Welcome back: Six years after Game 1 slip-up, grown-up Krug is Game 1 star

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Tuukka Rask is used to talking about Torey Krug after Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. 

"We had the game. We were up 3-1 in the third, and then a terrible turnover leads to a second goal, a tough bounce leads to the tying goal, and we just gave it away."

- Rask after Game 1 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final 

"He's the type of guy that never gives up."

- Rask after Game 1 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final 

Both of those quotes were about Torey Krug. 

Boston's goalie did little to hide his frustration with a call-up making a rookie mistake on the biggest stage back in 2013. It was the first low moment for an otherwise splendid run for the undrafted free agent. Krug had scored four goals in five games against the Rangers, held his own against the Eastern Conference finals, then boom: With the Bruins on their way to a Game 1 victory against the Blackhawks on the road, he turned it over in his own end, leading to a Dave Bolland goal. 

The next day, the Bruins had media availability at their hotel, with select players being made accessible to reporters. That Krug was one of them was an early sign that the Bruins had a character player on their hands. 

Fast forward six years, and you saw another Monday night. After being tangled up in front of Boston's net with David Perron, who ripped Krug's helmet off, the undersized defensemen eventually broke loose, skated the length of the ice to get into the play and gave Blues rookie Robert Thomas his own welcome-to-the-Stanley-Cup moment. 

On Sunday, I asked Krug about being in the Cup Final again as an established veteran. He remarked that he'd actually just spoken to his teammates about it and that it felt like "a lifetime ago." 

"The perspective is way different, to be honest," Krug said. "You don't want to get in the way the first time. You want to be a difference-maker, but you realize that there's leaders on the team and they're going to be the guys you try to follow, but you also have to make sure you're doing your job. It's tough. 

"Now this part of it, being on the opposite end, you just want to make sure guys are comfortable. I'm so confident in my own game and my preparation that on the ice it won't be too much of an issue. I can just worry about that, but you just worry about the other guys, the young guys, making sure that they're ready to go and they're comfortable." 

That Krug came out and not only turned in one of the most aesthetically pleasing hockey hits in NHL history (not hyperbole; fight me), but was one of the Bruins' most important players (he led the team in ice time by a wide margin with 25:24, nearly four minutes more than Charlie McAvoy, the next guy), is no surprise. Krug is as much a gamer as there is on the roster, and he'd be wearing a letter if he were on most teams in the league. 

"I kind of got dragged along that first ride," Krug said Sunday. "When you're in the moment, you think, 'Wow, we have the team where I can be here every year. Year in, year out, we're going to have a chance to go to the Final and all of a sudden a year or two goes by, we miss the playoffs and then you're wondering if you're ever going to get back there again."

The years between trips to the Cup Final probably hammered home just how rare an opportunity the Bruins now have. Six years after that 22-year-old prospect slipped up at the challenge, a 28-year-old core player ran it over. 

 

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