Boston Bruins: Round Three Game Seven (Lightning)

     This post is a little late, but this weekend was super busy and this is my first chance since the big win to get my thoughts down...
     As much as I would like to say that the Bruins play, which was probably the best we've seen from them all playoffs, was the deciding factor in the game, it's just not the case.  The most important factor to the outcome we saw was the ref's decision to put their whistles in their back pockets.  I've been saying all playoffs and during the season as well, the Bruins are the best 5 on 5 team in hockey.  As long as they stay out of the penalty box and prevent any bleeding on the power play, they will win.  I would like to say that there were no penalties in that game, so the ref's has no need to make any calls, but all of us who have watched hockey for any length of time know that just couldn't be the case.  There was plenty of clutching and grabbing and interfering that was being called for the first 6 games that wasn't called in game 7.  If I was a Lightning fan I would probably be pretty pissed.  I'm sure the ref's didn't want to be the deciding factor in the game by making a call or a bunch of calls that led to one team winning, but by not making any calls they gave the Bruins a decided advantage.
     Even with no penalties, someone still had to put the puck in the net.  I haven't written much about David Krejic on this blog.  Raving about his skill as a play maker, his ability to always find open ice, his knack of getting the puck to where his linemates will be and not where they were, just all seems to obvious an observation to write about.  But, at some point you have to acknowledge the great ones and I think Krejic is the best play maker I've ever seen in the black and gold.  Horton will get credit for that game winning goal, be called the hero, but as even he admitted in an interview, that goal was Krejic's.  The pass he put through a defender's legs and right on the blade on Horton's stick was incredible.  It's easy to have three game winning goals when all you have to do is put your stick on the ice and let your teammate hit it.  With all the talk about the importance of Bergeron and Thomas to this team, Krejic seems to be left as an after thought.  Let's not forget that it was his absence last year that led to Philly's four game comeback. 
     The fact of the matter is, this Bruins team is a collection of talent and I'm not sure that one player is the key to victory or defeat.  From Bergeron to Daniel Paille, every player has had their moments in the sun and their let downs and there has always been someone else on the team their to pick them up.  The reason the Bruins are going to be playing for the Stanley Cup is because they play as a team.  It might not be the best collection of talent that has ever graced the ice, but the way the work together and believe in each other makes them a force to be reckoned with.
     Are they a big enough force to stop Vancouver?  That I'm not so sure about.  If they play as sloppy as they did in games 2 and 6 of this series, they don't stand a shot.  The Bruins are going to have to come out in game one and make a statement, play like they did in games 3 and 7, and kill whatever momentum Vancouver has built, let them know it's not going to be an easy series.  If the Bruins don't establish themselves early, it's going to be a short series.  Otherwise, strap yourself into you seat, because this final could be a classic.