The Bruins have plenty of veteran postseason experience in their dressing room, but there will be a few players making their Game 7 debuts on Tuesday night. Winger Joakim Nordstrom, as well as youngsters Brandon Carlo and Karson Kuhlman will be getting their first taste of a winner-takes-all atmosphere.
"Just excitement. A lot of fun watching the Game 7 in the past…the intensity in the building has been pretty cool. Really looking forward to it," said Carlo, who sat out last year's series with Toronto because of injury.
Cassidy is not concerned about the nerves that might come with being in a Game 7 situation for the first time, pointing to the team's veteran core - Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron have played in a combined 22 career Games 7 - and their ability to guide players through adversity and anxiety.
"I think the players in the room will have a much bigger voice, in terms of what your demeanor needs to be," said Cassidy. "As coaches, we've tried to prepare them for situational things that are gonna happen on the ice, what they did well in Game 6 that we can try to correct and what we did well that we can keep building on. Once they get on the ice, I believe the leadership group will have our guys in a good place."
Jake DeBrusk, who scored two goals against the Leafs in his first career Game 7 last spring, remembers the leadership group taking control before the third period when the B's were trailing by a goal.
"Those guys have a calming effect," said DeBrusk, who notched the winner early in the third.
