So, we wondered, would the Bruins come back rusty?
They answered quickly in last night's 4-1, Game 1 domination of the Hurricanes. Ninety-four seconds into their first game in nine days, the Bruins jumped to a 1-0 lead when David Krejci redirected an Aaron Ward wrist shot from just inside the blue line.
Happy days were here again in the Hub of Hockey. Days of the Teddy Bear picnic.
"It was good to get that first one," said Marc Savard, who scored twice for the Bruins.
The Bruins hadn't played since April 22, when they completed their first-round sweep in Montreal. Eight days without a game is a lot of time, especially when you are as hot as the Bruins were at the end of that series.
It reminded me a little of the 1946 Red Sox, who clinched the American League pennant on Sept. 13, then had to wait almost a month to play the Cardinals in the World Series. Boston's early clinch gave the Sox too much time to get stale, and the rust was compounded when the Cardinals and Dodgers finished in a tie and had to play a best-of-three playoff. Red Sox manager Joe Cronin, fearing lethargy, arranged to have a team of American League All-Stars play three scrimmages with the Sox while everybody waited for the NL winner to emerge. In the fifth inning of the first practice game, Washington lefthander Mickey Haefner hit Ted Williams on the right elbow. Williams never used the excuse, but many believe his sore wing contributed to his Series flop (.200, all singles). The Sox lost to the Cardinals in seven.
Bruins coach Claude Julien did his best to keep his players sharp during the layoff. Alas, short of summoning select stars from Toronto and Buffalo - or perhaps Jack Parker's national champs from Comm. Ave. - Julien could only let his guys scrimmage one another. Practices in Wilmington were fast and furious. There was a lot of skating, some four on three and five on four. But no intrasquad scrimmage can simulate NHL playoff game speed, and there was doubt about how the Bruins would come out after the layoff.
Krejci's goal got things off on a good note, but Carolina neutralized the score on a goal by Jussi Jokinen late in the period and it was 1-1 after one.
