The Bruins don't want to find themselves watching the Flyers play the their archrivals, the Montreal Canadiens, in the Eastern Conference finals. They don't want to become only the third team in NHL history lose a seven-game series after being up 3-0. So the B's need to follow these three keys to find success on Friday night.
1. Stop playing not to lose and play to win.
In their last three games, the Bruins looked as if they were sitting back, waiting for the Flyers' best shot and trying to withstand it. As the old saying goes, "Prevent defense prevents you from winning," and that's what has happened with the Bruins. They are playing not to lose instead of to win.
Forget waiting for the Flyers' best shot to start the game — the B's need to give their own best shot and dictate the game from the opening faceoff.
2. Rush the net.
The Flyers have done an amazing job of going to the net in the last three games, while the Bruins have resorted to a perimeter game. Some of that, of course, has to do with the Flyers playing some great defense and clogging up the lanes. But with the likes of Milan Lucic (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) and Blake Wheeler (6-foot-5, 205 pounds), the Bruins should be able to drive to the net as well. They need to make life miserable for Flyers goaltender Michael Leighton; he looked shaky in Game 6, despite making 31 saves, and if the Bruins bump and grind in front, they can rattle him.
3. Seize the moment.
The Bruins have a choice: Be the third team in NHL history to blow a 3-0 series lead and lose, or be the first Bruins team since 1992 to make the conference finals. They claim they don't care about history, but maybe they should. How do they want to be remembered — as a choke team or a B's team that upheld the tradition of the organization?
