But one play from Sunday continues to generate discussion and controversy.
Brad Marchand continues to draw criticism from some for what they perceived as going down too easily after Capitals forward Jason Chimera made contact with him just inside the Bruins blue line in the final minute of the second period. Marchand fell to the ice and remained down briefly while the Capitals drove into the Bruins zone, with Chimera finishing the rush at the left post to tie the game 2-2.
"I don't know exactly what happened, I didn't even see him coming," Marchand said after Tuesday's practice at Ristuccia Arena. "I know I got a stick in the mouth. I was bleeding and I got stitched. I got hit, but it doesn't really matter what happened on that play. The game's over. We won and we've got to prepare for the next one."
The Bruins went on to prevail 4-3 in overtime to force a Game 7, but that hasn't stopped the criticism toward Marchand for what some believe was an attempt to draw a call with a dive that instead contributed to an odd-man break and a goal for the Capitals.
Marchand shrugged off such criticism on Tuesday.
"You don't see a guy coming and you get clipped," Marchand said. "For them to judge what knocks you down, they don't know your balance or what not on the play. They're sitting at home watching it on TV. I don't really care what they say. They have no impact on the game, my life. They mean nothing."
Marchand did express some frustration over the inconsistency of the officiating in the series. Several times early in the series, play was blown dead when a Capital went down hurt. But in Game 5 on Saturday, Washington scored after Joe Corvo was injured blocking a shot and had to try to hobble back into the play when it was not blown dead.
Play also continued and no penalty was called after Marchand went down after getting clipped by Chimera, but Marchand learned a valuable lesson about the need to get back into the play and not rely on getting a call.
"In a situation like that, blowing down a play can result in a team scoring or not scoring," Marchand said. "At this point in the playoffs refs seem to let a lot go, and the further you go they let more and more go. So you have to realize that and just try to continue with the play."
Marchand was also quick to point out that he had no problems with the individual referees in the series, but did note that there have been varying standards for calls with different refs officiating each game.
"Every night's different, there's different refs every night," Marchand said. "You can't really blame the inconsistency on the ref. They're all different. Maybe if you had the same one every night, but that's not the case. So you just have to try to find out how the refs are calling it and play within the rules."
Marchand, and the rest of the Bruins, will have to stay within the rules more than ever on Wednesday. With everything on the line in Game 7, one call — or non-call — can determine whether Boston will continue in its quest to defend the Cup or see its season come to a premature end.
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