Bruins attempt to finish rally against Canes

May 14, 2009|On hockey, Kevin Paul Dupont, Globe Staff

WILMINGTON - The Bruins and Hurricanes will draw a line under their second-round playoff series tonight, summing up seven games, two weeks, and enough mood swings for Boston general manager Peter Chiarelli to give serious consideration to bringing in Dr. Phil for tonight's pregame group hug/therapy session/inspirational speech.

Not really. Dr. Phil is too busy to be chewing on power plays, breakout passes, or how to summon one's Rocket Richard within. We think.

What we have witnessed here, in what the Bruins hope is their circuitous route to a berth in the Eastern Conference finals, has been a Boston team able to press on - and perhaps now survive? - despite a protracted bout of sleepwalking hockey for the first four games. The Conference champs in the regular season, they laced together four clumsy and ineffective outings, and if it weren't for the Canes being even worse in their Game 1 pratfall, the Bruins might have been ousted in four straight.

As Boston coach Claude Julien noted following Game 4 in Raleigh, N.C., "For some reason, we've picked the worst time of the year to play our worst hockey."

But here they are, with their effort revived and their overall game better focused the last two outings, with a Game 7 last chance to take on the Penguins for a co-starring role in the Stanley Cup semis (likely to begin Monday night). According to Julien, star pivot Marc Savard will be in the lineup, feeling fit after getting his right knee clipped Tuesday night in a leg-to-leg collision with pesky Canes forward Chad LaRose at the 1:08 mark of the third period.

The smack effectively shut Savard down for the night, leaving the Bruins to steer home a 4-1 lead absent their leading playmaker and offensive catalyst. Always among the chattiest on the team, Savard was not made available to the media yesterday at the club's training facility, casting some suspicion on Julien's contention that everything was good to go, fine 'n' dandy, and hunky-dory with his sprightly sprocket of a centerman.

For the moment, figure Savard to be penciled in on the No. 1 line with Milan Lucic and Phil Kessel, but also figure it could change at a moment's notice. Much like the entire series.

On the subject of momentum swings, consider what Boston goalie Tim Thomas said: "There's been more than in any series I've ever been involved in."