BOSTON (AP) - Offense was the overriding theme at practice Friday, a day after the Bruins outlasted the Washington Capitals, 1-0, in Game 1 of their first round, Eastern Conference series.
Surprise, surprise.
After all, both goaltenders - Boston's Tim Thomas and Washington's Braden Holtby - stood out in the opener, and the teams combined for 37 blocked shots, as well. It was a defensive standoff, for sure, until Chris Kelly's goal in overtime gave Boston its third straight playoff win, dating back to last year's Stanley Cup Finals.
But even the victors saw room for improvement.
"You're going to hear the losing team say 'whether we lose in overtime, or 10 to nothing, it's still a loss.' So we say the same thing about a win," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "A win's a win. I thought we did a pretty good job defensively, didn't give them a ton of scoring chances."
Game 2 is Saturday.