BOYCHUK..” NEVER SAY DIE, MORE OR LESS…”

BOSTON BRUINS DEFENSEMAN JOHNNY BOYCHUK

On what it was like to be on the ice when everything happened in the third period…
That was unbelievable. That’s one thing you’re going to remember probably for the rest of your life, because it was such a comeback that everybody probably thought that we were done and showed what kind of character there is in this dressing. Never say die, more or less.

On if that is a moment when experience comes through where you know it’s not over until the end.…
Yeah, more or less. You just said it all, there. What do you want me to say? You just said everything I should have.

On how difficult it was to be down another guy as important as Seidenberg…
Yeah, a couple guys stepped up and had to fill in that extra ice time and play that much more responsible and they did a good job and it was just a well-rounded effort from everybody in this locker room.

On how big the Nathan Horton goal was to get the team rolling…
It was huge, because that goal just created the momentum. The fans got into it, they stopped booing us. They started cheering and it helps when they’re cheering for you. It helped a lot.

On the energy…
Well, I’m not going to say you’re energy level was there, but it was tough. You had to bear down and make sure to try your hardest no matter whatever you’re doing and yeah, it was just a good effort from everybody.

On how well Toronto played this series…
They played phenomenal. We just took that momentum from them when they had it and with Nate’s [Nathan Horton] goal. With the fans behind us, it just gives us that little extra energy that we needed and then we scored those other ones.

On if he was allowing in negative thoughts when the fans were going off in the third there…
Well, you can’t, because when you do then it’s game over. If it gets in your head, you can’t let it get in your head and we didn’t and just kept battling, kept trying to do the right things and eventually it went in for us.

On if he concedes the team will have to play better if they want to keep moving on…
Yeah, we’re going to have to play better. Yeah, when we have those chances, we have to bear down and get it in the net and not have those turnovers that we’ve had the last couple games, you’ve probably seen them though. We have to make sure to get it in deep instead of turning it over and playing in our zone, rather play in their zone.

On how he would describe that game to someone who didn’t see it…
Too bad for them. That’s all you’d have to say, because that was I know everybody in Boston was out of their chairs either if you’re in the stands or at home and it was exciting to be on the ice and watch. So, you can’t really describe it. It’s kind of like the Sox there.

On how hard it is to have belief when you’re down three that late in the game…
Well, it’s definitely hard, but there’s still time and we have the guys that can put the puck in the net and we did and you have to just stay positive no matter what and we did such a good job not quitting.

On the play of Dougie Hamilton and Matt Bartkowski…
They did a good job. Bart’s [Matt Bartkowski] just skating really and Dougie’s [Dougie Hamilton] making smart plays and hitting guys when he could and playing well defensively even though he’s gifted offensively he showed why he should be here, and same with Bart [Matt Bartkowski] and they did such a good job.

JULIEN’S FRIDAY PRESS CONFERENCE: TORONTO GAME II

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH CLAUDE JULIEN POST-PRACTICE  

On if he has any comment on the suspension of Andrew Ference…

No. Nothing to comment on.

On if Dougie Hamilton will play on Saturday night…

We’ll see. We’ve still got a day here, we’ve got lots of D’s [defensemen] that are available. We’ll make that decision tomorrow.

On if there will be a trickle down effect on the back end with Ference out…

No, we mix and match a lot of times, so that’s not an issue.

On if the hit on Montreal Canadien Lars Eller was just a hockey play…

I understand where you’re coming from. If you ask former players, we have a different opinion, maybe, than today’s players. That’s where the difference is. I remember when I played, if something like that happened, we were mad at our own player for the suicide pass, that’s the way it was then. How it is today, maybe it’s different, maybe the players and the game is going in a different direction, but that’s how we used to view things. We used to get mad at our own player for putting us in that position to get what they call a suicide pass. Like I said, I’ve been retired for quite a while now, so that’s back in our days. I’m not going to start critiquing or deciding what’s right and what’s wrong here. It was just an unfortunate thing to happen in the game; you never want to see a guy get injured like that, no matter what team he plays on. At the same time, when you look at the replay, it doesn’t seem like a dirty hit, seems like the shoulder is going in the right place in the chest. But again, how it’s viewed by the new NHL and the rules is something we have to abide by and you let those guys do their jobs.

On if he wants to get Rich Peverley into the mix at some point during the series…

Absolutely. I don’t think we intended on sitting him out the whole time. I think we started off with a lineup that we thought was deserving of starting last game. We have an opportunity here moving forward to decide what we want to do. If you’re asking whether he’s in or out, that’s another thing that I’ll decide tomorrow. Even though I put him on that line, I think I have a decision to make, it doesn’t have to be made today.

On how important it is to keep the pressure on in Game 2…

For me, it’s just keeping the same theme. We made a decision on how we’re approaching this; it’s about how we’re going to play, talk about the pressure, we just need to play the best hockey we can. We feel that if we do that, we’ve got a chance of winning a hockey game, if we don’t play well, then we’re going to give them a chance and we have to play the best hockey that we can, it’s as simple as that. We have to look after ourselves and not worry about what the other team is going to do. That’s what I said earlier on before the series started, it doesn’t matter to me what the Leafs do, what matter to me is what we do. That’s what I plan on doing, keeping the focus on our team.

 

On what it was about Dougie Hamilton’s game down the stretch that he thought it was best to keep him out of the lineup…

Nothing more than what I said. The players we had to look at, we played lots of hockey, we’ve seen enough of Dougie [Hamilton] to know exactly what he can bring to our team. The rest is certainly not something that’s going to hurt him. I know people seem to wonder why we talk about him being rested, it’s simple: I’ve said it before, he’s played more hockey than any player on our team. When you start in August and you represent Canada not once, but twice, and then you play your junior games with your team, and you play the minutes that he played, then you come over here and play the schedule that we had, he deserved a rest. For that part, I think he’s going to come back a better player when he does come back.

On if he has the confidence in the veteran defenseman being able to make Hamilton’s transition to playoff hockey seamless…

He might be a young player for the playoffs, but to me, at this stage, the amount of games that he’s played, he’s a veteran. We don’t look at guys, necessarily as rookies, we look at them as young players, but he’s a young player that’s going to be playing his first game, if not tomorrow, soon. I think that’s the thing with him, he’s played enough hockey to understand what’s at stake here. We have no issues, whether it’s him, whether it’s [Aaron] Johnson, even [Matt] Bartkowski that’s in Providence, we have those choices.

On if he has a lot faith in Adam McQuaid going up against top lines if needed…

He’s done that job before. I don’t think that’s an issue. With Mac [Adam McQuaid], it’s always confidence with the puck, it’s never about defending. Mac’s been a pretty good defender, physical, he can handle the speed, he can handle the size, so he’s probably been appreciated a lot that way.

On if he figured that if the team was healthy going into the playoffs that he would go back to the team’s original lines…

I felt confident that that was the best thing to do at the time. Separating them wasn’t a bad thing because, at the same time, you create some excitement there being back together. I know for a fact, the lines I have right now, like playing with each other. Sometimes you get too comfortable and you think you’re there forever, and when you get separated a little bit, you realize how much you’re missing, right? When you leave your wife, you get back, right? It’s kind of the same thing with the players on their lines.

On if Nathan Horton looked fresher in the first game…

I thought he was coming around pretty well; when he got hurt I thought he was coming along pretty well, I liked his game. At the same time, maybe the rest did help him, but he was a good player down the stretch. Had he kept going, I’m sure we would’ve seen a pretty good player to finish the season off. 

On how long into the series, he get a pretty good feeling about how things are going to go…

I think before it started we knew it. I don’t think we surprised or disappointed anybody. We knew it was going to be a physical battle and that’s what it was last game. We’re not talking about the score, we’re talking about the type of game that it’s going to be.

LUCIC STATISFIED WITH TEAMS EFFORT

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD MILAN LUCIC
On if it felt good clicking on all cylinders…
Yeah, I think from a team standpoint, we talked a lot about turning the page on how the season ended and the way we were playing the last 10 games and them getting that first goal on the power play, 15 seconds into the power play kind of sucked the life out of the crowd, but we knew that we at least needed to score one goal to win the game and we stayed focused and the fourth line came up big and made a great play and Redds [Wade Redden] was able to power one past the goalie for the first one.

On how much that lifts the team…
Yeah, I think it was the first time in a long time where we really pushed the pace and you can see in the first period that we wanted to come out with a better outcome than being down 1-0 or just being tied 1-1 and we were pushing and pushing and pushing. So, we’re just focused on what we need to do to be successful and it was great that everyone was able to step up and contribute, but in saying that it’s only one game and there’s a long, long road ahead and I know with a great coach like they have they’re going to make certain adjustments and come out even harder in game two.

On how important it was to get Nathan Horton back …
Yeah, it’s another game winner for him, here in the playoffs and his not that short playoff career and he stepped up and scored some big goals and he’s been a big part of this hockey team since he’s been here and I even said it, it was a big loss not having him a part of our group last year heading into the playoffs and it’s good to see him healthy again and helping us win.

On if he could tell early on how on point Krejci was…
Yeah, I think his playoff stats get overlooked a little bit, especially because he led the whole playoffs in goals and points in 2011 and I think I saw on TV after the game that he has 50 points in 60 playoff games, which is pretty impressive for a guy like him. So, I’m just fortunate that I get an opportunity to play with him and like he said in his interview, we just got to do whatever we can to keep it going.

On the nastiness level out there tonight…
Yeah, I think the intensity was definitely picked up a lot. It wasn’t like any game that we played in the regular season. I think there was a lot more intensity on the ice and also in the crowd. Even what we went through in that Buffalo game after the whole [Boston] Marathon [tragedy] but still I felt like that intensity was at it’s highest that we felt all year, here today, which that’s what makes playoffs so much fun.

On if  playing physically brings the best out of him…
Yeah, it’s a part of my game. It’s the way I have to play and like I said, we just got to keep it going.

KREJCI ON THIS YEARS TEAM vs 2011 TEAM..”Two years ago is a long time ago. We have a whole different team right now, so we took it as a new season..”

 BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD DAVID KREJCI
On how realized the team was to get good scoring…
We haven’t had many of those, but it felt pretty good. The full 60 minutes. We got good play from all four lines. We’ve got to just keep going.

On why the offense was so much more productive today, at least in producing goals…
That’s a good question; I don’t know. We just try to go out there and play our best. I think we had a lot of chances today, and when you have lots of chances you have to make sure you bury them. Today we did that in the first two periods, we didn’t get them all in the third period, but a win is a win, and we’re pretty happy with the outcome.

On if the playoffs bring out the best in him and his line…
I’m just trying to go out there, do my best and help the team to win games. As a line, I think we did a good job today. We put the puck in the net. But in the playoffs, there’s always somebody new to be a hero, so today I feel like we had a good game, but if we want to make a good run, we know that we’re going to need all four lines.

On if this one game reminds him of the way the team played two years ago…
Two years ago is a long time ago. We have a whole different team right now, so we took it as a new season. We closed the chapter, opened a new one a couple of days ago, and everybody starts from 0-0. We won the first game, and I’m pretty happy about that, but we know it’s going to be a long series. We have to regroup, we have to be ready for the next game on Saturday, and we’re going to have to play the same way, or even better.

On if tonight’s game takes off a lot of pressure…
Playoffs are so different than in-season. You’re trying to build something, and I feel like we built something in the first game. We have to carry it on into the second, but we know that Toronto is going to be even better on Saturday, so we have to bring our ‘A’ game again.

On the jacket he’s wearing…
This jacket—Andrew Ference, he’s a buddy with a few of the rangers, and you can see that we support them, and they gave us this jacket to show their support. You can see the logo on the side here. If you want more information, you should probably ask [Ference].

JULIEN CALLS IT LIKE HE SEES IT…..PULLS NO PUNCHES

BY KEVIN HARRIMAN

BOSTON SPORTS DESK PUBLISHER

After listening to Boston Bruins Head Coach Claude Julien‘s press conference Thursday morning, it was easy to understand that the coach is not happy with his team.

A 1-5 record in your last six games  will do that to a coach. Add in the fact that the Bruins will start the playoffs next week and you have a recipe for disaster.

BSD Correspondent Kevin Flanagan wrote a piece yesterday asking if the Bruins players were trying to get their coach fired. The premise, while extreme, has to be considered.  Julien has tried many moves over the past two months. Different line changes and healthy scratches have provided little relief.

Give Julien credit for sitting Rich Peverley, Milan Lucic, Dougie Hamilton and Shawn Thornton. Peverley has been slightly better and Lucic played better in spurts after having been shipped to the fourth line and sitting a game, but none of these moves has paid long lasting dividends.

Julien has also called out Tuukka Rask for his performance last week  (Rask manned-up following his last loss in goal, taking responsibility) and this week it seems he has targeted Nathan Horton and David Krejci.

In today’s press  conference, Julien was asked about Horton’s status. The coach responded quickly with….”he skated this morning”

When asked about if he had a preference to just rest Horton until the playoffs, the coach fired back…”It depends on his situation here..”  Not exactly a vote of confidence if I’m reading between the lines. Likewise with Krejci, Julien was asked if Krejci’s late goal against the Flyers was a turning point for him. The response was candid and detailed,

“Yeah, but he turned the puck over, he just turned around and it went right on his stick. You guys know your hockey, so you know there’s a lot that happened before that brought it to that. So, it’s too easy to just look at one player and jump on him after that and say, ‘well, he scored a goal so everything is okay.’ I think David’s [Krejci] a good player for us, he’s had different wingers lately, now we’re trying to build a little bit of consistency in our lines and hopefully get a better feeling of our team and our group.”

So will the 2013 version of the Boston Bruins turn this around heading into the playoffs next week, or do they come up short for their coach. I’m thinking they are going to come up short. Maybe one and done again.

 BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH CLAUDE JULIEN PREGAME

On having to play another team tonight that is out of the playoffs and trying to be a spoiler…
Well, it’s a team that I thought played a really good game last night – I watched them play. You just have to look around the schedule and the other night all the playoff seeded teams, almost every one of them except for Washington, lost. It goes to show you that teams aren’t giving up, they’re coming out and playing some solid hockey. When you know you’ve only got X number of games left, and you want to finish on a positive note, you play your best. That’s what we should expect from Tampa tonight, is that they’re going to come in and play well. They have the players to be a team that can certainly be, what you call, spoilers. There’s more than one, so we have to be ready for them.

On Nathan Horton’s status…
He skated this morning.

On if Horton is day-to-day…
Still day-to-day, skated this morning, so he’s on the right track. Day-to-day means he’s not in tonight, but we don’t know where he’s going to be by Saturday’s game, and same thing with Sunday. He’s progressing well.

On if there is a preference to just rest Horton until the playoffs…
It depends on his situation here.

On if this season has underscored the importance of practice to work through bad habits…
There is, there is. It’s not us, but we’re talking about us right now. It’s the whole league, and I know a lot of coaches have complained about that because when you don’t practice, little things creep into your game. Little by little it becomes a bigger issue, there’s a lot of things that have crept into our game that’s become a challenge for us. You wish you would have had more time in between games and you wish it was more of a normal schedule, but it isn’t, so you’ve got to deal with the situation. That’s what we need to do right now is deal with it. I think a lot of it is where you can’t practice, you’ve got to focus better and make sure you keep those good habits. That’s where the challenge is right now, is our focus, as I mentioned the other night, wasn’t really there. We weren’t ready to play and we weren’t ready to do the things that was going to give us success. Did we take a step back? I think tonight’s an opportunity to prove that we haven’t and it was just a bad game. Just got to go out there and play hard.

On the importance of feeling good and playing well heading into the playoffs…
It is, it is. I’d rather go into the playoffs feeling good about ourselves than not. You’ve seen other teams that have struggled and then they start the playoffs and it’s a whole different story. I’d rather not go there, I’d rather be the confident team. Either way, to me, we’ve got to make sure we come out here tonight and play a good game. It doesn’t mean we have to blow the doors out, but we’ve got to go out there and show that there’s some steadiness, there’s consistency, and there’s a control in our game that allows us to feel good about our team.

On how this year’s team is different from the 2011 team…
I don’t know, to be honest with you, the feeling around the team, in the room two years ago, I’m not even sure I remember that as much. We were focused on what we had to do here. You hate making comparisons because that’s like saying, ‘oh, we went through that two years ago, so we should win the Cup this year.’ Every year is a different year, is a different challenge, so you take the situation that you have in front of you and you try and deal with it the best you can.

On how he would describe his team’s identity at this point…
It’s not where it should be, but there’s, I guess, an opportunity to get there because we’ve shown it on different occasions, not much in the last half, but we’ve shown that it’s still there. We just have to grab it and hold on to it.

On if there has been any point in the last month where he’s felt that the team had it’s ‘feeling’ back…
There’s certain games where we’ve come out and said we felt pretty good about it. Again, I think we’re looking at what’s happening right now, and rightfully so, because we haven’t played the greatest in the last, whatever, month and a half. There’s been some ups and downs, but at the same time, it’s been a real challenge with no practices and all that stuff. You’ve got to look at the realistic pictures and see where we are. We’re second in our division, which is not that bad. But we’re not happy with our game right now and that’s what we’ve got to get back, is that identity, I guess that energy that we showed in those games that we played well. Let’s not forget that we’re in a pretty good position or can finish in a pretty good position here. The year wasn’t that awful, it’s been a challenge for almost every team you talk to, or you get a chance to talk to. They’re saying the same thing right now with their teams.

On how much emphasis he is putting on having lines together before the playoffs…
We’re getting close to it. I think there’s something to be said about that. You want to get, I guess, some sort of a feeling of what you want to do, but we’re almost healthy, so it’s getting close to that.

On if he hopes that David Krejci builds off of his goal against Philadelphia…
Yeah, but he turned the puck over, he just turned around and it went right on his stick. You guys know your hockey, so you know there’s a lot that happened before that that brought it to that. So, it’s too easy to just look at one player and jump on him after that and say, ‘well, he scored a goal so everything is okay.’ I think David’s [Krejci] a good player for us, he’s had different wingers lately, now we’re trying to build a little bit of consistency in our lines and hopefully get a better feeling of our team and our group.

On if Carl Soderberg has been able to focus enough to develop and understand his role with all of the distractions around the team…
Yeah, I think he’s gotten better every game, so that’s a sign that he’s doing okay. Again, what happened on the 15th, we can’t forget it. Like I keep saying, let’s not think that we’re going to forget it, but we’ve got to put that aside. When it comes time to play the game, we can’t use that as a crutch, we should use it more as a motivation, motivational tool and say, ‘listen, we want this city to feel good.’ Well, let’s win some hockey games here and not use it as an excuse. This is where we have to be professionals and deal with that situation.

On if he feels Soderberg is comfortable at center…
He can be good there, but so can [Chris] Kelly. Tonight, I plan on using [Chris] Kelly at center and putting [Carl] Soderberg back on the wing. It’s okay for him to feel comfortable there, but at the same time, I have to make a decision. Do I take a guy that’s already a pretty good centerman, a good two-way centerman and put him in a weaker spot because I want to please this guy? Or do I do it the other way around? I’m just trying to get a feel here and see how he does on the wing. Again, by playoff time, I’m going to have to make a decision of who’s playing where and go from there. That’s why we have those three games to look at that.

On if he has a good feel of what he has on the back end…
Yeah, I think right now it’s just a matter of us deciding what we want as a fit back there. But I don’t think there’s anybody that doesn’t know what their job is at this point in this season, or what their role is, I guess.

QUICK REACTION TO A 6-2 WIN OVER CAROLINA

BY KEVIN FLANAGAN
BSD CORRESPONDENT

BOSTON – Anyone that still recalls some basic high school geology can tell you what you saw tonight if you watched the Bruins game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Iron pyrite. That’s right, fool’s gold. To take anything more than a cosmetic jewelry cheap thrill out of this game would be akin to overspending for a Rolex in Times Square.

Any beer league goalie would have had a better chance at stopping the first 2 goals the Bruins scored against Carolina than starting netminder Justin Peters. Even so and despite having won just 1 game out of their last 10 the Hurricanes managed to carry the play to start the 1st period leaving goalie Tuukka Rask to have to stand on his head to keep the B’s in the game.

This team struggled yet again out of the gate being out played by an inferior opponent in the first period until Peters decided that it would be silly to go post to post on a wrap around attempt by Rich Peverly. The performance of Carolina’s starting goalie tonight makes former Bruins netminder Blane Lacher look like he should have been a perennial Vezina Trophy candidate.

For a team that once was the model of how to play in their own zone they suddenly have become inept when trying to move the puck and faced with any kind of pressure.

The lack of intensity coupled with the inability for the defensemen to move the puck in transition to start games lately has led to more scoring opportunities than I can ever remember from a Claude Julien coached Bruins team.

What concerns me more than anything else is total lack of a physical game. Even though I count myself among the Neanderthals that still enjoy a hockey fight that is not what I am talking about.

What made these Bruins one of the best teams in the NHL was the willingness to finish checks and take a hit to make a play. The play, or lack there of, of forwards Milan Lucic and Nathan is becoming more and more concerning. One is playing like he got paid and the other is playing like he could care less if he does.

Giving up close to 50 shots against a team that is clearly playing out the string is not what you would expect to see from a team that likes to think it has a chance to play until early summer.

There are only 10 regular season games left for the Bruins to find their. It is time for them to play to the Black and Gold standard that is expected from this team.

SHOULD BRUINS FANS BE WARY ?

BY KEVIN FLANAGAN
BSD CORRESPONDENT

Hey Bruins fans are you nervous yet? If you are not you should be.

Remember that team that would drive their opponents through the boards, dominate 5 on 5, take whatever game you wanted to play and play it better than you? We haven’t seen that team for a while now.

The team that would lock you down and shut you out when entering the 3rd period with a lead has transformed into a team that more times than not makes the wrong play at the wrong time.

The big saves and clutch play of the 2011 Cup team have gone the way of it’s Vezina Trophy winning goalie, tucked away in a bunker somewhere in the wilderness clinging to survival mode while clutching an MRE and searching for a fresh water stream to drink from.

Gone is the physical presence that used to intimidate opponents. The snarling, hardnosed play of 4 rolling lines has been replaced by a hesitant, lackadaisical approach that is just as likely to coast through a shift as it was to previously punish the opponent regardless of who was on the ice.

The Big Bad Bruins have been replaced by a cuddly child’s toy that is more likely to provide their opposition a soft place to land rather than a hard place to play.

Milan Lucic, once considered the next in line to claim Cam Neely’s title as the NHL’s supreme power forward/premier badass; a guy that can beat you with his fists as well as his shot is now a shell of himself rarely skating with a purpose or delivering the type of bone crushing hits that generate space for his linemates. Fellow winger Nathan Horton who also relies on a physical style to generate offense seem content to play on the fringe, reluctant to engage which all too frequently has led to pedestrian performances on any given night.

Worse yet the team has lost its best player and leader in Patrice Bergeron with his 4th documented (and I stress documented) concussion in 5 years. The assistant captain who, in my opinion, is the most underrated player in the league is the keystone to Bruins credo of playing with accountability. He is a close as you come to a current day Steve Yzerman and without him the Bruins not only have a hole at center but they have a hole in the locker room as well.

The play of goalie Tuukka Rask is frustrating at best. His statistics are beyond reproach, ranking in the top handful of starters in the league when it comes to wins, save percentage and goals against yet he still seems to fall short when it comes to playing big in big situations. Ask yourself this question, when is the last time Tuukka won you a game on his own (don’t give me the Devils game on Thursday, the game they play is more akin to English Premier League Soccer than it is to NHL hockey)?

The most telling aspect of this year’s group sporting the spoked B is when faced with the toughest competition in their conference these Bruins have twice blown late leads against the Canadiens and Penguins, both of which will stand in their path should they make any kind of playoff run.

The playoffs are fast approaching and this team needs to find an identity quick. Which will it be the team that gets in your face and fights for every inch on the ice or the team that is content to skate in circles unwilling to engage and unable to score?

Take a good collective look in the mirror 2013 Bruins, the team you see there will need to answer that question soon and the men in the mirror will have to live with the results.

THORNTON POST GAME: OTTAWA

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD SHAWN THORNTON
On thoughts on what Jagr will bring…
Obviously he’s got a ton of experience, he’s got a couple rings, he’s still putting points on the board so I’m sure he’ll help our offensive line and that’s for sure.

On hard it is to adjust when Bergeron goes out like that…
You can’t say enough about Patty [Patrice Bergeron] but I think Soupy [Gregory Campbell], Krejci [David Krejci] and Pevs [Rich Peverley] did a good job of trying to step their game up and fill that void. I mean, you can never replace a guy like that but I thought they did a pretty good job in the third of when they were rolling through playing pretty well for him.

On reaction on Jagr news when it was breaking…
I was napping. I didn’t sleep very well last night, I shut it down at like 1:30 and got up at 3:00 so it was official by the time I got up and Rex [Mark Recchi] texted me while I was napping too. He’s with Dallas now so I kind of knew. I really, honestly, didn’t worry about it. I was more focused on the game tonight. We’ll worry about it when he gets here.

On as one of the leaders of the team is there a plan to talk to the team tomorrow…
Oh, thank you. CBA scheduled day off tomorrow so I will not be talking to anyone. Good day to be away. That’s right, we had the Cuts for Cause was originally scheduled for tomorrow. We switched it to the first because we didn’t want anyone’s head to be half-shaved and pulled off stage.

On feeling on bench after Horton’s goal…
We needed that. It was a great play by Looch [Milan Lucic] being strong on it obviously getting that puck through and then Horty [Nathan Horton] picking up the rebound. He’s been unbelievable for us. I think he takes a lot of heat sometimes but everyone in this room loves him and when he’s on he’s a pretty special player and he’s been really good for us of late, I think.

On if he does everything he can to ignore the noise…
Well, I mean, the chatter’s there and it’s obviously in the back of your head and it will be until 4 o’clock tomorrow but it’s out of your control so maybe it’s a little easier said than done but there’s no use in dwelling on it. Just show up and work as hard as you can and hopefully things work out for you. With all the chatter, you can’t get away from it with all the questions that are asked but like I said it’s out of your control so I just hope I’m sticking around.

On how important it is to pull out a win like this with that many shots in the game…
Yeah, it was a little different than our regular game. A lot of shots, a lot of offense at both ends. I think we’re going to have to probably tighten it up in our end a little bit, in the neutral zone but we got the win. I’m not sure how many games we’ve got left but we need to focus on being consistent going forward here and that’s the key.

JULIEN PRESS CONFERENCE (BEFORE JAGR TRADE ANNOUNCED)

BOSTON BRUINS HEAD COACH CLAUDE JULIEN PREGAME 

On it not being surprising that Ottawa is still playing well, despite their injuries…

No, because they’ve established, I guess, a work ethic they bring every game and they believe in it, it gives them a chance to win on most nights. If I was them, I wouldn’t change it.

On Lane MacDermid’s absences from the morning skate… He suffered a minor injury, so we kept him off the ice this morning. That’s been going on for probably about five days now. He tried to skate the other day too, so we held him back.

On if things have been cleared, visa wise, for Kaspars Daugavins… I really don’t have that answer. I know he was supposed to meet people today because the Easter holiday is over, right? So, people are back at work, so he’s meeting this morning. I’m not quite sure. We expect him today, whether it happens or not, I don’t know.

On if he would be an option to play tonight if he were to arrive… Again, I doubt it, but I’m not going to say no. If he shows up and we feel we need him – I haven’t talked to upper management about that situation, more than right now they’re trying to get him to get his visa status resolved, more than worrying about anything else right now.

On if there is an update on Adam McQuaid and Chris Kelly after they skate the last two days… They started skating, so that’s a good sign. It’s just part of the process of working your way back in.

On if he has noticed if the upcoming trade deadline has affected or distracted any of the players… I think it does to every team to a certain extent. You can’t deny that. We keep saying they’ve got to be professionals and that’s part of the game, that’s part of life as a hockey player. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t effect them. There’s players with families, kids, and when you look at what happens and the guys that have already been traded, although some of them are happy to be where they are, they’re still leaving people behind or having to move people. So, it’s never an easy thing on trade deadline. I don’t think we’re any different than anybody else, but overall, I think guys know what it’s all about and we expect them to perform as we would any other night.

On if, as a coach, he is happy when the deadline at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow goes by… It’ll depend. It’ll depend, right? Maybe happier, maybe less happy. We’ll see.

On if he ever catches himself thinking about what trade may happen and how they could affect the team… No, I can answer that without you finishing your question because, no, I don’t. The results, most of the time, are hard to obtain, as you know. You’ve heard me say that before, you can waste a lot of time kind of hoping, and it ends up being, more than not, a waste of time. So, I’m just more about what we have right now, then I’ll adjust, but until we have him – we should’ve learned that from last week.

On how hard it is to insert newly acquired players into the lineup… It depends. You’re either getting a player that you’ve got pegged to insert right away – most of the time when your management or your GM [General Manager] trades for something like that, you find a spot for him – but there’s other guys that are complimentary players. You say, ‘Okay, playoffs you’re going to run into injuries, you want to have complimentary players.’ That’s what they are, so it all depends on where you’re going, or what you get, as far as players are concerned.

On if he is seeing anything promising from the Rich Peverley line…

I think they had some chances last game. I think, if anything, I was really happy with the fact that we had four lines. I thought that kept giving us momentum throughout the last game, as much as people say it wasn’t a pretty win, it was the kind of win that we’ve been having for many years: the one’s when you wear teams down and by the third period, you manage to get your goals. I thought our forecheck was good, I thought our back pressure was good, I thought we were really gritty. What happened is, line, after line, after line, kept giving us that. The biggest issue we’ve had lately is that one line is producing and the other one isn’t or is not bringing much. You get a good shift out of a line and then the next line stay in our own end the whole shift, so that kind of takes the momentum away. What I liked about  our lines, which includes the Peverley line, is that they brought something and kept the momentum going in the right direction.

On if players feed off of Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton when they are playing well…

Well, they can bring that to you, but I thought they did that most of the game. They played the pucks in deep, they spent a lot of time, Looch [Milan Lucic] missed that open net in the first period; that line was good again for us and, like I said, even the other lines had some chances. Right now, we’ve got things going in the right direction, so it’s about trying to take another step tonight. Finishing is always an area where we want to get better, and the offensive part of our game, because when you look at our struggles, there hasn’t been many games where we’ve been, when I say blown out, where it’s been a big difference in goals – 3-1, is an empty-netter, it’s a 2-1 game, those kind of things, overtime. So, we’re a team that’s in every game, and if we can can get our offense going, and our defense has been pretty adequate as far as goals against is concerned – we’re up there with the best in the league. So, we’ve just got to hope that offensively we can get things going here.

On if Brad Marchand has brought all of the other parts of game while he hasn’t been scoring…

That’s what we tell our players, if you’re not going to be scoring goals like you do, you’ve still got to be able to bring something to the team, whether it’s his forecheck, whether it’s playmaking, whether it’s being gritty, being the way he is, he’s in your face. He still has to bring that, and if you bring that, it makes it a lot easier. When a player bring absolutely nothing, then a player like [Brad] Marchand, then you’ve got a real big issue. I don’t think he’s been terrible, certainly room for improvement in his game, he knows that. He’s one of, probably, a few more players like that and that’s why we’ve had a tough last couple of weeks.

On if Anton Khudobin starts, that it is him riding the hot hand… That’s if he starts, right? Bob Essensa is here, he’s working with both goaltenders, and this is a good week for the goaltenders to spend some time with Bob [Essensa] here. I’m going to keep telling you guys what I’ve told you before, both goaltenders are going to get their fair share of games, and we have to moving forwarding here; this month is not going to be any easier than March, so both guys are going to be utilized moving forward.

LUCIC ADMITS FUSTRATION WAS GETTING TO HIM

BOSTON BRUINS FORWARD MILAN LUCIC
On if it helped the chemistry that the line was set-up with a right-handed centerman…
Well, just naturally when you’re with a right-handed centerman his first look naturally is on his forehand so it’s been like that for the last three, four years here where I’ve played with right-handed centerman so you get used to that. You being their first look and you want to be an option for them. I played with Pevs [Rich Peverley] a lot last year after Nate [Nathan Horton] got hurt and it was good that we were able to get rewarded tonight.

On the effect the line changes had…
Well, it was starting to get really frustrating going as long as I did without a goal.  You try so many different things, you keep pushing and pushing and when things start not working, you start second guessing yourself and I finally created – It was great play by Jordy [Jordan Caron] to beat the pinch there and Pevs [Rich Peverley] gave me the pass and I just wanted to take it to the net and was able to finish it off. My game is pretty simple so it doesn’t really matter who I play with, I’m expected to play a certain way and I play the same way no matter who I play with.

On being reunited in the third period…
It was good, it wasn’t too long that we were apart so obviously we were pressing to tie the game there and it was a good job by Bergeron who got set-up by Dougie [Dougie Hamilton] to get that goal there but I think we’re a big part of this team and we need to definitely step-up our game and there’s 17 games left starting on Wednesday and we want get our game to where it needs to be in order to have success in the playoffs.

On what allowed finish on that goal as opposed to what has been going on lately…
Yeah, it was almost like I wasn’t even thinking it was one of those things that when you’re scoring you’re not even really thinking about it so my only thought to my head was take the puck to the net and I was able to open him up. He played really well, Reimer, the last two games, you’ve got to give him credit, he plays real well post-to-post and that’s why I decided to go in the five-hole there.

On what the frustration when leaving the ice after the power play goal…
Well, two pucks went through my feet and then when the puck came down at me it jumped over my stick so it all goes back to, it was getting really frustrating these last couple games where everything’s almost like, am I an inch ahead or am I an inch behind or a step behind? And that was kind of why I felt like I wasn’t getting any not even shots on goal, shots on net, not even getting any opportunities, so just one of those things where sometimes you just show some emotion and you try to vent it out.

On how frustration mounts in a slump like this…
Well, you try not to be frustrated, you try not to let your frustrations lay on your teammates, you try to remain positive but it was definitely coming to a point where it was hard to and like I said you start second guessing yourself so usually it’s not a pretty one that goes in that gets you out of your slump but I think you look at that goal there, I think a big things was, I was moving my feet on the play and I was able to create a lot of speed and when I move my feet I give myself a lot more opportunities.

On if it is tough hearing the criticism people put out…
You try not to listen to it that’s the main thing and like I said you just want to do whatever you can to get yourself out of it so hopefully, hopefully this is a step in the right direction where I can get my game going.

On if it felt like wheelhouse when the puck was found on the stick…
Yeah, definitely. I knew I had to step on the defenseman there so like I said, my main focus was just beating him and getting the puck to the net and once I saw him going to that far post I knew I had a good chance beating him five-hole.

On if the new contract weighed on him and put more pressure on himself to do better…
Well, you always have expectations on yourself and you want to get better every year as you get older and as you start reaching your prime you want to continue getting better and it’s no secret but it does add a little bit of pressure on you. But you can’t really think about it, if you think about it too much then that’s when things aren’t going right for you. So like I said, you try not to think about it and just go out there and play your game.

On how when the second chance for a goal was indicative of him being focused on the effort and what he was doing out there and not on anything outside the realm of where the mind needs to be…
Yeah, exactly so I was focused too much on scoring instead of like what you were talking about, just getting my feet moving and trying to create speed and then taking the puck to the net so when you start feeling good about yourself and you’re not really thinking too much about scoring it just kind of happens naturally so like I said, you hope that it’s a step in the right direction and you can build off it.

On the emotions of relief when the puck went in…
Definitely relief.  You start thinking positively again and like they say, the monkey is off your back, so yeah it definitely in mind after the goal I had a lot more positive thinking so it was good to get it.

On if catching Montreal is any different going into Wednesday night…
This is the third time in a row that we have played them and all for the third time it’s for first place in the division it just makes for a much better game.