By Joe Haggerty
CSNNE.com Bruins InsiderFollow @hackswithhaggs
By Danny Picard
CSNNE.comFollow @dannypicard
BOSTON -- @font-facefont-family: "Times New Roman";p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormalmargin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; a:link, span.MsoHyperlinkcolor: blue; text-decoration: underline; a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowedcolor: purple; text-decoration: underline; table.MsoNormalTablefont-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; div.Section1page: Section1; Mark Recchi had three assists in Game 6 on Monday night, giving him a share of the career scoring lead in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Recchi now has 12 points in his last 13 Stanley Cup Finals games, having recorded two goals and four assists in seven games as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes against the Edmonton Oilers in 2006. He has three goals and three assists this year.
Heading into an elimination game in Game 6 on Monday night, it was hard for Recchi not to think about whether or not it would be the last game of his NHL career. But he remained confident and helped the Bruins force Game 7.
The thought that Monday could have been his last game crosses my mind, but, you know, I have a job to do outthere for the guysand I can't put those thoughts in my head, said Recchi after Bostons 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks. I'm going to, you know, lay it on the line one more time and see where it takes me after that.
No matter what, it's been a great 22 years, and I've enjoyed every minute of it. This hasbeenoneof my best ones, regardless of what happens and I'm just still proud to play in the NHL.I love playing hockey and love being in the NHL and I think it's the greatest sport out there.
David Krejci scored the Bruins fifth goal of the game, and it came on a 5-on-3 power play. It marked Krejcis 12th goal of the postseason, which is the most goals ever by a Czech player in one playoff year. It broke Jaromir Jagrs previous Czech record of 11 goals in both 1992 and 1996.
Boston Bruins
With Mondays win, Bruins coach Claude Julien won his 32nd playoff game behind the Boston bench, passing Don Cherry for most career playoff wins by a Bruins coach.The Bruins didnt get much of anything from the trio of Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand and Michael Ryder during their 1-0 loss in Game 5 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, as the three combined for zero shots on net fand no offensive production in a game that had the players saying things lot not enough desperation and not enough guys going after the game was in the books.
That changed in Monday nights Game 5, with the Bruins scoring a Stanley Cup Finals-record four goals in a span of 4:14 during the first period . . . and Marchand, Lucic and Ryder all got on the scoreboard.
Marchand had a beauty of a wrist shot to the high glove side that Roberto Luongo couldnt handle. Lucic fired off a five-hole wrist shot off a nice drop-back pass from Rich Peverley. And Ryder tipped a shot past Luongo's replacement, Cory Schneider.In all, the three forwards had nine shots on net in addition to the three goals, and all threealong with David Krejci and Mark Recchi, who also didnt shine among the top six forwards in Game 5vowed to be better in Game 7. The Bruins are 8-0 when Marchand scores a goal this postseason, and good things seem to happen when hes scoring and creating disturbances all over the ice for targets like the Sedin twins.We talked about our last game, and how it wasnt good enough, said Lucic. I had zero shots and I think Krejci might have had one shot. As a line we need to create more and we have to want to create more. I think thats big right there.You have to go do it. Its what you need to do. You have to want to do it. When we have that mindset, I think thats when were able to come out and play like we did.Henrik Sedin snapped a five-game scoreless streak with a power-play goal in the third period. It was the first time Sedin had been held scoreless for five straight games since the end of the 2006-07 regular season.Dennis Seidenberg left the bench for several minutes in the third period after Henrik Sedins goal, and it appeared the Bruins defenseman had his knee sliced open by a skate during a collision in the crease area. Seidenberg still finished with the third-most ice time of any Bruins players behind only Zdeno Chara and Andrew Ference that both topped 23 minutes of ice time in the game.Boston extended a franchise record with its 24th playoff game of the spring. Vancouver matched its 1994 franchise record in its 24th postseason game.The Bruins will be taking part in a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in their history when they travel to Vancouver for Wednesday nights series finale. The Bruins will also be attempting to become the first NHL team to win three Game 7's in the same single-season playoff run.Mason Raymond suffered a scary injury in the first period during his first shift of the game as he tangled in the corner for a loose puck with Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk. Raymond was bumped by Boychuk as both players competed for a loose puck, and the Vancouver forward tumbled awkwardly into the boards he had his head and neck tucked down in a precarious position.One of the lasting images from the Stanley Cup Finals will be the third period of Game 6 when Marchand continuously punched Daniel Sedin in the face with gloved jabs, and the Vancouver finesse forward did nothing about while practically begging the refs to call some kind of penalty. No infraction was coming and the message was pretty simple from the game officials: Its time for the Sedin Twins to start fighting some of their own battles if they expect to win a Stanley Cup.Marchand was typically fun after the game when asked why he decided to throw a series of stiff jabs at the face of Sedin: I felt like it.The Bruins outscored the Canucks 17-3 in the three Finals games at TD Garden, continuing a pattern of home-team domination during the series. Both teams are currently 3-0 on their home ice.
It doesn't bode well for the Bruins, since Game 7 is in Vancouver.
Its going both ways, said Tyler Seguin. If we want to win the Cup then were going to have to be the team that steals it. They didnt tonight, but theyre going to get their chance at home. Its going to be a good game.
Joe Haggerty can be reached at jhaggerty@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Joe on Twitter at http:twitter.comHackswithHaggs
Danny Picard is on twitter at http:twitter.comDannyPicard