happy to get the series over with. I don t think we really brought our best game to any of the games against Montreal. So we just have to make sure we get back to really playing the way we can and have four lines going at all times. Marchand watched the Bruins blow a three-game lead to the Flyers in the last year s second round. When asked what he remembered most, he said, Just how quickly it switched. You re up, 3-0, and you re kind of getting ready for the next round almost. Everything started switching over. Once [David Krejci] got hurt, it was the turning point of the series. And [Simon] Gagne came back there [for the Flyers] and it was a bit of turning point. Constant reminder It came as no surprise to Shawn Thornton that the subject of last year s playoff collapse was brought up after yesterday s practice at the Garden. Do you think if I answer this question right now, I won t have to answer it again for the rest of the series? joked Thornton. For some of the guys who were here last year, it should be a little bit of a motivating tool. But that being said, last year was last year and this year is this year. Half the team has been turned over and we ve brought in great people, so it s a whole new year. They have new players, we have new players. It doesn t really have a factor on this year s series except the fact that we haven t forgotten about it because [the media] reminds us day in and day out. New challenge Captain Zdeno Chara is expecting a different matchup against the Flyers than the Bruins had against the Canadiens, who relied on their small, quick forwards to spark the offense. It s going to be a tough one, said Chara. Every series is tough. We know they have a big, fast, strong team and they play with a lot of confidence. We also have a big team, a physical team. But that s what s going to make the series very exciting and obviously hard to play. Nancy Marrapese-Burrell Boston Globe LOADED:

5 Boston Bruins Bruins vs. Flyers BRADEN CAMPBELL Dec. 1, 2010 Bruins 3, at Flyers 0 Tim Thomas recorded his fifth shutout of the season, making 41 saves to improve to Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin, and Milan Lucic were the goal scorers. Next Bruins Game Sat, Apr 30, 3:00 p.m. on NBC, CBC Dec. 11, 2010 Flyers 2, at Bruins 1 (OT) Flyers captain Mike Richards sneaked a shot past Thomas with just three seconds remaining in overtime to even the season series. James van Riemsdyk put the Flyers on the board in the second period, and Nathan Horton answered in the third. Thomas had 32 saves. Jan. 13, 2011 At Bruins 7, Flyers 5 The Bruins exploded for five third-period goals after falling behind, 3-2. The game was knotted, 5-5, for more than seven minutes before Steve Kampfer scored unassisted with a little less than two minutes to play. March 27, 2011 Bruins 2, at Flyers 1 Brad Marchand scored his first goal in 13 games on a power-play with 3:43 remaining as the Bruins clinched a playoff berth. Horton was the Bruins other goal scorer, and Thomas made 27 saves. BRADEN CAMPBELL Boston Globe LOADED:

6 Boston Bruins Bruins doing everything in their power By Fluto Shinzawa Yesterday morning, before the rank and file trudged out of the home dressing room at TD Garden, the Bruins supposed best players hit the ice. There, prior to full practice, they hammered away on their most significant ailment: the power play. Boston s power play has been picked apart with greater intensity than Kate Middleton s choice of bridal wear. The Bruins, middling at best during the regular season, shot an 0-for-21 blank against Montreal in the first round of the playoffs. This is a topic we ve addressed all year, every day, said general manager Peter Chiarelli. We ve been on them so much to succeed and have different looks. You reach a point where you re at diminishing returns as trying to make changes. So, it s been a frustrating exercise. With assistant Doug Jarvis leading the charges and every other coach watching like hawks, the Bruins shuttled through power-play drills. Execution was not an issue. Milan Lucic and Mark Recchi, serving as net-front men for their respective units, shoveled in slap passes from the defensemen. On D-to-D slides, the weak-side forwards took passes from the point men, walked off the halfboards, and put snap shots on goal. Come on. Intensity, coach Claude Julien called