Following an uneventful and lackluster 4-0 loss in Game 5 on Monday night to the Flyers, the Bruins have another chance at advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals, for the first time in nearly two decades, tonight at the Wachovia Center.
Philadelphia, down two games to three in this best-of-seven series, faces elimination for the third consecutive time -- second at home.
- Boston is 16-0 lifetime in a best-of-seven series when leading 3-0, and hold a 17-3 record when leading such series 3-2. Their last playoff loss when leading 3-2 was back in 2004 against the Montreal Canadiens in the Conference Quarterfinals.
- Philly is 1-13 all-time when trailing a best-of-seven series 2-3.
But history aside, if Boston comes out as flat and uninspired in this one as they did for the majority of Game 5, this series is going all seven. Boston posted just 23 shots on goal last game; their second-lowest total in both playoff rounds this season.
"They were a better team than us. I don't know why and I don't know why we didn't have that desperation." said Bruins forward Mark Recchi.
On the same note, there's a lot of credit to be given to the Flyers for their dominating play and fighting their way back into this series.
"Their playing with a desperation and they're playing -- they've got that attitude of no-quit and no one's going to stop them. They're a confident team," said Milan Lucic after Game 5. "They're doing a good job of playing with a lot of confidence and I think we've just to play more like them."
The Bruins simply got outworked, all around, on both ends of the ice. The result ended in a failure to remain composed, taking nine penalties throughout the 60 minutes.
"The refs go by what they see and you just have to live with their decisions." said Lucic.
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Playoff Stats | (1).png) |
| 2.91 | GOALS PER GAME | 3.10 |
| 2.82 | GOALS-AGAINST | 2.50 |
| 23.7% | POWER PLAY | 20.8% |
| 93.0% | PENALTY KILL | 85.4% |
| 32.5 | SHOTS/GAME | 28.8 |
| 32.4 | SHOTS-AGAINST | 28.8 |
| 54.4% | FACE-OFFS | 47.8% |
| 159 | PENALTY MINUTES | 122 |
Bruins' playoff leaders:
Points: Bergeron, 11
Goals: Recchi, 6
Assists: Wideman, 9
Plus/Minus: Satan, plus-5
Shots on goal: Bergeron, 36
Blocked shots: Boychuk, 37
Face-offs: Bergeron, won 143-of-244 (58.6%)
Penalty minutes: Chara, 29
Hits: Lucic, 40
The B's gave the Flyers far too many second-chances in front of Rask on Monday night -- also allowing too many shots-against while not shooting enough themselves.
It's got to be "back-to-basics" for the Bruins tonight. In a Claude Julien system that has flourished when ran efficiently, Boston has to grind out this win tonight with solid goaltending and defense, backchecking, clogging up the neutral zone while making it tough for the Flyers to break out of their own zone, and relentless forechecking.
It's those types of "ugly" 2-1 games that makes the Bruins so successful. And that's exactly what they need to do tonight to end this series in Game 6.
Puck drops at 8:00 p.m. EST at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, PA. Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals can be seen on NESN (HD) and Versus (HD) and be heard on 98.5 FM The Sports Hub.
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