SPORT-SCAN Boston Bruins 680345 Penguins coach: 'We've got one game to win' 680346 Kaspars Daugavins to play tonight 680347 Game 4 preview: Penguins at Bruins 680348 TRUE GRIT: BOSTON ATHLETES PLAYING THROUGH PAIN 680349 Odds stacked in Bruins' favor 680350 Defense carries Bruins to Stanley Cup Final 680351 Bruins Stanley Cup ticket details 680352 McQuaid's goal sends Bruins to Stanley Cup finals 680353 Bruins advance to Stanley Cup Final 680354 Daugavins replaces injured Campbell for Bruins 680355 Kaspars Daugavins gets the nod 680356 Penguins, Bruins acknowledge how grueling extra periods can be in playoffs 680357 Game 4, pregame: Daugavins in for Campbell 680358 Beyond wildest dreams 680359 Neely s grin bears it 680360 Marchand dishes out game-winner 680361 Closing failures get bad rap 680362 Bruins sweep into Stanley Cup finals Buffalo Sabres 680363 Buffalo's Bailey, Blujus invited to USA Hockey's world junior camp 680364 Road to the NHL Draft: Max Domi Chicago Blackhawks 680365 Quenneville's line changes -- it was Two-Fer Thursday 680366 Hawks happy to have Keith back Saturday 680367 Bruins won't give an inch 680368 Game 4 victory uplifting for Keith 680369 Hawks know power of desperation mode 680370 Predicting NHL playoffs perilous 680371 Rozsival fits the bill 680372 Blackhawks and their fans deny Kings the comforts of home 680373 Michal Rozsival helps keep clamp on Kings 680374 Even on cusp of series win, Blackhawks can reach another level 680375 Spellman s Scorecard: A whole lot of hard Hawks hockey 680376 Hawks need to come out with killer mentality in Game 5 680377 Hawks don t want to go back to L.A. 680378 Kings coach Sutter not exactly a worry-wart 680379 No one happier than Keith about Game 4 win 680380 Hawks thriving thanks in large part to Bickell, Crawford 680381 Aggressive Kane finally gets his goal 680382 Hossa's late goal gives Hawks Game 4 win 680383 From "Buff" to "Bicks" 680384 Blackhawks benefiting from Rozsival's veteran leadership 680385 With scripts flipped, Hawks know series isn't over Dallas Stars 680386 Coaching search: Is Alain Vigneault the man you want behind the Stars bench? 680387 Stars acquire Sergei Gonchar from Ottawa for 6th-round draft pick 680388 Report: Sergei Gonchar 'likely' to agree to two-year deal with Dallas Stars 680389 Sean Avery responds to Dallas Stars' Twitter taunt with haymaker: Thanks for the $16 million NHL 6/8/2013 DAILY BRIEF Detroit Red Wings 680390 Detroit Red Wings' Niklas Kronwall named grand marshal for NASCAR race at MIS 680391 Detroit Red Wings defenseman Ian White on his way out 680392 Season continues for a few Red Wings 680393 Howe family, ex-managers face off in court over handling of hockey great's finances 680394 Detroit Red Wing Niklas Kronwall named grand marshal, Olympic gold medal swimmer Tyler Clary honorary starter 680395 Red Wings' prospects gaining valuable experience during Grand Rapids Griffins' run to Calder Cup finals 680396 Blackhawks snap LA Kings home winning streak Los Angeles Kings 680397 Win or done, Los Angeles Kings must break road pattern 680398 Los Angeles Kings need weary Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown 680399 Kings' middle management needs improvement in Game 5 680400 It's now or never for defending champion Kings 680401 JILL PAINTER: Road to Stanley Cup rough one for Kings 680402 No supplemental discipline for Penner 680403 Waking up with the Kings: June 7 680404 June 7 quotes: Brown, Williams, Regehr, Stoll 680405 Sutter on Richards: still really doubtful at best 680406 Kings history when trailing 3-1 Montreal Canadiens 680407 Towel-quality guidelines and other highlights from the new NHL CBA 680408 Molson proud of Habs progress this season 680409 1993 Stanley Cup flashback: 10th straight OT win for Habs in Game 4 680410 Sunday marks 20th anniversary of Habs last Cup win New York Rangers 680411 Pittsburgh s loss may be Rangers gain 680412 Guest blogger: Jared Sexton of RangersUnlimited.com looking ahead to free agency NHL 680413 As Bruins Reach Finals, Empty Feeling for Penguins 680414 The Blackhawks Bickell Outperforms Star Teammates 680415 Bruins Likely to Replace Campbell with Daugavins Ottawa Senators 680416 Bye, bye, Gonchar: Senators trade defenceman s rights to Dallas Stars 680417 Ottawa Senators trade rights to defenceman Sergei Gonchar to Dallas Stars Philadelphia Flyers 680418 2013 Flyers offseason: Internal options for filling out the forward lines 680419 Who would make your Flyers Mount Rushmore?