out. Intensity here. There was one issue: no penalty killers. This afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center, the Bruins will be staring at some of the league s more lethal shorthanded units. During the regular season, the Flyers killed 82.8 percent of their penalties, good for 15th in the league. But where the Flyers made their money was scoring shorthanded goals. Philadelphia racked up 13, second most in the NHL. Claude Giroux and Daniel Briere each had three. When you score the amount of shorthanded goals they ve scored, it has been addressed and will continue to be addressed, said Julien. They kill a little differently. Obviously, a little more aggressively with the intent of scoring shorthanded goals. We re going to have to be aware of that. We re confident that we re going to get our power play going. The first (Lucic, David Krejci, Nathan Horton/Michael Ryder, Tomas Kaberle, Johnny Boychuk) and second (Recchi, Patrice Bergeron, Rich Peverley/Brad Marchand, Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg) units aren t the only segments that will require improvement. The Canadiens gave the Bruins a dogfight via their style speedy forwards who can stretch the ice, an all-in defense more smothering than a helicopter mom, and a goalie (Carey Price) who is as good as they get. The Flyers may not be as consistent in goal, but everywhere else, they re deeper, meaner, and more skilled than the Canadiens. Their strength is their depth right through their lineup, Adam McQuaid said. No matter what their forward line or D pairing, they re all very capable. You ve got to be on your toes at all times. Giroux might be the Flyers most-gifted player. But nobody personifies their blend of skill and surliness better than Mike Richards. The Philadelphia captain scored 23 goals with 43 assists in 81 games, and set the pace and physical nature for his teammates. Last season in Game 3 of the secondround series, the No. 18 train barreled over Krejci, dislocating his right wrist and KO-ing the Bruins No. 1 center for the rest of the postseason. It was tough, Krejci said. Last year could have been the year. I m not saying that if I didn t get hurt, that would have happened. Who knows, right? Maybe we would have played in the conference finals against Montreal. Everybody would have been comfortable saying we could beat [Montreal] and be in the finals. It was heartbreaking. It was tough to swallow. But this is another year. Up front, Scott Hartnell is another bump-first antagonist. On the back end, Chris Pronger is still nursing a hand injury that limited him to two first-round games against Buffalo. Even if Pronger is not 100 percent, the Cup-winning defenseman will prove a challenge. He s very mean to play against, said Shawn Thornton, Pronger s teammate in Anaheim. He s been around. He s got a wealth of experience. He s been in the finals a couple times. He s a leader. Guys probably feed off him over there, I m sure. If Pronger can handle his usual workload, he and Matt Carle will see regular shifts against Lucic, Krejci, and Horton. In the first round, Hal Gill and P.K. Subban kept the Bruins first line from exploding. Krejci and Co. will be facing a similar duo a shutdown defenseman in Pronger and a puckmover in Carle. It s obvious we need those guys, Chiarelli said of the first line. I see their game coming around. They have to be good for us. The Flyers will look to Woonsocket, R.I., native Brian Boucher to be a calming presence in goal. Boucher is one of three goalies (Sergei Bobrovsky and Michael Leighton the others) to see the crease for Philadelphia in the opening round. Goaltending has always been the punch line around the Flyers. Last year, a bad-angle Patrick Kane shot on Leighton became the Cup-clinching goal for Chicago. But in the first round, Boucher (4-1, 2.10 goals-against average,.934 save percentage) had better numbers than Tim Thomas (4-3, 2.25 GAA,.926 save percentage). Everybody s questioning their goaltending. But their goaltending has always seemed to do the job, Julien said. It s one of those situations where I think a lot of what has to be done is about us more than about their hockey club and what we have to change from our point of view. Fluto Shinzawa Boston Globe LOADED:

