INSTANT REACTION: Bruins take Game 1 in 3-1 win over Florida Panthers

three to one final let's roll presented by Town Fair Tire very good Tony your thoughts on tonight's

game

what did you see a typical Boston Bruin

game

just a great team All season it was historic watching this team all year how they score goals how they are on the power play they did everything they did in a regular season they did it again tonight they seemed to be the fastest team they could ever lose pucks they could win foot races they were the most physical team at times during this game they seemed to have every aspect of their game working in full swing right now they're a hard team to beat no it's interesting Tony I told felger and I went in I said wow uh second period Florida really showed me something. there they really competed and then they gave up that goal there that great debrusk goal late in the second period but it was much more competitive than that what did you see from Florida tonight and on the other hand is there anything from Boston? that was concerning in that particular period, not really in the second period.

I think they had their best kill of the night just five minutes into the game in the second period. They were able to get through a big kill Florida couldn't to generate anything they didn't get the puck in the zone they couldn't set it up offensively and they had no shots at the net so Boston made the game their whole game is so complete their PK It's excellent, his power plays well. five on five is solid their defense is coming up to help the Bruins offensively and when they get chances they are putting them in obviously the goal tonight was probably the difference in the game you get a bad goal like that it always comes back . to bite you ok ok not to worry about how I think they had 10 shots on the net they had a lot of shots but they had 10 shots on the net in the middle of the game you can see it right there they had nine they had nine net shots when Bergeron scored that was his 10th and I think he stayed right at 10 until past the midpoint of the second period and you know right after he scored they cut off ESPN I don't know what they did on SN , ESPN cut off. away to the Bruins bench and immediately I could see Jim Montgomery, I think he was pointing and talking to Charlie Coyle, who just before that had circled the area and had a real shot and didn't shoot and I think what Montgomery I was trying to tell the players was to give Neta some shots to this guy, you know, he's a 30-year-old journeyman, this Alex Leon, he's an AHL goaltender and I don't know if they pushed him enough. tonight Tony well they just wanted to keep throwing pucks into the net that's what it looked like in the third period just putting everything into the net when you let the goal go you're always doubting yourself as a goalie the Bruins I just wanted to keep that pressure going but you know Boston is a superior team right now at this point in this series and we know it's just one game but the way they played all season this year was just amazing, It was amazing to watch and it's going to be even better to watch in this postseason if they can keep up this level of play that they have it's crazy you haven't been able to talk bad about anyone Mike every year oh by the way not me I think they were dramatically better than Florida tonight.

I don't think Florida played hardball. The Bruins' last two goals were kind of rubbish, but they're scrappy goals and that's what you need in the playoffs. getting dirty targets not all of them are going to be pretty but you know having guys like bertuzzi up front you get folino back you have some guys you could work on the lineup like i talked about before putting zaka in the middle and if bergeron's just have so many tools right now in their toolbox and everyone seems to be running at full throttle right now they're running at an incredible rate everyone is contributing every player is playing the way they need to play and that's why Boston The Bruins have been so successful during the regular season and hopefully now during the playoffs now it's hilarious you said michael felger can't badmouth the brewers that was sarcasm you know he knows he has and he may not have been bad joking with him, but we've been talking a lot about this historic regular season, uh, for the Bruins and my friend says I can't say they're the greatest team of all time, okay, they're not the greatest of all time. team what are they now you said they have depth and they have dirty targets and they get the job done but what if historically the record says they are the best but where do you place them? you've been watching hockey and playing hockey for a long time, yeah it's going to be hard to do it again next year.

I think you know you have, you look back at the Montreal Canadiens back in the day when you look at the Boston Bruins, those teams are amazing, obviously there were a lot fewer teams and a lot more talent on these teams, but to have a season like this, I don't think I've been involved in 17 years in the NHL with a team that was able to win like that and to have that much success during the regular season is unheard of and especially in this day and age with parity throughout the NHL right now do you think put more pressure on them?

I think so I really do and when you look back at the President's Trophy winners who won the Stanley Cup you have to go 10 years to look at the Blackhawks in 2012. 13 I think the Blackhawks won the President's Trophy and this cup familiar. First year with the Rangers, yeah, and what happened and we lost in the second round, Mario Lemieux happened, so did you feel that pressure? We're supposed to make it to the Stanley Cup Final and you know that's how all the Bruin fans think when they walked onto that court tonight, we're going to the Stanley Cup Final right now, but what about the players? ?

The players feel that way because I said this a while ago, one thing I haven't noticed about the players, just from a distance, is that they don't seem to really give in to the pressure, the pressure doesn't really seem to be around them, maybe as appears to be Montgomery. laid back guy do you think the players feel any pressure because i don't see it no i haven't seen it yet this year obviously it's early in the playoffs there's going to be some adversity at some point for this team obviously they've had a hard time with the carolina Hurricanes in recent years throughout this regular season, I think that's the team that's going to give them the most trouble because they're as structured as the Boston Bruins, but they have a historic season like the way they've done this year they're just a team that's confident that they know they can get the job done and that's the way it looks every time they step on the ice is we're going to do this no matter what the score is