Pittsburgh Penguins 680420 Kovacevic: For Penguins, a stubborn failure 680421 Bruins display closing touch in NHL s Eastern Conference finals 680422 Crosby, Malkin silenced again in season-ending loss 680423 Penguins notebook: Crosby hit hard by Paille 680424 Bruins notebook: Daugavins gets his shot in lineup 680425 Pieces fail to come together for Penguins in season-ending loss 680426 Pens, Flyers discussing game at Penn State's Beaver Stadium 680427 Penguins stars at a loss for words 680428 Penguins outdoor game at Penn State looms against Flyers 680429 Penguins meltdown mystifying 680430 Rask, Bruins shut out Penguins, 1-0 San Jose Sharks 680431 Sharks checklist, No. 6: Explore market for Thornton, Boyle St Louis Blues 680432 Hockey Guy: Happy ending for McDonald Tampa Bay Lightning 680433 Bolts hope AHL success pays off 680434 Lightning AHL team in Calder Cup final Toronto Maple Leafs 680435 Maple Leafs should trade Phil Kessel: Feschuk Vancouver Canucks 680436 Canuck GM Mike Gillis talks about coach search Washington Capitals 680437 Agent: No progress at all between Matt Hendricks and Capitals Websites 680444 ESPN /Friday, June 7, 2013 680445 ESPN / Hawks' speed, depth dooming Kings 680446 NBCSports.com / Bylsma: I feel real comfortable about our power play 680447 NBCSports.com / Bruins confirm Daugavins in for Campbell; Kelly likely to center Merlot Line 680448 NBCSports.com / Habs owner: GM Bergevin lives hockey, and our success starts with him 680449 USA TODAY /Bruins, Rask sweep Penguins 680450 USA TODAY / Stars acquire Sergei Gonchar's rights 680451 USA TODAY /Penguins-Bruins Game 4 preview: Daugavins in 680452 YAHOO SPORTS /Bruins in championship form, shut down star-studded Penguins for return to Stanley Cup final 680453 YAHOO SPORTS / Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby humbled by Bruins, playoffs in East final Winnipeg Jets 680438 Winnipeg prospects to skate at Classic 680439 Kane unloads great Twitter rant 680440 Winnipeg Jets have started talks with Zach Bogosian's camp 680441 Winnipeg Jets winger Evander Kane talking a good game on Twitter 680442 Hainsey unlikely to stay with Jets 680443 Closing the champion chasm SPORT-SCAN, INC. 941-284-4129
680345 Boston Bruins Penguins coach: 'We've got one game to win' Posted by Matt Pepin, Boston.com Staff June 7, 2013 01:43 PM I'm pretty sure Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin played 38 minutes in the last game. We've done that at times, definitely last game. When we had the opportunity here on the road to have a matchup, icing, situation we could get, a different combination, a double shift, we took that opportunity. You know, we were in a game last game where we felt we were desperate to win. We'll find ourselves in that game and situation tonight, as well. Boston Globe LOADED: 06.08.2013 Here's what Penguins coach Dan Bylsma had to say Friday morning about Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, which the Bruins lead, 3-0. When chances are thin and odds are grim like this, players are saying, We believe we can get back into this, when so few teams have done it. How do you get them to believe? Well, there's lots of different ways I think you can look at what the possibilities are. I think you look at it when you have to beat Boston Bruins four times in a row, in four elimination games to move on, that's not something you really want to put your brain around. We beat the Boston Bruins three times in games this year. We've got them one game here tonight. It's elimination for our team, and we'll move on when we do. I know the facts we're in a bracket right now, we've got one game to win to move on in that bracket. It's right here tonight. A lot of guys in the locker room said they wouldn't mind winning the Game 1-0. Do you feel this team could get on another one of those runs if they find the puck at the net when all those chances are paydirt? I'd love to put our players and our power play and have the puck on James Neal's stick in the slot, three times with the puck on his stick like he was last game. Malkin on a breakaway. More than two other opportunities. We'd like to see those opportunities again for our guys tonight. I feel real comfortable about our power play and our guys cashing in on those. Is that something we're going to build on? Absolutely. You mentioned [Thursday] that you liked the early results of Bennett, Sutter and Iginla together in Game 3. What was it about that combination that you liked? What were you hoping bringing Bennett back into the lineup would add to this group? Offensive skill guy. Play-making ability. He did both of those things in the game. Power play, driving the net. Two good chances out from the wing, one from Crosby, one where he pulled by the defenseman in overtime. He got opportunities there, used his skill, did that with his line for Jarome and Brenden. He added that. We're looking for one goal. He was all around it in the last game. I know you like to think the game a lot. Were things going around in your head last night or did you get a little bit of rest before today and clear your head? Before the start of the series, you kind of have a rest the night before. In series, game to game, I think you're always thinking, preparing mentally opportunities that are going to present themselves in the game for your team. Did a fair amount of that last night. A lot of guys keep saying, if not for a bounce here or there, stay the course, things will work out. Being down 0-3, the clock is ticking. Do you believe just stay the course or have you thought about some changes in lines or something else? We made adjustments last game to our game. In both instances you talked about, we'll make adjustments in how we play in different areas for this game as well. Especially last game, how we need to continue to do some of the things we have done, to get those opportunities, to get it to go our way. You know, every game I think you could talk about a bounce or some instance in the game. I don't think we feel like we've lost it on a bounce or a post going the wrong way. Would have meant the difference in the game for Craig Adams if his post had gone in. We feel we can play better. We can continue to play better. We can make adjustments. But we also need to make good on our opportunities that we have had. Dan, you have so many forwards and so much skill at your disposal. You talk about staying the course. When you get to an elimination game, is there a tendency or desire at some point to ride those guys over and over, to kind of say at some point, We're not going to roll our lines, we're going to double shift guys, do whatever we can to get to a Game 5? Where is that tipping point?