7 Boston Bruins David Krejci wants payback By Steve Conroy As tough a time as Krejci had in the first series one goal and no assists he took solace in the fact that he did have Grade A chances on which he could not convert for one reason or another. I thought my game was there, he said. I had so many chances, a couple breakaways, too. If I could have buried a few of those, I think things would have been more perfect. But I m glad the first round is behind me. Now I want to forget about it and get ready for (today). Boston Herald LOADED: You don t have to tell David Krejci how fast things can change in the playoffs. One minute last year he was leading the Bruins to what looked like an impressive series victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. The next, he was in a hospital in Baltimore to have emergency surgery on his dislocated left wrist. And stunningly, the team s fortunes went downhill almost as rapidly. The B s won that Game 3 in which Krejci was hurt, thanks to his bodysacrificing pass that led to Miroslav Satan s goal. But Mike Richards openice hit ended the centerman s season and the B s did not win another game, dropping four straight to the Flyers in the historic loss. But today at the Wells Fargo Center, Krejci and the Bruins will resume their quest of a dream that, for all intents and purposes, died on Richards clean but brutal hit last May 5. It s a good chance for us and even for myself to get them back for what they did to us last year, said Krejci. It was tough. Last year could have been the year. I m not saying that if I didn t get hurt, it would have happened, but who knows, right? I knew we would have played Montreal in the conference finals and not just me but I m sure you guys would have been comfortable in feeling that we could beat those guys and be in the finals. So it was heartbreaking. It was tough to swallow. But this is another year and we have a good chance again to go the next round. A lot of things happened in that series to shift the tide. For Philly, Simon Gagne came back. Goalie Brian Boucher got hurt and Michael Leighton went in. But the Krejci injury was the killer for the B s. He had totals in nine playoff games and was playing extremely well. I remember thinking once Krech got hurt, said Brad Marchand, an extra forward last year, you were kind of like uh-oh.? But as of this moment, the Bruins are a much healthier squad. They are also deeper. And they are in better shape to compete this year than they were last year. The burden on Krejci should not be as great this year. I think this year we ve got enough depth that I think the responsibility is shared, said coach Claude Julien. Last year obviously when he went down I felt it really created a big hole because Marc Savard hadn t played in the first round. And Marc Savard was maybe half the player he was before when he came back. So that left us with (Patrice) Bergeron and then as you know we had (Vladimir) Sobotka, we had (Trent) Whitfield, we had (Steve) Begin. So we really felt we got thin there and didn t have the type of centermen we needed to win. So that s where David Krejci s presence, or lack of presence, really hurt us once he went down. And we lost (Marco Sturm) before too. So you lose two guys from your top two lines and our scoring was a little thin last year. So it really affected our team a lot. And David Krejci was having a tremendous playoffs. So I think this year is a different situation, because when you look at Bergy and you look at Krejci and you look at (Rich) Peverley and even (Chris) Kelly can play there, you still have good centermen. And (Gregory) Campbell as well and let s not forget (Tyler) Seguin. So there is some depth there and we feel a lot better about that this year. Krejci is certainly glad the Montreal series, during which he and his linemates Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton were often taken out of the game by the Habs ultra-defensive style, is over. The Flyers have their share of big, effective defensemen, too, most notably future Hall of Famer Chris Pronger. But they won t be playing the rope-a-dope like the Canadiens. I don t know what we re going to see, but they have lots of skill up front, so I think they ll be more offensive than Montreal was, said Krejci. Montreal, you ve got to give them credit. They played really well defensively. I think (this series) might be more open, so we ll see what happens.

