Associated Press
BOSTON ó Claude Julien has a score to settle ó with himself.
Five years ago, he coached the Montreal Canadiens to a Game 7 win after they’d trailed the Boston Bruins 3-1. Now he’s on the verge of a similar comeback as coach of the Bruins.
“I’d love to be able to return that favor,” Julien said Wednesday.
He gets his chance tonight when the Bruins hope their revitalized game and their raucous fans will overwhelm and unnerve the Carolina Hurricanes, who failed to wrap up the series on their own ice Tuesday night.
“If you said at the start of the series that we had one chance to win one game to go on, we’d have said, ‘Let’s take it,”‘ Hurricanes captain Rod Brind’Amour said before his team flew to Boston. “What’s done is done. This team has been resilient.”
Carolina overcame a 3-2 deficit in the first round and beat New Jersey, scoring twice in the last 80 seconds of Game 7 to win the series.
The Bruins won the opener of the Eastern Conference semifinal 4-1. Then the Hurricanes outscored Boston 10-3 in taking the next three games. Faced with a clear choice, play better or get eliminated, the Bruins rallied with a 4-0 win in Game 5 and a 2-0 lead in the first 5:04 of Game 6.
“This series has (had) more momentum swings during games than any series I’ve probably been involved with,” Boston goalie Tim Thomas said. “So it’s crucial to try to keep that momentum.”