680346 Boston Bruins Kaspars Daugavins to play tonight Posted by Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff June 7, 2013 11:50 AM Kaspars Daugavins will play tonight in place of injured center Gregory Campbell. Daugavins has been a healthy scratch since Game 1 against Toronto. During the morning skate, Daugavins practiced on the left wing alongside Rich Peverley and Tyler Seguin. Chris Kelly centered Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton. Claude Julien said he has options to mix and match his bottom two lines. Tonight's expected lineup: Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Jaromir Jagr Kaspars Daugavins-Rich Peverley-Tyler Seguin Daniel Paille-Chris Kelly-Shawn Thornton Zdeno Chara-Dennis Seidenberg Andrew Ference-Johnny Boychuk Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid Tuukka Rask Anton Khudobin Boston Globe LOADED: 06.08.2013
680347 Boston Bruins Boston Globe LOADED: 06.08.2013 Game 4 preview: Penguins at Bruins Posted by Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff June 7, 2013 10:06 AM Good morning from TD Garden, where the Bruins will look to sweep the Penguins out of the playoffs tonight. The Bruins have a 3-0 series lead. Game 5 would be at the Consol Energy Center on Sunday. The Bruins have no intentions of making a return trip to Pittsburgh. The Bruins will be without Gregory Campbell (broken right leg) for the rest of the playoffs. They will have to replace Campbell s toughness, evenstrength efficiency, faceoff experience, and penalty-killing prowess. The Bruins have options, but the guess here is that Kaspars Daugavins will get the first nod. Rich Peverley could move down to center the fourth line. Daniel Paille could be promoted to the third line. No lineup changes are expected for Pittsburgh. The Penguins did everything possible to win Game 3, but were foiled repeatedly by Tuukka Rask. Puck drop: 8 p.m. TV/radio info: NBC Sports Network (Mike Emrick, Ed Olczyk, Pierre McGuire), 98.5 The Sports Hub (Dave Goucher, Bob Beers) Records: Penguins 0-3, Bruins 3-0 Projected Penguins lineup: Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby-Pascal Dupuis Matt Cooke-Evgeni Malkin-James Neal Brenden Morrow-Brandon Sutter-Jarome Iginla Beau Bennett-Joe Vitale-Craig Adams Brooks Orpik-Paul Martin Matt Niskanen-Kris Letang Douglas Murray-Deryk Engelland Tomas Vokoun Marc-Andre Fleury Healthy scratches: Mark Eaton, Tyler Kennedy, Jussi Jokinen, Dustin Jeffrey, Robert Bortuzzo, Simon Despres Projected Bruins lineup: Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Jaromir Jagr Daniel Paille-Chris Kelly-Tyler Seguin Kaspars Daugavins-Rich Peverley-Shawn Thornton Zdeno Chara-Dennis Seidenberg Andrew Ference-Johnny Boychuk Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid Tuukka Rask Anton Khudobin Healthy scratches: Matt Bartkowski, Dougie Hamilton, Aaron Johnson, Carl Soderberg, Jay Pandolfo Storylines: Tomas Vokoun was excellent in Game 3. Vokoun will get the start tonight over Marc-Andre Fleury There are questions in Pittsburgh about Dan Bylsma s future if the Penguins bow out. Bylsma would be hired in a second if the Penguins let him go The Bruins are perfect on the penalty kill. They went 6 for 6 against the Penguins in Game 3 Eric Furlatt and Stephen Walkom will be the referees. Shane Heyer and Brad Kovachik will be the linesmen.
680348 Boston Bruins TRUE GRIT: BOSTON ATHLETES PLAYING THROUGH PAIN By Jim Davis/Globe Staff Someday, today s young Bruins fans will be telling their kids about the amazing 2013 playoffs. They will talk about how Bruins fans first collectively rallied a city blown apart by evil on a Wednesday night in April by taking over National Anthem duties from Rene Rancourt. They will say that was the start of something special. They will talk about a Game 7 comeback against Toronto after Boston was trailing 4-1 when the team scored three, no 10, no 34 goals in the third period to force overtime before beating the Maple Leafs. They will talk about Game 3 against the Penguins Eastern Conference Finals. How it was a glorious 2-1 double-overtime, gut-wrenching, heartstopping, bladder crushing playoff victory over Sidney Crosby and his teammates. But mostly, they will tell their children about how a guy named Gregory Campbell played almost a minute of hockey during a critical power-play with a broken leg. Yes, kids, a broken leg. Meanwhile, Jacoby Ellsbury was still out that night after missing five games nursing a sore groin. Even in the present, history looms large in this series. When Jaromir Jagr broke into the NHL, Sidney Crosby was a three-year-old baby boy. Turns out he still is. In the context of Campbell s performance Wednesday, we decided share some of the memorable moments of Campbell-like in-game true grit in the annals of Boston sports. Boston Globe LOADED: 06.08.2013
680349 Boston Bruins Odds stacked in Bruins' favor Posted by Matt Pepin, Boston.com Staff June 7, 2013 07:08 AM The Garden was rocking in the wee hours of Thursday morning when Patrice Bergeron redirected a Brad Marchand feed past Tomas Vokoun for a double-overtime game-winner that gave the Bruins a commanding threegames-to-none lead over the Eastern Conference top seeded Penguins. But having been on both ends of 3-0 postseason collapses in the last decade with the Red Sox (good) and Bruins (not so good), Bostonians are wise enough to know that though the chances are remote, the Penguins are still alive in the series. But other factors make it a virtually insurmountable obstacle for Sidney Crosby & Co. to overcome. Yes, Pittsburgh entered this series riding a six-game winning streak headto-head with Boston, winning eight of the last nine battles of the black and gold, but the trend has been dramatically reversed and Claude Julien s boys have not lost four straight games since mid-march 2012, with just two winless streaks of four games or more in the past three combined regular and postseasons. A look at NHL history shows that teams taking a 3-0 lead in a seven-game series have gone 109-65 in Game 4, a winning percentage of.626 (including a Bruins loss last round to the Rangers in the Eastern Conference semifinals Game 4, before closing out New York in Game 5). Those same