8 Boston Bruins Flyers play head games By Steve Buckley the Red Sox were saddled with questions about 1918 every time they sniffed the postseason. Until the Red Sox won a World Series, it was impossible for them to forget It was.?.?. in their heads. Just as the Bruins will have the Flyers in their heads until they eliminate them from a playoff series. Boston Herald LOADED: VOORHEES, N.J. Nice try by anyone connected with the Philadelphia Flyers who opens his yap and speaks the big, fat lie about how their team s stunning victory over the Bruins in last year s Eastern Conference semifinals has no relevance to this year s rematch. Take, for instance, the Flyers Daniel Carcillo. I don t think anybody in this room is thinking about last year, Carcillo said yesterday, referring, of course, to a) how the Flyers roared back with four straight victories after dropping Games 1, 2 and 3 to the Bruins and b) how they rallied from a 3-0 deficit to post a 4-3 victory in Game 7. I mean, last year was last year, Carcillo said. I know everybody likes to ask all these questions about last year, but it s a new season, a new year. We have some new guys and they have some new guys. I think, said Carcillo, confusing last year s playoffs with the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, that s all ancient history. No, Mr. Carcillo. It s nonsense, is what it is. If the National Hockey League were to give out an award for disingenuousness, Carcillo would be one of the finalists. You ve heard of the Conn Smythe Trophy? This would be the Conn Man Trophy. Now then, if the league wants to whip up a trophy for pure, unbridled truth, candor and good, old-fashioned telling it like it is, then the winner would be the Flyers Scott Hartnell. Brace yourselves, Bruins fans, because the truth hurts. I think when you beat a team like that, that needs just one win to close out the series, and for them to have a collapse like that when you come back and win four in a row, and in Game 7 they have a 3-0 lead and (lose) 4-3 in regulation, it s definitely in their head a little bit, said Hartnell, summing up last year s series in one succinct sentence. Hartnell had some additional thoughts about what s going on these days inside the heads of professional hockey players. It s definitely in our heads too, that we can come back from that deficit, he said. It was just an incredible feeling, and thinking right now, just talking about it, brings back a lot of good memories. It s definitely in their head a little bit. It brings back a lot of good memories. Is there anyone who could possibly believe otherwise? Be it a painful reminder of the past or a device to be used for motivation, how could what happened last year not be rattling around inside people s noggins? I m sure they ll use that to their advantage, said Flyers right winger Danny Briere, but then he went right back to what Hartnell was talking about. It goes both ways, he said. We might be in their heads as well. We have that confidence that, no matter what happens, we seem to play well when we re playing against them. If there s one thing I ve found about playing against the Bruins, he said, it s that it always seems to bring the best out of this team. But, said Briere, hopefully we don t spot them a three-game lead again. We d like to start off a little better. OK, there s that. Surely the Bruins and their fans would dearly love to win the first three games of this series, history or no history. And the Flyers have no interest in being the first team in sports history to erase a 3-0 series deficit in consecutive seasons. But that s not what this is about. This is about the undeniable connection between Last Year and This Year, and how it s foolish not to believe they are two parts of a whole. And please, no talk about how each team is different from last year s editions, because that never works. For decades,

9 Boston Bruins Bruins-Flyers matchups By Steve Conroy What could be better than beating the Montreal Canadiens in overtime in Game 7? Facing down the team that humiliated you last year by coming back from a 3-0 series deficit and a 3-0 lead in Game 7 last year. That s what the Bruins are fervently hoping to do as the Eastern Conference semifinals begin today at the Wells Fargo Center. But it will be an uphill climb. The Philadelphia Flyers have as much talent at forward and defense as anyone in the league and, if not for a soft goal in Game 6 of the finals last year, they might be the defending Stanley Cup champions. In fact, they re more talented this year, with the tinkering they did on the back end. Each team has its