It was all fun and cool when the Krejci/Seguin/Lucic/Bergeron/Marchand core had been held scoreless (pointless, actually) through the first three games, and despite that, the Bruins still had the series lead. Not anymore.
This series is tied 2-2 and the Capitals won without Nicky Backstrom tonight. He'll be back on Saturday. Braden Holtby made about 94 saves on 95 shots tonight. He's the real deal, and he won't fade away this series. Tim Thomas can stand on his head all he want, but at the end of the day, if the Bruins are to prevail in this series, you know where to look. I'm looking at you, David Krejci. You, Tyler Seguin. You in particular, Milan Lucic. Bergy and Nose Face to a lesser extent as well, as they've still shown a pulse in this series.
Bruins still have two of the next three games (if necessary as home). And they can say they won last year all they want. But what good is one title when you're god damned capable of winning another?
Going into this Bruins series, the big story was Braden Holtby being the inexperienced, 3rd stringer who wouldn't be able to handle the big bad Bruins. Now, ironically, Holtby is performing better than most of the veteran goalies in the playoffs,(Bryzgalov,Luongo.)The Bruins have struggled all year against the Capitols, but these boys have gone the distance. They understand the challenges that come on this journey. Lucic is looking flaccid. Seguin seems like a non entity. I know Claude loves his defense, but the victor in this series is going to be the team that takes advantage of those few and far between offensive opportunities. Holtby seems to be the real deal as much as Thomas is right now, as strange as that may seem.
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