teams have won the series 170 out of 173 times, a confidencebuilding winning percentage of.983. Expand the study to include MLB and NBA teams and the numbers get even more staggering in favor of the Bruins' current standing. In 1,212 completed best-of-seven-game postseason series, only four have seen the team leading three-games-to-none fail to advance (a.997 winning clip) according to data found at whowins.com. But Boston has been part of, and on each end of, half of them: the 2004 Red Sox climbing back from the brink against the Yankees in the ALCS and the Bruins, who in 2010 acquiesced to the Flyers after jumping to a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. (the others were the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs over the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals and the 1975 New York Islanders, coincidentally over the Penguins, in the league quarterfinals). Seven other times the team trailing 0-3 made things very uncomfortable by forcing a deciding Game 7, most recently in the 2011 Western Conference semifinals when the Blackhawks nearly pulled off the miracle comeback against the Vancouver Canucks (the team the Bruins eventually defeated for the Stanley Cup). The key total in all of this for this series is eight. That s the number of Bruins (Bergeron, Johnny Boychuk, Zdeno Chara, Andrew Ference, Milan Lucic, Daniel Paille, Tuukka Rask and Shawn Thornton) who participated both in Game 7 of the 10 Flyers debacle and the thrilling Game 3 win that began Wednesday night and ended Thursday morning. That group not only knows the awful sting of a collapse, but based on the strength of their experience hoisting the Cup in 2011, are not a group likely to be associated with two historically significant chokes. So go ahead and check out those rates for Chicago and Los Angeles hotels and flights. While there s no guarantee that the Pens won t steal one, two, or (clutch your chest) even three games this series, lightning would have to strike a very talented and championship-tested group TWICE for the Bruins not to advance to the 2013 Finals. You should like their odds. Boston Globe LOADED: 06.08.2013
680350 Boston Bruins Defense carries Bruins to Stanley Cup Final "It's very exciting," Chara said. "We all know it's not happening every year. For teams to go into the finals whatever two, three, five years it takes a lot of hard work. I think we are happy where we are right now. But in a few days we gotta get ready for the final round." Boston Globe LOADED: 06.08.2013 Posted by Zuri Berry, Boston.com Staff June 7, 2013 11:56 PM A rigid defense, a crafty goalie, and offense from the blue line won out again and again and again for the Bruins. On Friday, with another near flawless performance, the Bruins edged the Penguins, 1-0, sweeping the once heavy favorites in their Eastern Conference Finals series. The Bruins will face the Blackhawks or Kings in the Stanley Cup Final. It was the Bruins' 14th sweep in the franchise's history and the team's first conference final sweep since ushering Washington out of the playoffs in 1990. The shutout was Tuukka Rask's second of the series and his career in the playoffs. He had 26 saves. Adam McQuaid, continuing with the team's streak of offensive minded defensemen, fired a one-timer top shelf in the left corner past Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun for the game-winner, only 5:01 into the third period. Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron assisted on the goal, which was one of only a few clean looks for the Bruins. "It feels good to be able to contribute that way when you don't normally," said McQuaid. "But I think you look at so many great efforts we had from guys tonight. The last 10 minutes of the game, guys were all over the ice, doing whatever it took to preserve that goal." Bruins defensemen have 35 of the team's 138 points in the postseason, including 15 of 50 goals. "Yeah, that's what you need," said Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, who logged 25:58 ice time. "Contributions from different guys, it's not always gonna be the same guys. Even we got a lot of offense from guys we rely on. But even in some key situations of different games we got contributions from guys that maybe are not well known for their offense. " Which team do you want to see the Bruins face in the Stanley Cup finals? The series sweep was marked by the Bruins' tough defense, holding the Penguins to only two goals in four games. While the Penguins seemed intent on creating one-on-one chances, the Bruins' system of defense squelched many of their chances. "We didn't expect to hold them to two goals in four games," said Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk. "I mean they hit a couple of posts, we got a couple of good bounces. Both teams worked hard. It was just a good team effort." Said Chara: "We were really trying to play the way they came and not focus on what they were trying to do. We were trying to really play tight defensively, five guys on the ice, not to really open up too much or give them too much room." Vokoun, who had 23 saves for the Penguins, and fought off clean shots from the Bruins' Milan Lucic and Torey Krug in the second period. But whatever mastery he had mustered in the first two periods gave away to a dangerous third, with McQuaid scoring, followed by Jaromir Jagr and Daniel Paille nailing the post. The Bruins led in shots in the third, even after the Penguins pulled Vokoun with a minute remaining that led to a flurry of shots in the waning seconds in an effort to tie the game. That mad dash had a normally even-keeled Rask worried. "Well, yeah. It's just a scramble, you know," Rask said. "You can't see anything. People are laying down. You just try to [make] yourself as big as you can." Rask now has a.943 save percentage heading into the Stanley Cup Final against either the Chicago Blackhawks or Los Angeles Kings. The Blackhawks are up 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals. "He's playing phenomenal," Boychuk said. "He gives us a chance to win every night. He's Tuukka." The Bruins will make their second Stanley Cup appearance in three years. The won in 2011 against the Vancouver Canucks.