emotional mojo working, as both the Bruins and Flyers were staring at the abyss of a too-soon-summer and were somehow able to win seven-game series. The Bruins took the season series, 3-0-1, but as we saw with Montreal, regular-season records are not very good indicators of how a playoff series will play out. Both teams have skill, will and toughness and it will be fascinating to see which team brings the right amount of each to win this. Here are the matchups: FORWARDS FLYERS Scott Hartnell Daniel Briere Ville Leino Daniel Carcillo Mike Richards Kris Versteeg James van RiemsdykClaude GirouxNikolay Zherdev Darrel Powe Blair Betts Ben Holmstrom Zac Rinaldo BRUINS Milan Lucic David Krejci Nathan Horton Brad Marchand Patrice Bergeron Mark Recchi Chris Kelly Rich Peverley Michael Ryder Daniel Paille Gregory CampbellShawn Thornton THE SKINNY: If this matchup happened in the first round, a gargantuan advantage would have seemed to belong the Flyers. But with the emergence of the B s third line in the Montreal series, the gap seems to have been closed a bit. Still, the Flyers are awfully skilled,and they re not the undersized gnats like the Canadiens, whose only hope was to get on the power play. The pick-up of Versteeg, who won the Cup with Chicago last year, was a nice acquisition. Van Riemsdyk is developing into the player people thought he d be when he was taken No. 2 overall in 2007, Giroux is a magician and Hartnell is an effective pest. Briere and Richards are two of the best money players in the league. And, oh yeah, Carter -- expected to return from a leg injury at some point in the series -- led the Flyers with 36 goals. Andreas Nodl is day-to-day with an upper body injury. The B s top line accounted for two of the three overtime game-winners, but the team needs more production out of that unit, especially Krejci and Lucic, if the Bruins are to have a chance. THE EDGE: Flyers DEFENSE FLYERS Matt Carle Chris Pronger Braydon Coburn Kimmo Timonen Sean O Donnell Andrej Meszaros Extras: Danny Syvret, Matt Walker BRUINS Zdeno CharaDennis Seidenberg Andrew Ference Johnny Boychuk Tomas Kaberle Adam McQuaid THE SKINNY: The Flyers made a sizable improvement on their third defense pair from last year s team with the steal of Meszaros from the Lightning for a second rounder and the pickup of veteran O Donnell. Pronger is still a force at the age of 36, though he was hampered by injuries this year. He made his return from a hand injury in Game 6 of the Buffalo series and his presence helped the Flyers come back to win. Carle is a terrific young player and, though Coburn leaves a lot of people yearning for more, he s not bad, either. Timonen is an underrated offensive defenseman. For the B s, Chara is a good candidate for the Norris and, perhaps more importantly, he may have gotten over a hump in the Montreal series. A quiet leader who puts a lot of pressure on himself, he hasn t always been at his best in the postseason, but he earned high marks for gutting it out against Montreal when he wasn t 100 percent due to illness. Seidenberg is looking like the player in Carolina who helped beat the B s two years ago. And we re seeing what a healthy Ference might have meant to the B s the last two years. The major question mark right now is Kaberle. Not only is he not doing anything for the anemic power play, he has been increasingly jittery in his own zone. EDGE: Flyers GOALTENDING FLYERS Brian Boucher Sergei Bobrovsky Johan Backlund Michael Leighton BRUINS Tim Thomas Tuukka Rask THE SKINNY: Thomas should win the Vezina and, after a shaky start in the playoffs, he is a major reason why the B s advanced to the second round. He can be the best goalie on the planet at times and, at others, he s got his trademark competitiveness that can help him find his groove when things aren t going well. That s what happened late in Game 3 of the Montreal series and he was pretty much terrific the rest of the way. Goaltending is clearly the weak link of the Flyers. Coach Peter Laviolette was forced to change goalies in the Buffalo series like he changes lines. Boucher, Leighton and Bobrovsky all took turns putting the Flyers in holes and all found themselves yanked at one point or another. EDGE: Bruins COACHING FLYERS Peter Laviolette BRUINS Claude Julien THE SKINNY: Laviolette s resume doesn t lie. He turned an OK Carolina team into a Stanley Cup champion, took the Flyers to the Finals last year and was instrumental in leading Philly to its historic comeback against the B s. The type of goaltending the Flyers got in the first round should have doomed them, but he was able to get them through.

