They chose not to whine and complain when Vancouver forward Alexandre Burrows was not suspended for biting Patrice Bergeron in Game 1. They didn't use it as an excuse when Burrows was not only in the lineup for Game 2, but scored the game-winner in overtime.
And they're not going to stoop to the Canucks' level in responding to Maxim Lapierre's Game 2 taunt of Bergeron. Lapierre stuck out his finger at Bergeron after a whistle, challenging him to bite it, then was seen laughing about the incident on the bench.
"I can't really talk about their team," Bruins coach Claude Julien said after Monday's morning skate in preparation of Game 3 at the Garden. "I'm going to talk about mine because I don't handle those players. I don't deal with those players on a one-on-one basis. It really isn't up to me to, I guess, comment on it. If it's acceptable for them, then so be it. It certainly wouldn't be acceptable on our end of it. I think you know me well enough to know that.
"[There's] not much I can say on that," Julien added. "The NHL rules on something and they decide to make a mockery of it. That's totally up to them. If that's their way of handling things, then so be it. Again, we can't waste our time on that kind of stuff. We really have to focus on what we have to do. The last time I looked, we're down two games to none, and all our energy has to go towards that."
The rest of the Bruins downplayed the incident as well.
"I didn't even see it," Bruins forward Brad Marchand said. "It's not a big deal. He puts his finger out. Big deal. Bergy's a very focused guy. There's nothing Lapierre is going to do to get Bergy off his game."
Even the Canucks seem to doubt that the antics of Burrows and Lapierre are having much effect.
"I don't know, if they are [distracting the Bruins] it's good," said Canucks captain Henrik Sedin. "I'm sure it's not bothering them that much, though. It's the Finals and I think they are going to focus on playing hockey, so I don't know what's in their mind."
Marchand is Boston's resident agitator, and he hasn't been above stooping to the occasional taunt, though those actions — like his golf swing motion to the Leafs late in the regular season — have drawn rebukes from Julien. The Bruins' coach hasn't had to speak to Marchand in the Final, as Marchand is reining himself in for this series.
"I'm not really trying for the most part, I just want to focus on playing the game," Marchand said. "Sometimes you get sucked into that too much and you don't worry about playing hockey. They seem to want to do that a lot right now, and we just want to skate away from it."
The Canucks mostly stayed away from the subject during their availability after their morning skate.
"The focus right now is on going out as a team and playing hard and trying to win a game," Lapierre said when asked about the incident. "I don't want to make a story about that."
The Canucks don't appear concerned about anything carrying over to Game 3 from the Burrows and Lapierre incidents.
"Maybe for them, but for us, we could care less," Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa said. "Max and Burr play the villain card very well and they'll do it to the best of their abilities [in Game 3]. For us, we'll stay focused on the game and then we'll just laugh about it afterwards."
