However, the Bruins - as they have for much of Bruce Cassidy's brief tenure - were able to dig deep and find a way to win, scoring two third-period goals en route to a 2-1 win over the Senators in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup playoffs first-round series.
Boucher says he will count on his veteran players with playoff experience to help with post-season pressure, as he attributed the team's third period breakdown Wednesday to being "mentally scared to lose the game".
There was little news on Miller from the Bruins on Thursday, and none on the other two injured defensemen, Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo, each remaining back in Boston.
Game 2 is Saturday in Ottawa.
The 19-year old Boston Bruins defenceman got his first taste of National Hockey League life in Game 1 of the Atlantic Division semifinal on Wednesday night against the Ottawa Senators.
Had McAvoy not been able to come up quite so big, that would have put significant pressure on the rest of the Boston defense, already exhausted after playing extra minutes in the past two games. Eventually, the Bruins got the bounce they needed when Bergeron's shot was blocked in front but the carom went straight to Marchand, who wasn't going to miss a wide-open net from here. The Sens players won't think twice about protecting their leader and this makes Ottawa a more frightening prospect to play against. "Held his own. Assume he'll only get better".
"There's certain games where you know you got lucky in one or they got lucky in one, but this was one of those games where you felt we played pretty solid all the way through", said Clarke MacArthur.
Part of it was elite performances by guys like Anderson and Karlsson at the right times.
Passenger dragged off United flight plans legal action
Dao said he had patients to see early the next morning, and he would have to be dragged off the plane before he left. We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation.
Stat of the Night 2: The Bruins had scored exactly one goal during 5-on-5 play during 275 minutes of action against Ottawa this season, counting the first two periods Wednesday night.
Without Krug in the lineup, Boston's defense will be hurting.
McAvoy was paired with Kevan Miller during the team's morning skate. He and center Patrice Bergeron are peerless when it comes to tilting the shot attempt margin in their team's favor. Playoff hockey is the most incredible time of year, the previous 82 games will now feel like the preseason by the end of tonight's game.
"We've got a lot of different assets that are going to need to step up at different times. When guys are exhausted and you're a little out of position, and you're trying to do a little too much nearly".
Here are some key takeaways from Boston's series-opening win. "He's learning the structure and how to play without the puck, which is an area we wanted him to understand that at the next level it's going to be much more hard". They know they didn't do that, or at least didn't do that enough.
The Bruins were a team a couple months ago that no one expected to make a run, and now they have a legitimate shot to make it to the conference semifinals. On the Atlantic side, the division champion Montreal Canadiens face the wild-card New York Rangers, and the Ottawa Senators have home ice against the Boston Bruins. When you turn the puck over, it makes their D a lot easier to stay on the offensive blue line for the entire night.
Usually, you either ignore them or give a polite "thanks, but I'm not from here" and hang up. While the Bs were unable to muster a single win over the Senators in four regular season games, the plan is to mainly combat the Sens trademark neutral zone trap. So the Bruins will have to be ready - whoever they send out there.
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