With the Bruins shorthanded in the first period, Krejci had an even better scoring opportunity.
Marco Sturm, who misfired earlier when Price challenged him for a loose puck and the winger wristed a shot wide of the net, busted into the Montreal zone with Krejci riding shotgun.
According to Krejci, Sturm laid a soft, flat pass, easy enough to handle. Price was in his butterfly and Krejci aimed for a spot just over his left pad.
"I watched the replay," Krejci said after a 30-minute practice yesterday at Ristuccia Arena. "I don't want to make excuses. The pass was perfect. It was flat. Just before I hit it, the puck got up.
"I just wanted to get it at least that high," continued Krejci, holding his hand about 18 inches above the dressing room floor. "Because he had his pad here like this," he said, lowering his hand. "So I wanted to go a little higher. I don't want to make any excuses. I have to score."
They are words that nearly every Bruin must be saying entering tonight's do-or-die Game 5 at Bell Centre. The Bruins find themselves in a 3-1 hole because of a yearlong ailment: lack of offense.
Through the first four games, the Bruins have put 115 pucks on Price for an average of 28.8 shots per game, just about a wash with the 28.5 shots they averaged during the regular season. But in comparison with the regular season, when the Bruins averaged only 2.58 goals per game (24th in the NHL), they are finding it even more challenging to find the back of the net in the playoffs.
After four games, the Bruins have scored only five times for an average of 1.25 goals per outing. They were denied on 27 attempts Tuesday as Price recorded his first postseason shutout.