680351 Boston Bruins Bruins Stanley Cup ticket details Posted by Matt Pepin, Boston.com Staff June 7, 2013 11:25 PM The Bruins announced Friday that tickets for three Stanley Cup Final games at TD Garden will go on sale Tuesday at noon. The Bruins await the outcome of the Blackhawks-Kings Western Conference finals. The NHL has not set the schedule for the Stanley Cup Final, although if the Blackhawks win they will have home-ice advantage based on regular-season record. The Bruins would have home ice against the Kings. Tickets will be available for purchase at the TD Garden Box Office, on the Bruins' website, and by phone at 800-745-3000. Boston Globe LOADED: 06.08.2013
680352 Boston Bruins McQuaid's goal sends Bruins to Stanley Cup finals By HOWARD ULMAN / AP Sports Writer / June 7, 2013 BOSTON (AP) The Bruins defense shut down the potent Pittsburgh Penguins throughout the Eastern Conference finals. Then a Boston defenseman scored the goal that sealed the stunning sweep. Adam McQuaid scored early in the third period, Tuukka Rask posted his second shutout of the series, and the Bruins reached the Stanley Cup finals with a 1-0 win on Friday night. The Bruins dominated the series and held the high-scoring Penguins to just two goals. Pittsburgh never even had the lead in any of its four losses. I think first and foremost, we re obviously trying to be solid defensively, McQuaid said of the defensemen. It obviously feels good. It feels good to be able to contribute that way when you don t normally. You look at so many great efforts we had from guys. The last 10 minutes of the game, guys were all over the ice, doing whatever it took to preserve that goal. Boston will face either the Chicago Blackhawks or Los Angeles Kings when the Bruins shoot for their second Stanley Cup title in three years. Chicago leads the Western Conference series 3-1 and can advance to the finals with a home win on Saturday night. If the Blackhawks get there, it will set up the first finals matchup of Original Six NHL franchises since 1979. The Penguins season ended swiftly and shockingly as the league s highest-scoring team got no points in the series from offensive stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. I don t feel like they totally shut us down, Crosby said. I feel like we got chances, but Rask made some big saves. McQuaid scored at 5:01 of the final period on a 45-foot slap shot from the right over the glove of goalie Tomas Vokoun. That unleashed loud chants of We want the Cup! from the capacity crowd. We were a little sluggish the first two periods, Bruins forward Milan Lucic said, and we said, We have to win a period to win a series.' They did just that. The top-seeded Penguins were trying to overcome both the disciplined defense of the fourth-seeded Bruins and history. Only three teams had lost a series after winning the first three games. The last was the Bruins in the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Penguins felt they were put together to win the Stanley Cup. That s our expectation from Day One, coach Dan Bylsma said. You re going to look at this as a missed opportunity. Pittsburgh was swept for the first time in 47 series. The last team to do it to the Penguins was Boston in 1979. The Penguins also lost the first three games of their opening-round series last year against Philadelphia before being eliminated in six games. Rask was solid again with 26 saves, but didn t have to stop many challenging shots. His last save came with his glove at the final buzzer on Jarome Iginla s shot from 40 feet. He has been the reason why we re here, Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron said of Rask, who stopped 134 of 136 shots in the series. We just played our game the whole time. We put a lot of pressure in their zone. The Penguins had been shut out just twice in their previous 147 games before being blanked twice in the four games against the Bruins. Pittsburgh lost Game 1 at home 3-0. Holding down Crosby and Malkin was the key. He is the best player in the world, Bergeron said of Crosby. We did a good job with that. After the game, a calm Rask felt that shutting out the potent Penguins twice wasn t such an overwhelming feat. Every game starts with zero, he said, so you have a chance. McQuaid scored his second goal of the playoffs after he managed just one in 32 games during the regular season. It s obviously nice when you can get a little offense from your defense, he said. Brad Marchand held the puck along the left boards in the offensive zone and waited for McQuaid to skate up ice. Marchand fed the puck toward the blue line where McQuaid, with no Penguins player close to him, unleashed the winning shot. There was little sustained offense in the first two periods when Pittsburgh outshot Boston 20-17. Boston s Kaspars Daugavins hit a post at 2:56 of the second period during his first appearance in the series. Daugavins replaced injured center Gregory Campbell, who broke his leg in the second period of Boston s 2-1, double-overtime win in Game 3 on Wednesday night. At 10:56 of the second on Friday, Vokoun made a save with his right pad against streaking Tyler Seguin from the left side. The Bruins got this far by beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games in the first round and then taking out the New York Rangers in five to reach the East finals. Boston rallied from a three-goal deficit in the third period of Game 7 against Toronto just to reach the second round. It seems like a lifetime ago, Lucic said. Without that Game 7, to come back and win it, if it wasn t for that we wouldn t be here right now. The Penguins topped the New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators to reach the NHL s final four. NOTES: John Krasinski, star of The Office and a native of nearby Newton was in the stands with his wife, actress Emily Blunt.... William and Patricia Campbell, whose daughter Krystle died in the Boston Marathon bombings, waved the Fan Banner, a traditional part of pregame activities.... Gregory Campbell s father, Colin, was a defenseman on the 1979 Penguins, who were swept by the Bruins. Gregory Campbell gave a wave to the crowd when he was shown on the arena video board. Boston Globe LOADED: 06.08.2013
680353 Boston Bruins Bruins advance to Stanley Cup Final By Matt Pepin, Boston.com Staff The Bruins punched a ticket to the Stanley Cup Final, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday to sweep the series. It will be the Bruins' second Stanley Cup Final appearance in three years. In 2011, the Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games to win their first Stanley Cup in 39 years. The Bruins also won the Stanley Cup in 1929, 1939, 1941, 1970, and 1972. Adam McQuaid scored the only goal in Game 4, a slap shot from just inside the blue line midway through the third period. Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask made 26 saves for the shutout, his second of the series. The Penguins only scored two goals in the series. The Bruins will face the Chicago Blackhawks or the Los Angeles Kings in the finals. The Blackhawks and Kings play Game 5 of their series Saturday in Chicago, with the Blackhawks leading 3-1. According to a report from TSN's Bob McKenzie, if the Blackhawks win Game 5, the Stanley Cup Final will reportedly begin Wednesday in Chicago. If the Kings extend their series, the Stanley Cup finals will begin June 15. The NHL has not released an official schedule for the finals. Boston Globe LOADED: 06.08.2013
