By Joe Haggerty
CSNNE.com
MONTREALIt was an interesting dichotomy between the Bruins players and their coach, Claude Julien, on the eve of a close-out game at the Bell Centre in Game 6.Bs skaters like Milan Lucic that have lived through an epic collapse against the Philadelphia Flyers last season werent shying away from talking about losing four straight games in the playoffs. But Julien said that the Bruins have turned the page from last season and werent concerned with killer instinct or anything else when it comes to postseason talk.Its human nature to relax, you know, but successful teamsteams that have wonhave always been able to play their best games in those situations, and thats what were looking for from our team, said Gregory Campbell, talking about the natural snooze button that some hockey teams can hit when theyre up in a playoff series. We have to be at our best. It wont be easy, but were taking the same approach from the last three games.Pardon us for being hung up on it, coach, but there really are still some lingering question marks about the teams ability to close out teams in the playoffs until theyve done it a few more times with some oomph. Montreal was pushed to elimination twice last season during their unlikely run to the conference finals, and came back from dead multiple times this season after key injuries and crunching losses, so there will still be some life left in the Habs despite a pair of heartbreaking overtime losses back to back.The Habs were 5-1 in elimination games last season, and guys like Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta, Hal Gill and Tomas Plekanec have proven they arent going down with a final fight for their lives.We went through a lot in the Philly series last year, but Montreal went through a lot coming back in the Washington and Pittsburgh series," Lucis said. "Theyre not going to quit. Theres still a lot of fight left in that team. Theyre a desperate hockey club fighting for their lives, and theyre going to do whatever they can to win.
"Were prepared for their best game tonight. Itll be a fun hockey game to be a part of. Theyre gonna come out flying with the crowd and the city buzzing. If anything, we want to do whatever we can to have a good start.It wont be easy. The fourth one is always the toughest. Theres a saying, Will over Skill', and whoever is more willing to win is going to.Julien meanwhile bristled a bit at the killer instinct question and the mere mention of Philadelphia, and simply said that the team had turned the page on what happened against the Flyers last season. Its difficult to turn the page when its surrounding you with media questions, television commercials and people still referencing it in conversation, but thats what Julien is hoping to do in approach and actions prior to the potential elimination of Montreal in Game 6.I dont think Im going to get into that because Ill tell you what there are a lot of reasons that happened against the Flyers last year," Julien said. "Im not going to stand here and explain. I think enough has been said about that. I think right now, its about what we have this year. Most teams will say, 'turn the page and think about the present, not the past', and thats what were doing right now. Were thinking about the moment and not what was and what wasnt. Were trying to stay away from that.The best way to stay away from it would be to win by any means necessary on the ice of the Bell Centre, and keep any of that conversation from creeping in during a potential Game 7 at the Garden on Wednesday night. Montreal defenseman James Wisniewski and spark plug David Desharnais are both game-time decisions for the Canadiens after suffering injuries against the Bruins in Game 5 at TD Garden. Vancouver resident Milan Lucic said that he hopes for the sake of his home city that the Canucks take home Game 7 and vanquish the Chicago Blackhawksotherwise there could be some very unhappy Canucks fans taking to the streets of the beautiful city with mischief on their minds.My friends are kinda nervous right now, Lucic said. Itll be interesting to see what happens. For the citys sake I hope Vancouver doesnt lose because I could see some riots going on tonight if they do.
Joe Haggerty can be reached at jhaggerty@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Joe on Twitter at http:twitter.comHackswithHaggs.