That was a statement series. These aren't last year's Bruins and I don't know what else the team could have done to make that more clear then not just sweeping the team that knocked them out last season, but dominating every aspect of all four games. There was never a moment were I felt the Bruins weren't the best team on the ice. As much as the Bruins proved they weren't the same team from last year, the Flyers did much of the same. There was no fight in this Flyers team. Every time the Bruins took a lead, you could see the dejection in the Flyers play. I just knew by their play that this Flyers team wasn't coming back from 3 games down. They didn't have the fight in them.
There are a few things that worry me going forward. The Bruins had a lot of emotion invested in the last two series, one against their hater rival, the other against the team that knocked them out last year coming back from a 3-0 deficit, but there is no history with Tampa. How is this team going to play when they don't have something to prove? Not that the Stanley Cup isn't a huge carrot dangling in front of the team bus, but the Bruins have been playing with such emotional intensity that there has to be a let down at some point and a series against Tampa Bay seems the most obvious time. The good news is they dominated the Lighting during the regular season, Tampa's vaunted offense being no match for Boston's defense and goal tending. I just hope Julian can keep this team playing with such fierce intensity.
The other thing that worries me is a little more obvious, Patrice Bergeron. He's been the unheralded leader of this Bruins team, the guy who does all the dirty work on both ends of the ice, the guy who makes everyone he plays with better. He's far from flashy, but does everything at the highest level. He's never going to lead the NHL in points but I'm not sure this Bruins team can go without him. Everyone talks about Chara being the key to the team's success, but for my money Bergeron is the real engine behind the big machine. He's one of those players you don't realize the importance of until he's not there and for at least the next two games he's not going to be on the ice. We can only keep our fingers crossed, both for the immediate future of the team and for Patrice's long term health, that he will be back and fully healthy sooner then later.
One last note I've been meaning to mention since the end of the Montreal series. I think Lucic is playing hurt. He's looked more like the Lucic who played all of last year so far in the playoffs then the guy who played this season. He has short bursts of speed and some physical play, but he's been far from the guy who was flying all over the ice, hitting anything that gets in his way and scoring 30 goals. Even in the first goal last night he was basically just standing still waiting for something to come to him. It's just a thought. This is the time of year nobody likes to talk about being hurt and I just have a feeling about this one. I'm not going to be surprised if we hear about Lucic going under the knife once the Bruins season is over.
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