Projo Bruins Blog

First, the news: Marc Savard was on the ice at the morning skate today at The Garden and will play tonight.

Second, the opinion: No exaggeration, for the future of the Bruins franchise, this is nothing less than the most important game the team has played since Game 1 of the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals vs. Edmonton. If the Bruins had won that game -- if Glen Wesley had hit that open net in OT -- they might have gone on to win the Stanley Cup. Instead, they lost in triple overtime and the series slipped away. For the better part of the last 19 years, they've been an afterthought on the New England sports scene.

If the Bruins win tonight, they advance to the semifinals against Pittsburgh and the transcendent Sidney Crosby and Evgeny Malkin. Lose, and this Bruins season goes down as another in a long line of disappointments.

Here are a few factoids on the Bruins and Canes, courtesy of TSN.ca:

*** Boston has played in just three game 7's in the past 15 years, all against Montreal.
*** Boston has failed to score in their last two game 7's, losing 5-0 in 2008 and 2-0 in 2004
*** Carolina is 3-0 all-time in game 7's, Hartford was 0-3
*** Boston is looking for their first franchise series win, when trailing a series 3-1 (0-21)
*** This is just the second time that Boston has forced a game 7 when trailing a series 3-1 (2008 vs Montreal)
*** Boston has gone 2 for 31 on the PP over their past 8 games
*** Carolina has scored just 2 goals in their last 2 games, going 0 for 8 on the PP
*** Cam Ward is 3-0 in game 7's, .927sv%
*** Notable Player Record's In a Game 7: Yelle 5-6, Recchi 4-2, Whitney 5-1, Brind'Amour 4-1
*** Staal has 9G, 3A in Carolina's 7 playoff wins and 0G, 1A in their 6 playoff losses
*** Savard 2G, 3A and Recchi 3G, 2A both have 4- game point streaks

 Tags  Boston Bruins Carolina Hurricanes

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