680354 Boston Bruins Daugavins replaces injured Campbell for Bruins AP / June 7, 2013 BOSTON (AP) Kaspars Daugavins is replacing injured forward Gregory Campbell for the Boston Bruins on Friday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Campbell, the Bruins fourth-line center, broke his right leg in the second period of Boston s double-overtime win in Game 3 on Wednesday night. He is out for the rest of the playoffs. Daugavins played in just one of Boston s first 15 postseason games this year. Boston claimed Daugavins off waivers from the Ottawa Senators on March 27. He had no goals and one assist in six regular-season games with the Bruins after posting one goal and two assists in 19 games with the Senators. Campbell had three goals and four assists in 15 playoff games. Boston Globe LOADED: 06.08.2013
680355 Boston Bruins Kaspars Daugavins gets the nod Friday, June 7, 2013 -- Steve Conroy In tonight's potential close-out Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Penguins at the Garden, Kaspars Daugavins will be making his return to the Bruins' lineup tonight to make up for the loss of Gregory Campbell, who suffered a broken fibula blocking an Evgeni Malkin shot in Game 3. Daugavins skated as a left wing on a line centered by Rich Peverley with Tyler Seguin on the right wing. Chris Kelly, meanwhile, moved down to take Campbell's spot between Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton on the former Merlot line. He's a gritty player, said coach Claude Julien. He's strong on the puck, strong on his skates, shoots the puck well. We always said we've got depth on this team and we showed it when injuries crept up on defense. Now we've got an injury up front and he's going to have to step in and do his job. Daugavins was happy to get his chance tonight. Playing is always easier than watching,' said Daugavins. Daugavins, picked up on waivers from Ottawa in late March, has played one playoff game for the B's, Game 1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, a 4-1 victory. For sure, it's going to be hard and it helped playing that one game, said Daugavins, who'll most likely take over some of Campbell's penalty killing duties. Toronto played us hard and, even though we won that game by three goals, it wasn't easy. I remember that it was hard and I expect the same thing tonight. Kelly, skating between Thornton and Paille, knows he'll be trying to replace a multi-faceted player in Campbell. Soup does a lot of things for this hockey team, a lot of things that maybe go unnoticed outside this locker room, said Kelly, who nonetheless said he feels comfortable playing with anyone. He's versatile, he kills penalties, he takes faceoffs, he sticks up for his teammates. And obviously he blocks shots, like everyone saw. And he can play all three positions. I don't think one guy is going to go out there and fill Soup's shoes. It's going to take everyone to pick up their game. Though the B's may start the game with those line combinations the top two combos were unchanged that doesn't mean it will stay that way. Peverley and Kelly could easily switch lines. I do have lots of options, said Julien. I can change things around after I see how things go. That's what I had this morning at the skate, but (the players) know it can change. It's not set in stone. The Penguins, down 0-3, will clearly be a desperate team tonight, but the B's need a little desperation in their game, too. If the Pens can force the series back to Pittsburgh, they'll have two of the last three games at home and we all know miracles or calamities, depending on your perspective can happen. This is about one game and nothing more than one game and what we need to do here, said Julien. We try to minimize all the hoopla around everything and try to keep it to the one game. We didn't play our best game the last game. The played better, we need to be a better team tonight. Boston Herald LOADED: 06.08.2013
680356 Boston Bruins Penguins, Bruins acknowledge how grueling extra periods can be in playoffs Friday, June 7, 2013 Author(s): Shelly Anderson About 12 hours after playing the equivalent of an emotional 1 1/2 games over the course of four hours, the Penguins and Boston Bruins were up and about Thursday. The Bruins reported to TD Garden, though only a couple of regulars practiced. The Penguins milled about in their hotel. The Penguins had to deal with trailing Boston, 3-0, in the Eastern Conference final after dropping Game 3, 2-1, in double overtime Wednesday. "These games are really tough to lose," Penguins goaltender Tomas Vokoun said. Both teams were dealing with the physical fallout. "It was a crazy game," Boston defenseman Torey Krug said. "We were lucky enough to get the win and send the fans home happy, but it definitely was pretty taxing." Following the game, which ended after midnight, some players' faces were red, others ashen, and they bore the look of fatigue, even though they had managed the rigors of the long game as best they could. "The staff's been helping," Penguins winger Pascal Dupuis said, explaining that team conditioning coach Mike Kadar "was making [protein] shakes and bringing food through the overtimes and letting us know what to put in our bodies to get ready for the next game." That included a lot of liquid. "You just try to get fluids in you and stay hydrated when it goes that late," Penguins center Brandon Sutter said. "A big part of it, too, is [the next day], getting that rest and trying to follow the same regimen, rehydrate and refresh yourself." Krug said even during the game, players were trying to find what worked for them to keep them going. In the playoffs, a tie at the end of regulation means full intermissions and full periods until someone scores. Center Patrice Bergeron ended it by scoring for Boston at 15:19 of the second overtime. "Some guys do things differently than others," Krug said. "Some guys are drinking special drinks." Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara played 42 minutes, 5 seconds. Penguins defenseman Kris Letang logged 40:50. Five others topped 35 minutes. And most of those players already have more ice time than many of their teammates under usual circumstances. "That's something I think both teams are going to have to deal with in Game 4, is guys having played a lot of minutes in the last couple of hockey games," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. Game 4 is tonight at TD Garden, with the Penguins facing elimination. "The playoffs are a grueling time, and you prepare for that," Penguins winger Matt Cooke said. "You gear up for that through the regular season. "There may be some fatigue, but you have two days to gear up to go again. I think our guys do a great job of being in shape and being ready to go." Toward that end, players from both teams were still in recovery mode Thursday. "The physical toll, it was hard on everybody's body to play five periods, but you've got to do the right thing the day after and hydrate and take care of your body because [tonight] is going to be a battle again," Boston defenseman Johnny Boychuk said. Despite the fatigue, sleep didn't come quickly for everyone. "It's tough to sleep after that," Krug said. "I'm sure there are guys that had a really hard time going to sleep." Krug was one of them. "Yeah, at first, and then I kind of dropped down from the high and I was exhausted," he said. Bruins coach Claude Julien said his club fought through the long game and the aftermath as well as possible. "You do the best you can as far as psychologically," Julien said, but he seemed even more concerned about the physical cost. "I mean, there's two teams that have to feel the same way," he said. "When you look at Pittsburgh, they worked just as hard as we did [Wednesday] night and maybe even harder. But it's one of those things that [illustrates that] this is a tough sport, and when you look at a game like [Wednesday] night, you really learn to appreciate the athletes. "We finished [Thursday technically], and to come back right the next day and be ready and willing to do it all over again [tonight] is pretty impressive. I think hockey players deserve a lot of credit for their conditioning, their commitment and everything else that goes with it." Some players didn't feel the effects of double overtime so much. Such as Boston fourth-line winger Shawn Thornton, who played 3 minutes, 56 seconds in the 95-plus minute game. "You're asking the wrong guy," Thornton said of the rigors of the game. "I'm fresh as a daisy." For much more on the Penguins, read the Pens Plus blog with Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson Boston Herald LOADED: 06.08.2013
680357 Boston Bruins Game 4, pregame: Daugavins in for Campbell Friday, June 7, 2013 -- Mark Daniels It s official, Kaspars Daugavins is in for the injured Gregory Campbell. During the team s pregame skate, Daugavins was inserted into the third line next to Rich Peverley and Tyler Seguin. Center Chris Kelly was moved down to the fourth line with Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton. The lines were the same during the B s pregame warmups. Defensive pairings look to be the same as they've been all series. Daugavins played in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against Toronto, replacing Peverley. He totaled 9:52 of ice time and took two shots on net. The Bruins won that game 4-1 and hope to see similar results during tonight s potential close-out Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals against Pittsburgh. The 25-year-old also has experience in the penalty kill, an area where Campbell excelled. When Campbell got injured during Game 3, Claude Julien inserted David Krejci into his penalty kill. Tonight s Fan Banner Captains are William and Patricia Campbell of Medford. Their daughter, Krystle, was one of the victims at the Marathon bombings. Boston Herald LOADED: 06.08.2013
680358 Boston Bruins Beyond wildest dreams Sweep surprise as B s dismantle Pens Saturday, June 8, 2013 By:Steve Conroy Enough people gave the Bruins a chance to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals. If they had gutted out a seven-game series win, it certainly would have been a notable upset, but not a shocker. No one, however, expected things to happen like this. Coming on the heels of their double-overtime victory on Wednesday, the Bruins swept the Penguins in a 1-0 defensive classic in Game 4 at the Garden last night to punch a ticket to their second Stanley Cup finals in three years. Tuukka Rask recorded his second shutout over the once-believed-to-bemighty Pens with 26 saves, including the final blast as time ran out. It came, fittingly, off the future Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla, who spurned the Bruins overtures to obtain him in a trade and instead opted for the Penguins as his preferred vessel to the hockey Holy Grail. Iginla wound up with a goose egg in the series, but he had plenty of company among his elite friends. For a team that averaged 4.27 goals a game in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Bruins-induced power outage was incredible. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal and Kris Letang all joined Iginla in failing to produce a single point against a suffocating team defense that was led by Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg and Patrice Bergeron. But it was not exclusive to those big names. The Pens came into the series with star power. The Bruins won the series with staying power. We may not have the biggest stars in the world. We may not have the best players in the world, said David Krejci, the hero of Game 1. But we may have the best team in the world. That cannot be proven until they face off against either the Chicago Blackhawks or the Los Angeles Kings, who battle tonight in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals with Chicago up 3-1. But the victories last night both the game and the series were ones the B s could deservedly bask in for at least a night. We were committed to do the little things, and really buy into our structure, what we want to do defensively, said Chara, who frustrated the Pens stars for four games. Let s not kid ourselves: They have the best offense in the world, and they are an unbelievable team. They probably deserved better, but we were just playing under our game plan, and exposing what we do well, and trying to limit what they re trying to do. It was fitting that in this team-above-all victory, it was a B s third-pair defenseman, Adam McQuaid, who was the hero of the night. He scored the lone goal of the game at 5:01 of the third period on a terrific blast. Brad Marchand gained the offensive blue line and waited for the trailer that he wanted. He looked off Krejci and then saw the strapping McQuaid barreling down the middle of the ice and connected. McQuaid found a crease in the Penguins shot-blocking defense, and lifted the puck over Iginla s stick and a sprawling Brandon Sutter to beat Tomas Vokoun with a perfect shot high to the glove side. A young man who battled for his life last autumn with blood clot issues, McQuaid is the very essence of the humble Canadian boy. But his humility didn t make him shy away from the big moment. We said in the playoffs it s about everyone, it s about the team, and everyone steps up at one point or another, and tonight it was Quaider, said Bergeron, who took his turn being the hero in Game 3. He s one of those guys that you don t necessarily see that often on the score sheet, but he does his job and the way that he plays goes a long way, especially in the playoffs, and tonight was his turn to score that big goal. From there, it was all about the defense and the goaltending again. And as they had for the whole series, they came through with flying colors. The B s had to kill off 57 seconds of a Penguins power play (0-for-15 in the series), and once Pittsburgh pulled Vokoun, there was a mad scramble at the end until Iginla s shot nestled into Rask s glove as time ran out. It was a perfect ending to a nearly perfect game. Tuukka and all the defensemen deserve a lot of credit for what they did in this series, Milan Lucic said. The two best players in the world (Crosby and Malkin) and you re able to shut them down to zero points is more than an accomplishment. We have full trust and belief in what they do. And it s great what we ve done as a unit so far, but the job is not over yet. Maybe not. But the portion of the job that was finished last night was truly remarkable. Boston Herald LOADED: 06.08.2013