10 Julien, it has been stated many times, has not been out of the second round in his coaching career. But he s coming off one of his best series since taking over the B s bench. His team never panicked, even after losing the first two games at home, and that s an extension of the coach. He also deserves plenty of credit for his series-changing timeout in Game 4. EDGE: Flyers SPECIAL TEAMS This was not an area of strength for either team in the first round. For the Bruins, they were pretty abysmal. Not only did they go 0-for-21 on the power play, they allowed a key shorthanded goal in Game 7. Also, the penalty kill was not as strong as it was at the end of the season as the B s allowed six Montreal power-play goals in 27 tries, though two of those tallies were on 5-on-3s. The Flyers power play wasn t great, but they weren t shut out, either, as they went 5-for-35 against the Sabres. Their PK was so-so, as they allowed seven goals on 31 opportunities. EDGE: Flyers INTANGIBLES PAYBACK The Bruins would love to erase the memory of last year s collapse. HANDLING PRESSURE The Bruins certainly showed some improvement in that department, but few teams do it better than the Flyers. NEW BLOOD Nathan Horton, Rich Peverley, Chris Kelly, Gregory Campbell, Tomas Kaberle, Brad Marchand and Dennis Seidenberg did not play against the Flyers in last year s playoffs and, thus, don t have any mental baggage from that debacle. EDGE: Bruins THE PICK Flyers in seven PLAYOFF HISTORY Flyers 4, Bruins 2 (Stanley Cup Finals) Flyers 4, Bruins 1 (Stanley Cup semifinals) Bruins 4, Flyers 0 (Stanley Cup semifinals) Bruins 4, Flyers 1 (Stanley Cup semifinals) Flyers 4, Bruins 3 (Eastern Conference semifinals) REGULAR SEASON SERIES Dec. 1, 2010, Wells Fargo Center - Bruins 3, Flyers 0 Dec. 11, 2010, TD Garden - Flyers 2, Bruins 1 (OT) Jan. 13, 2011, TD Garden - Bruins 7, Flyers 5 March 27, 2011, Wells Fargo Center - Bruins 2, Flyers 1 TEAM PLAYOFF STATS BOS PHI HOME RECORD ROAD RECORD GOALS PER GAME FOR GOALS PER GAME AGAINST POWER PLAY PENALTY KILL BLOCKED SHOTS HITS GIVEAWAYS TAKEAWAYS FACEOFFS PIM per GAME MAJOR PENALTIES 3 2 MINOR PENALTIES PLUS/MINUS 6 6 Boston Herald LOADED:

11 Boston Bruins Much owed to Claude By Stephen Harris Had the Bruins not eked out their first-round victory over the Montreal Canadiens, you can bet the Dump Claude Julien frenzy would be churning along at top speed. The papers and airwaves would be filled with speculation of the coach s imminent dismissal. All that talk has gone quiet for the time being, as the Bruins head to Philadelphia for today s Round 2 series opener against the Flyers. But if the B s drop a couple of games certainly if they don t win the series you can bet that many fans and media sorts will again be clamoring for a change behind the bench. To which we say: nonsense. With the likely exception of the Nashville Predators, the Bruins probably have the least pure talent of any of the remaining playoff teams. Yet they are, as former Bruin Aaron Ward used to say, a sum-of-the-parts team one that s better than its individual players, because of the way it plays the game. What that means for the Bruins is playing Julien s very precise and demanding system, built first on team defense but defense that leads to offense. One general manager who spoke recently about Julien said he is annually one of the five best coaches in the NHL. Bruins president Cam Neely has been perceived at times as being a Julien critic. Yet, the Hall of Famer acknowledges that when the team plays the game the way the coach wants, it s usually successful. It s just a matter of guys understanding right from the drop of the puck (that) this is how we have to play to be successful, Neely said between Games 4 and 5 of the Montreal series. If we do that, we ll get the results we want more often than not. The inescapable conclusion: Not only is Julien not a problem for this team, he and his coaching approach are critical reasons a team with rather so-so talent can enter this series with legitimate hopes of going through to the next round. I don t think we need to change a lot of things, Julien said yesterday of his game plan for Philly, a team against which the B s were this season. Obviously, they re a little bit of a bigger team. They do have some skill up front. But Montreal had some skill up front. Everybody is questioning their goaltending, but their goaltending always seems to get the job done. We match up well against them. We ve got to go in there with some confidence and determination. The playoffs are a different situation than the regular season, but again, we don t feel we have to change a ton of things. We ve seen 16 Bruins coaches come and go, and with virtually every one that was fired, it was time for a change. (The lone exception: When Harry Sinden somehow got enamored with Brian Sutter and unfairly fired Rick Bowness to hire him.) NHL coaches have a shelf life; they don t last forever. Eventually, players stop listening. But how does anyone argue that Julien has lost his touch with the Bruins? The team continues to buy into his system, recognizing that when it plays the proper way, it s very hard to beat. Julien can t shoot the puck into the net for his players, but he can draw up a forecheck that leads to lots of chances. Our systems are drilled home, said Bruins forward Gregory Campbell. We constantly practice the message they re trying to get across. Yet