Regardless of what line combinations and defensive pairings head coach Claude Julien throws out there, this team seems loose, yet not relaxed.
"I think there's a quiet confidence building here and just a sense that we're going about our business," forward Mark Recchi said. "We're ready to go though, and the excitement is definitely there."
Thankfully, unlike last spring when they had 10 days off after sweeping the Canadiens, they haven't had too much time to think about their first-round accomplishment or letting complacency creep in. This time, the positives and negatives are still fresh in their minds, and they had just enough time to correct the latter without either dwelling on or forgetting them.
"I think we learned a lesson last season to take nothing for granted and not to be satisfied," Recchi said. "We had too much time to build it up in our heads that we were better than we were. But now, I think it's more experience and going through that. So I'm not so sure either way that we would've had that problem if we had the long layoff this time around. But when you have momentum and have that flow going, it is nice to get back to work right away."
Meanwhile, the Flyers, who beat the Devils in five games, have had quite the layoff since walking off the Prudential Center ice on April 23. How they handle that will be seen on the ice, but the Bruins aren't going to assume the layoff hurt the Flyers.
"I don't think that's the case with everyone and you can't assume that," forward Shawn Thornton said. "They're pretty banged up, especially with [Jeff] Carter and [Simon] Gagne possibly out, so that time probably helped them. They've got a veteran bunch too, so they know how to stay ready."
Tomorrow will tell if that is the case or not, but one thing is for sure, there is no sense of entitlement or complacency in the Bruins dressing room. They know firsthand what looking ahead or behind can do, and right now the only thing that matters is Game 1 on Saturday.
Here's what the lineup looked like at practice Friday:
Forwards
Marco Sturm–Patrice Bergeron–Mark Recchi
Milan Lucic–David Krejci–Miroslav Satan
Daniel Paille–Marc Savard–Michael Ryder
Blake Wheeler–Vladimir Sobotka–Steve Begin
Defensemen
Zdeno Chara–Johnny Boychuk
Matt Hunwick–Dennis Wideman
Andrew Ference–Adam McQuaid
Goaltenders
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas
