07-04-2019, 06:29 AM
MONTREAL - Usually, David Krejci is piling up points in the post-season, but not this year. Justin Hardee Jersey . The Boston Bruins top-line centre had no goals and only three assists through the first 10 playoff games. Like Max Pacioretty on the opposing Montreal Canadiens, he is starting to feel some heat for his lack of production. "It feels like its right there," Krejci said Monday as the Bruins prepared for a crack at eliminating Montreal in Game 6 of their NHL Eastern Conference semifinal. "We have to start putting the puck in the net more often. "My linemates (Milan Lucic and Jarome Iginla) have been doing a pretty good job at it. Theyve been great for me the whole year, so I want to return the favour and try to be better for them." Krejci led the playoffs in scoring with nine goals and 26 points in 22 games a year ago, when the Bruins lost to Chicago in the Stanley Cup final. He also went on a tear when Boston won the Cup in 2011 with 23 playoff points. But while Lucic had a decent three goals and four assists and Iginla scored four times and added two helpers, little has been happening for the guy who normally is the playmaker on the top unit. Other than, as usual, winning well over half of his faceoffs. "I believe my time is about to come and Im going to be big for my team," he said. "I owe it to these guys. "I know we dont live in the past. But Ive been in the position before were I know I can be the player, so Im trying to stay positive. Go out and work hard. My teammates have been doing a good job of winning hockey games, so I believe my time is just around the corner." Second-line centre Patrice Bergeron and the third line centred by Carl Soderberg were the main offensive threats for the Bruins. Krejci hasnt been helped by the opponents Boston has faced. Both Montreal and Detroit are quick, skating teams that relay more on puck pressure than physical play. Krejci has struggled against the Canadiens in the past. Coach Claude Julien wasnt surprised to hear that Krejci feels indebted to his teammates. "Hes just a character guy," said Julien. "Hes demanding of himself and hes been a good player for us all year." Krejci was the first player on the ice for their game-day skate, but said he wasnt making any point. "At this time, when youre in a little slump like I am, then you have to work on your game and Ive been trying to do that," he said. "Like I said, I owe it to these guys, so I want to come up big for them." As he did ahead of Game 4, a 1-0 overtime win for Boston at the Bell Centre, Julien played around with his lines at the skate. They were expected to be back to normal by puck-drop. The Canadiens, who skated at their practice rink in Brossard, Que., caused a stir with broad hints that rookie Nathan Beaulieu would start on defence in place of Douglas Murray. Coach Michel Therrien kept his starting lineup to himself, however. "Its been good to be around the group," said Beaulieu, who has been practising with the main group in recent days. "Playoff hockey, it doesnt get any bigger than that, and it doesnt get any bigger than Montreal." It will be the first game since the incident at the end of Game 5 in which Bruins forward Shawn Thornton squirted water from the bench onto P.K. Subbans visor. Thornton was fined by the NHL for unsportsmanlike conduct. Therrien said it may end up helping his team. "A lack of respect can sometimes serve as motivation," he said. Chad Hansen Jersey . Here is a look at all the moves through the first week of NHL Free Agency. The most significant deals will get the full Numbers Game column treatment, like these:Briere-for-Parenteau trade. Authentic Saints Jerseys . - The Toronto Blue Jays have optioned pitchers Kyle Drabek, Chad Jenkins and Sean Nolin to triple-A Buffalo. http://www.cheapsaintsjerseyselite.com/?...ore-jersey . Raonic, the No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., fired 11 aces and did not have a double-fault as he comfortably advanced to the third round at the Masters Series event.BOSTON - There are cities which long for winners. Toronto would be one. There are cities which have perennial winners, yet to outsiders seem to take all those victories for granted. Atlanta, which didnt sell out some of those playoff games during the Braves heyday of the late 1990s and early 2000s, comes to mind. Then there are cities which have become accustomed to winning, regardless of the sport, enjoy the feeling and crave more. Fans get so involved, are so passionate, it becomes difficult to separate them from their team to the point they get credit for pushing their team to victory, even though their real effect is negligible. Boston, with your Red Sox and your Patriots and your Bruins and your Celtics, thats you. What cannot be denied, ever, is the unifying force a successful sports franchise has on an invested community. Standing on the lush green grass of Fenway Parks infield, minutes after the Red Sox had defeated the Tigers 5-2 in Game 6 to clinch the American League pennant and hours after the Dropkick Murphys had put their spin on the national anthem and belted out “Shipping Up To Boston,” it was hard to forget that only eight months earlier, Boston was a city in pain. It was April 15, Patriots Day, when the annual Boston Marathon was interrupted by two explosions near the finish line on Boylston Street in nearby Cambridge. Three people were killed and almost 300 others were hurt. A police officer was shot and killed in a gun battle with one of the suspects three days later. A city was wounded. The Red Sox, both overtly and covertly, have aided the city in its recovery from that horrific day. Saturday nights victory was their latest generous overture to their baseball-obsessed town. “It means so much to this city, so much to the guys on this team,” said catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. A lot went right for Boston in this series. To win, it must. Nobody will talk about how David Ortiz was held to only two hits in the series, one of them a bloop single in Game 5. Thats because the other hit was a monstrous grand slam, which erased a 5-1 deficit in Game 2 and catapulted the Red Sox back into the series. It would have been a difficult task, heading to Detroit down two games and with the prospect of facing Justin Verlander in enemy territory. On another day, two actually, Mike Napoli was a hero. In the deciding Game 6, it was Shane Victorino with the seventh inning grand slam that turned a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead. Xander Bogaerts, the steel-eyed 21-year-old who carries himself as if hes a 10-year veteran, went 3-5 with two doubles and two walks after taking oveer third base from Will Middlebrooks late in Game 4. Michael Thomas Jersey. He worked three full count plate appearances in the clincher, reached base each time and scored twice. Red Sox hitters struck out an ALCS record 73 times. Through four games, they were overwhelmed by the Tigers extraordinary starting rotation, a staff Detroit manager Jim Leyland referred to as the best hes had in his eight career postseasons. Yet, there was Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz and John Lackey matching their opponents pitch for pitch, sometimes getting by with just enough. How about that Boston bullpen? Koji Uehara, with three saves and a win to show for his six innings, was named the MVP of the ALCS. Junichi Tazawa found another gear and in three head-to-head meetings with Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera, shut him down on a strikeout and two ground balls, one of which was a key, rally-killing double play in the seventh inning of Game 5. Left-hander Craig Breslow offered up 3 1/3 scoreless innings, often working in specialty situations against Detroits potent left-handed and switch-hitters. Honourable mention also goes to youngster Brandon Workman, who worked the long role and cleaned up others messes. “Its an unbelievable team over there, extremely well coached, well managed and a great group of players,” said Canadian Ryan Dempster, who selflessly didnt raise a stink when he was asked, or more like told, he would be moving from the starting rotation to the bullpen for the playoffs. “We were able to fight through some tough times and come away with the series win and win our American League pennant. Now weve got to go on and have a real tough challenge with St. Louis.” The Tigers will lament the leg injury which severely limited Cabreras offensive and defensive effectiveness, the poor performance of Prince Fielder and, likely most of all, the inability of the bullpen to work at anywhere near the level of the starting rotation. For Detroit, which has two recent unsuccessful World Series appearances – 2006 and 2012 – along with ALCS losses to New York in 2009 and now, to Boston, it represents more playoff disappointment. For Boston, a community thats overcoming is celebrating another sporting victory, anticipating that the best is yet to come. The Cardinals will arrive on Tuesday and the World Series will start, at Fenway Park, on Wednesday. Here, there is nothing to distinguish the bombing victims from the Dropkick Murphys, from the players, from the fans. Theyre all the same in one respect. Theyre Red Sox Nation. Right now, were all living in it. 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