680359 Boston Bruins Neely s grin bears it Beating hated Pens puts smile on Cam s face Saturday, June 8, 2013 By:Steve Conroy, Bruins Notebook Bruins president Cam Neely was walking from the team s dressing room at the Garden last night wearing just the slightest of grins. With all of his history with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he was asked, just how satisfying it was to finally knock them out of the playoffs. I haven t really thought of it, said Neely, breaking into a much wider smile. It was, of course, a joke. He has the kind of history with the Penguins that you don t easily forget. Not only had Neely lost two conference finals to Pittsburgh in 1991 and 92, but he suffered an injury from the knee of Ulf Samuelsson that would lead to the end of his playing career. The team the Bruins smothered in four games may not have been as good as those Mario Lemieux-led Penguins, but a lot of people thought they were close. I went up against them twice in the conference finals and we didn t get as far as this team did. We re one step closer to where we want to be. But when we found out we were playing Pittsburgh, you start thinking about past history. Does this erase any of that history? Well, it just feels really good right now, said Neely, who marveled at the Bruins play in the series. Talk about a team game, from Tuukka (Rask) on out. Our D played really well, our forwards were very smart. We just played a great team game. Iginla: Loss stings Jarome Iginla had his choice of where to go at the trading and, as we all remember, he chose Pittsburgh as his best chance to win a Stanley Cup, nixing a trade to the Bruins. It doesn t make it easier, but I m very fortunate to get the chance to come to Pitt, and you want this opportunity. You want an opportunity to be in the conference finals, and have a chance to win, and we had that chance, said Iginla, who went scoreless in the series. The Bruins, they played very well, they re a very good team. I was fortunate to have that choice, and when you make it you definitely believe in the guys here, and we played some great hockey up until this last series. It also stings not playing well in this last series. These four games, I just didn t play very well, and that s when you want to play your best for the team, and you want to find ways to contribute and be a part of these close games, and help it go the other way. Iginla has always been known as a class act and there was no one in the Bruins locker room willing to rub salt in his wounds. First off, he s a great player. He s a legend, he s a future Hall of Famer, and I think looking back at that day, he earned the right to make the decision that he made. You can never blame a guy for going with his heart and making that type of decision. I m not going to insult him in any way, said Milan Lucic. He s a guy that I always looked up to as a teenager and seeing the way that he played. As a Canadian, seeing what he did in the Olympics and all that type of stuff, he s definitely an idol of mine. But like I said, he earned that right to make the decision that he made. I m sure if he could go back he would make a different decision, but in saying that, he s still a great player, he s got a few more years ahead of him, and you wish him nothing but the best. But did his decision to go with the Penguins get the B s competitive juices flowing? We kind of took it that way, in that sense that when a guy chooses another team over your team, it kind of does light a little bit of a fire underneath you, said Lucic. Fortunately, we were able to turn it into a positive more than a negative. Dogman steps in With the loss of Gregory Campbell, Kaspars Daugavins got the call for the Bruins, playing mostly on a line with Rich Peverley and Tyler Seguin, though the bottom six forwards were mixed and matched a bit. He had a solid game and nearly put the B s up in the second period when he hit a post. I felt good; I had a lot of energy at the start, said Daugavins, who hadn t played since Game 1 of the first round on May 1. I didn t play that much but every time I got out there I enjoyed every second of it. I tried to keep it simple because I hadn t played in a while and it worked. Get pucks deep and try to start a cycle and back check, it worked well. Boston Herald LOADED: 06.08.2013
680360 Boston Bruins Marchand dishes out game-winner Saturday, June 8, 2013 By:Mark Daniels All series long, Brad Marchand poked, prodded and got under the skin of several of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was a constant annoyance, and that didn t stop last night during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. But for Marchand, the best revenge came in the form of one crisp pass to Adam McQuaid. With the game scoreless in the third period, the left winger had the puck and plenty of options. The Bruins were in the middle of a line change and Marchand s first thought was to dump the puck. But as he crossed over the blue line, he immediately turned up and saw David Krejci. Krejci had a good head of steam and Marchand thought about sending the puck his way. But he waited for a moment. As the Penguins defensemen pulled back, McQuaid was all alone. Marchand sent him a pass and McQuaid put it home for the score, at 5:01, to lift the B s to a 1-0 win over the Penguins and send them to the Stanley Cup finals. I didn t see him until the last second when I gave it to him, Marchand said. When I turned up, I was going to go to Krejci. I was looking for him. Then I just saw Quaider came up behind him and Krejci just kind of pulled his guy through and I just gave it to him. He made a great play. Marchand s never been afraid to get in someone s face. His role as an irritant was highlighted in the 2011 Stanley Cup finals when he sent a series of jabs to the face of Canucks forward Daniel Sedin. And Marchand was a thorn in the Penguins side all night. In the second period, he mixed it up with Brenden Morrow and Matt Niskanen. Both Marchand and Niskanen earned matching roughing penalties. After the game, Marchand said all the animosity made the victory even sweeter. Yeah, I think so. It s just how the game goes out there, Marchand said. The tempers are flaring a bit. And especially when we re this far in the playoffs, guys tempers are going and there s a lot of intensity out there. It s kind of right there in your face all the time. Guys are always going after each other. It s fun to be a part of. Marchand, who scored two goals in Game 3, has tallied 13 points (four goals, nine assists) this postseason. The 25-year-old said he s ecstatic as he heads to the second Stanley Cup finals of his career. It s very exciting. It s a feeling you can t describe. We ve worked for this our whole lives, Marchand said. It doesn t matter that we won one a couple years back. I think it made us that much hungrier to be back here and want another one. We re extremely excited right now. Boston Herald LOADED: 06.08.2013