"Well, I think it helps when you have adversity to know that that's going to come, you've got to play through it, focus on the next shift or next game, whatever it is," said Cassidy. "But I think Carolina has some now, has built that over the years, maybe not the first go around we played them, but they've been right there every year now for three or four years. So, is it an advantage that we have a few older guys in there that have won? I'd say marginally.
"I'm sure their leadership group gets them through their tough times, you can tell by the way they've played. So, we'll take that that edge if there is in fact one. But at the end of the day, I don't think it's going to be a huge determining factor in this series."
Brad Marchand sees a team on the other side that has progressed significantly from the 2019 and 2020 teams that won just one game combined against the Bruins in those two series, with much of the credit going to the culture and system that Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour has put into place over the last four seasons.
"They started building that when Brind'Amour got in…the work ethic piece takes years to build," said Marchand. "I think this year was just the year where they got everybody on the team to buy in, they got the right personnel in there. They compete, they enjoy competing and you can see they're dialed in.
"I just think that their depth now and the guys they have on the back end, up front, all the way through the lineup, not only are they skilled, they're competitive and they work. They brought that work mentality to the group and this is the year they're seeing the pay off.
"It's a team you've got to give credit. They implemented a game plan and now you're seeing it come to life."
Ultimately, Marchand added, it's this time of the year when the best players separate themselves the most.
"That's the great thing about playoffs is it's a new season, now when you're playing for all the marbles you see the guys step up that can play at this level and this pace and you see the regular season players," said Marchand. "There's different situations that arise all the way through and different ways to manage them. Sometimes you see young guys step up that haven't been in playoffs and they take control of the situation and sometimes it's the veterans. It's all situations. I think that's why we love it. You never know how it's gonna play out. It's always a war."
