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  • Bruins defense certainly offensive in 2013 playoffs

    Playoff Central

    Bruins defense certainly offensive in 2013 playoffs

    Chris Chirichiello June 8, 2013
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    The Boston Bruins are known as a “defensive-minded” team, but in these 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, their blue-line is lighting the lamp quite often with 15 goals in 16 games.

    Johnny Boychuk leads the “D-men” with five goals while youngster Torey Krug has four of his own. Captain Zdeno Chara has two while Wade Redden and Matt Bartkowski each have one of their own.

    The Black and Gold preach the mindset “play as a team” in almost every interview and press conference and so far in these playoffs, they are getting contributions from each and every player on their roster.

    Sure, many believed Tyler Seguin would lead the B’s in scoring in these playoffs or even Patrice Bergeron, but it has been the unsung heroes such as Boychuk, Krug, and McQuaid who have scored key goals in crucial situations for the B’s.

    Adam McQuaid continued that trend in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals; scoring the game-winning goal in the Bruins’ 1-0 series clinching victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

    “Yeah, I think it’s nice,” head coach Claude Julien said about McQuaid’s game-winner. “I think everybody in the dressing room is really happy for him. Certainly he’s got the players and his teammates behind him as far as being happy. There was no hesitation there in awarding him the jacket tonight. It just goes to show you how our guys really appreciate all the different little things that every player does on this team.”

    David Krejci spoke after the game about the impact of the defenseman as well.

    “If you are to go far into the playoffs, you can’t just have one line or two scoring goals,” Krejci said. “You need all four lines at some point to step in. You also need the defensemen to put the puck in the net once in a while. You’re going to need your goalie to play great as well. I think so far everybody has done a pretty good job and that’s how we’ve been successful so far, but we know the job is not done. The hardest thing is just in front of us. We get a couple of days just to rest and get some energy and just wait for the other series to end.”

    Captain Zdeno Chara chimed in on how good the defense has been contributing to the offense throughout the Stanley Cup run.

    “That’s what you need,” Chara said. “You need contribution from different guys. It’s not always going to be the same guys, even when we get a lot of offense from guys that we rely on. In some key situations of different games, we got contributions from guys that maybe are not well known for their offense.”

    The Bruins will have their hands full in the Stanley Cup Finals whether it is Chicago or Los Angeles, but make one thing clear, it will take another team effort and key plays from each and every player in order to “Get the duck boats ready!”

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