Campbell said players do not feel stifled by the constraints of disciplined system play. No, not at all, he said. I think there s a really good balance on this team of being held accountable, but also being allowed to play your game. You need that. You have to be able to play your game and you have to be able to relax but you also have to be held accountable. I actually don t think, just because our team is so good defensively, that that s the message that s stressed. I don t think the system stifles any offense that s just the way you have to play in this league. The way we play is what we re built for, and that s when we re at our best when we re limiting chances and not playing wide-open, end-to-end hockey. I can speak from experience of playing against this team: It s always been a hard team to play against. This is a team that s been a game away from going to the conference final two years in a row, and now we have another crack at it. We re moving into the second round now, and I think we have as good a chance as anyone. The expectations are high within the team and in this community. I feel that we re as well prepared as we can possibly be going into every game and every round. Then it s up to us to perform the way we can. Boston Herald LOADED:

12 Boston Bruins Adam McQuaid makes presence felt By Steve Conroy This time last year, Adam McQuaid was still a wide-eyed innocent. He had a grand total of 19 NHL regular season games and six playoff games under his belt. He wasn t thinking about producing goals as much as making sure none were scored in his own net. But while the 24-year-old Prince Edward Island native may never be the next Paul Coffey, he has shown surprising offensive instincts in his first full NHL season. And in the Montreal series, he just might have had the most unsung play of the series. On Nathan Horton s game-winning goal in Game 7, he left his post at the right point to battle for a puck in the corner. He kept it down low once and then used his reach to swipe it off P.K. Subban s stick. It popped up in the air and Milan Lucic gloved it down, skated out top and delivered a pass to Horton for the game-winner. It wasn t a pretty play by McQuaid, just a critical one that helped save the season. Much has been made about the Flyers goaltending situation they played three netminders in Round 1 but Julien said the approach won t change. They want to get traffic in front and pucks to the net. Maybe they have a different situation than Montreal going on right now, but they still won their series and found a way to get through it, and it seems whether they changed goaltenders or not they always seem to find someone who can come in and do the job, said Julien. But our approach is not going to change as far as throwing pucks at the net. We tried to do that last round and we are going to try and do that a lot more in this round as well. Boston Herald LOADED: I was kind of reading that they were going to push the puck around and I thought I could get there and reverse the puck or at least contest to keep it in, said McQuaid. I saw that I had Horty backing me up there. I went down and tried to battle to keep it in. The puck took a nice bounce to Looch, he was able to put it down and make a nice play. It was a calculated risk, but it didn t matter to McQuaid whether it was a regular-season game in December or Game 7. I was just trying to focus and play it like any other shift. Obviously you have to be careful all the time that you don t give up odd man rushes. I felt like I could get there, said McQuaid. Looking back, if it had gotten by me, I wouldn t have been too happy, but things worked out for me. Coach Claude Julien enjoyed watching McQuaid s game grow this year. Throughout the season, you ve seen him get better and better and we encourage our (defensemen) to jump in there when they can, said Julien. I talked to our players about playing to win the game and we can t be on our heels, and that s kind of what he did. He anticipated something that he thought he could do. At the same time I think our (defensemen) have felt very confident that our forwards are covering them up. That s kind of what happened on that play. He went in and obviously we had Looch behind and we had Horts behind as well. And that kind of gave him that opportunity. It s nice to see that kind of guy grow and get more confident and get better, and that s what he s done. Power up The Bruins did some work on the power play that went 0-for-21 against Montreal. On the first unit, Tomas Kaberle and Johnny Boychuk were on the back end with David Krejci, Lucic and Horton. Michael Ryder subbed for Horton. The second unit had Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg on the blue line with Patrice Bergeron, Mark Recchi and Rich Peverley up front, with Brad Marchand taking a few of Peverley s shifts. (The Flyers) kill a little differently, obviously a little more aggressively and with the intent of hopefully scoring shorthanded goals (13 in the regular season), said Julien. So we re going to have to be aware of that, but again we re confident that we re going to get our power play going and we need to find solutions. We need our guys to step it up and we all need to be part of the solution. And that s what we re trying to do here right now. I think it s going to be important for our hockey club here moving forward that that area of our game does get better. Same goal