Last night, after the Sabres had turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-3 tie by the end of regulation, Julien's reminder might have been foremost in the players' thoughts. With 52.3 seconds remaining in overtime, the Bruins didn't sit back and wait for the shootout.
Instead, Marco Sturm batted an Aaron Ward knuckleball past goalie Ryan Miller, giving Boston a 4-3 win to kick off a nine-game stretch against Northeast Division opponents.
"We let them back in the game and it was a little disappointing," said Julien. "But finding a way to win is always something you can build on."
There was some scrambling on the winning play. Zdeno Chara, manning the left side of the defense, was en route to the bench to be replaced by Andrew Ference. Ward, the right-side defenseman, didn't have time to skate across the ice for a change.
That turned out to be fortunate for the Bruins.
Glen Metropolit, promoted to the third line and the first power-play unit be cause of the absence of Patrice Bergeron, won the puck along the left wall. Metropolit had two things in mind: shake his man, then buy some time for his teammates.
Metropolit accomplished his first task, creating some space for himself. He had Ference as an option at the left point, but didn't shovel the puck his way, fearing that a turnover would lead to a rush for the Sabres. Instead, Metropolit spotted Ward open at the right point and slid a cross-ice pass to the defenseman.
While Metropolit was stickhandling along the wall, Sturm was hovering down low. Once Metropolit hit Ward with a pass, Sturm did what Julien has been preaching all season.
He crashed the net.
"It's one of those ones where you've got to get in front," Ward said. "Sturmy got himself position. I think the biggest key is that you learn something from the two days of practice. You have to get guys in front of the net. Especially against Buffalo. When you get some fast guys and big guys in front of the net and obstruct them a little bit, then you're a lot better off."
