Ference elbow

I can’t say enough about the Bruins’ heart after tonight’s 4-1 victory that puts them in position for a Broad Street-sweeping on Friday night in Philly.

They lost David Krejci just minutes in after taking a clean, crushing hit from Mike Richards (who never seems to plant such hits on tough guys) and bottom pair D-man Adam McQuaid in the first period alone, leaving Claude Julien’s bench two men down with more than two-thirds of a game left.

But like they have all year, this Bs team just manned up and got it done. They blocked shots with their bodies and sticks. Scored timely goals. Got yeoman’s work from their defensemen, once again. And Tuukka Rask turned in yet another calming, dominating performance to push the Flyers to the brink.

The Bs went down 1-0 early but didn’t blink. Blake Wheeler’s sweet tip tied it then Miro Satan’s breakaway off a sweet Milan Lucic feed put them up for good. Thanks to Rask, the Bruins withstood a furious comeback attempt by Philly in the second that left the Flyers spent for the third. Mark Recchi stuck a dagger into his old team’s heart with a power-play doorstep tally early in the third that took the wind out of the team and crowd’s sails (so much so that a “Recchi Sucks” chant started) and Patty Bergeron’s empty-netter put a hat on it (of course, the Bs finally get the empty-netter when they’re an underdog).

Here they are, one game from the Conference Finals. All aboard. Bandwagon’s about to get crowded.

A few more Wednesday night nuggets for your post-game victory bowl…

*Jesus Christ, who cuts your hair, Peter Laviolette? Tell them to practice their clip work. Unless you’re going for the ‘30s gangster look, you might want to switch it up.

*In a fit of desperation, and perhaps trying to summon the comeback spirit of his namesake, the Flyers inserted back-up goalie Johan Backlund into the game in the third period to buy some time for their players after already using their timeout. He was quickly replaced by Brian Boucher in a move that could have easily backfired

*Sick fans, Philly, leaving with three minutes left, down two to the Bruins—a lead that they’ve been allergic to all year. Way to keep the faith. Go puke on some tweeners.

* Great quote heard during the game from the injured Ian LaPerriere when asked about coming back this season: “I can’t come back this year ya know…I just need my brain to heal.”

*Mark Recchi’s goal was his 54th career playoff goal.

*Johnny Boychuk had another monster game. Can’t say enough about the kid this postseason. And Andy Ference rediscovered his meanness in a great performance.

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