Game 6 TONIGHT at TDBanknorth Garden

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Bruins go back to basics to ignite power play

Bruins go back to basics to ignite power play

'Sometimes going back to the old way works out,' head coach Julien says

PAT HICKEY , The Gazette

Published:Saturday, April 19, 2008

The Canadiens came into the Eastern Conference quarterfinal with the best power play in the National Hockey League, but the Boston Bruins are still alive because they won the latest battle of the special teams.

Bruins coach Claude Julien juggled his power-play units before Game 5 Thursday night in Montreal and the result was two power-play goals in a 5-1 romp over the Canadiens.

Julien went back to some combinations he used earlier in the season and he saw enough good things to keep them together for Game 6 tonight at the TD Banknorth Garden.

"Everyone saw it wasn't working well," Julien said of his power play.

"We seemed nervous; we weren't executing well and sometimes going back to the old way works out, because everybody is more comfortable. It could have gone either way. It could have backfired, but doing nothing was not the right thing to do."

Julien reunited his No. 1 unit with veterans Marc Savard, Glen Murray and Marco Sturm up front and Zdeno Chara and Dennis Wideman at the points. They produced a goal on a blast by Chara from the blue line.

The other unit had a more youthful look with rookies David Krejci and Milan Lucic joining second-year player Phil Kessel up front. Kessel, who had been in Julien's doghouse, opened the scoring for Boston.

While the Bruins' success on the power play was impressive, so were the penalty-killers, led by Krejci and Sturm. Montreal went 0-for-3 with the extra man and Sturm rubbed some salt in the wound by scoring a shorthanded goal.

After scoring four goals in the opening game of the series, the Canadiens have been limited to six goals in the next four games. The Canadiens' top line of Andrei Kostitsyn, Tomas Plekanec and Alex Kovalev has struggled. Kovalev scored his second goal of the series Thursday night, but he's had a battle with Boston defenceman Chara.

"There's not much more we can say," Julien said when asked about the 6-foot-9 defenceman. "That's what Zdeno has done for us all year. We've always had him playing against top players. That's one of the reasons why he's so valuable, and then he scores a big goal for us."

Julien had to scramble to get the right matchups in Game 5, but it will be easier because the home team gets the final change.

The Garden will be sold out tonight, but Julien said the key will be to stay focused on the ice.

"I don't think we're going to get caught up in the emotion, because we know every night we have to grind it out," he said.

"We're happy to have our fans behind us, but we know we're facing a battle on the ice. We're facing a team that doesn't want to have a Game 7 and you have a team here that wants to create a Game 7."

While Saku Koivu might play tonight, there doesn't appear to be a dramatic return in the cards for Patrice Bergeron.

He was one of five Bruins to practise yesterday, but when asked whether he might be cleared to play tonight, he replied: "I doubt it. We'll see."

Bergeron, who played only 10 games before suffering a concussion, has more than his head to worry about. He's still six or seven pounds below his playing weight.

The outlook is brighter for

defenceman Aaron Ward, who missed Game 5 with a knee injury. He went through a full practice yesterday and, while Julien described him as a game-time decision, he is expected to play.

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2008

Onsale Updates April 15, 2008

• Bon Jovi at Madison Square Garden (Monday)
• The Eagles at TD Banknorth Garden (Monday)
• Rod Stewart at Nissan Pavilion
• Projekt Revolution 2008
• Jersey Boys Dallas
• Jon Stewart at Chevrolet Theatre
• Toby Keith at Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts
• Reba and Brooks and Dunn
• Reggae on the Rocks at Red Rocks Amphitheatre
• Bob Weir at Greek Theatre
• Boston at Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts
• Santana at Fillmore
• Stone Temple Pilots at Hollywood Bowl
• Neil Diamond Amex Presales Monday