If we're gonna play in the playoffs, that's what it's gonna be like. So we've got to get comfortable. We gotta get comfortable being a little uncomfortable at times. That's what the game is. - Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky
I think it's been all season like this. For me, it's just the way it is. It is the Premier League. It's a bit of war in the 16 [metre penalty area]. It's also one of my strengths, so sometimes I like the challenge as well.
They are just comfortable with each other. Everything that we've been doing - it is a year later, but the guys remember, obviously. It was a pretty complete effort. I thought every line contributed: the defense, right through to the goalie. It was one of those games where you weren't sure what was going on early, and then a couple of the big boys - Wilson and Bennett - really kind of physically pushed that game a bit in our direction.
This game opened exactly how you'd like to see the first game of a big tournament start, with some physical engagement. It began in warmup with Tom Wilson's antics patrolling the center-ice line, and then it carried over to start the game. Two of Canada's best players, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, set the tone with two big hits - first, a MacKinnon reverse hit on Michael Kempny, and then McDavid absolutely lined up and destroyed Lukas Sedlak.
"I think it's everybody, honestly, not only me," Zadorov said of Boston being tougher to play against. "It was funny. Before the game, I was scrolling through my YouTube and then I saw the highlights from the Stanley Cup Final games in 2011 against Vancouver. I watched all of them, and it was a nasty, a really physical, really hard to play against team. "So I think that's the identity we want to bring back to Boston."
Midway through the second period, while pinching down under the goal line to supplement his New York Islanders' attack in the Boston Bruins' zone, Schaefer got mixed up with veteran defenseman Nikita Zadorov, who did not hide his displeasure with sharing the ice with the impressive rookie blue liner. Zadorov first sent a high cross-check near the face of Schaefer, toppling the 18-year-old to the ice.
"Fun but also a bit nice to have it done now," Backstrom told Gelfe Dagblad after the game, as translated by Google Translate. "I hope we can play a more complete match, it would feel good for the confidence before the SHL premiere next Saturday."
