BOSTON – The big news out of Wednesday’s morning skate was the news everyone expected to hear: Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane were reunited on the Chicago Blackhawks’ top line.
Ice-cold Bryan Bickell will skate on the left wing with the two ‘Hawks offensive leaders, in hopes of getting his unexpected playoff run of eight goals in 20 games back on the tracks.
“I think right now, especially scoring only one goal in the past two games, usually things change,” Kane said. “If that’s the line we’re going with I’ll be happy to play with those guys.
“It’s a new challenge, a new game,” Kane said. “We haven’t played together in the past three games so it’d be nice to start off, get some good shifts going, get some shifts in their end, get that confidence up.”
Kane scored a hat trick in the final game of the Western Conference final against the Los Angeles Kings, with Toews as his centreman. They ended the series in classic overtime fashion, with a textbook two-on-one goal that sent Chicago to this Cup.
In the Stanley Cup final, Kane has just one assist in three games. Toews and Bickell have both gone pointless through three games versus Boston.
“It’s the Stanley Cup final, everything is going to be scrutinized – every little shift, every period,” Toews said. “Of course there is going to be more pressure.
“We had some success against L.A. Whatever the combinations are, we’ve got to find a way to score. We have confidence as a line. With Bicks and Kaner we can make things happen.”
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Tyler Seguin has had his own struggles for Boston throughout these playoffs, with just one goal. But the feeling is the kid drafted No. 2 after Taylor Hall back in 2010 is ready to break out.
He has an assist in all three games in this final.
“Maybe he hasn’t got that goal or those goals, but he’s got some assists, made some great plays on other ones that they haven’t scored,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said.
“He’s forechecked, done well in the battles, all the things we ask him to do. It’s about winning battles (which) means coming out with the puck. Whichever way you have to do it, you go out and do it. I think he’s done a great job of getting in there and creating those situations to this is advantage.”
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Marian Hossa did not take the morning skate, but is expected to play right wing on the second line tonight with Patrick Sharp and Michal Handzus.
Former Blackhawk Tony Amonte, now a studio analyst in Chicago, openly questioned Hossa’s pain threshold on Tuesday.
“He’s not the guy with the highest pain threshold in the NHL,” Amonte said. “If you look back to his stats and throughout his career, he usually plays about 60 games and takes about 20 or 30 off every year, just to make sure he’s fresh for the postseason. So he’s not a guy that will play through a lot of injuries.”
The Hawks, of course, jumped to Hossa’s defence.
“It’s easy for guys on the outside to voice their opinion, they have no idea what’s going on,” said Jamal Mayers, who would likely play in Game 4 if Hossa can’t. “It’s unfortunate in the sense that the body of work Marian has shown and played through, there’s no question guys support him 100 per cent. And if he can play, he’ll play.
“Since I’ve been here he’s been our best player. Certainly we miss him, need him back in.”
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Daniel Paille was an unlikely bet to score back-to-back game winners in this series, but the media member holding his name has won the game-winning goal pool in both Games 2 and 3. Ka-ching!
The last guy to pay on back-to-back nights in a Cup final? How about Fernando Pisani, the Edmonton Oilers red-hot winger back in the 2006 final against Carolina.
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How dominant have the Boston Bruins been since dispatching Toronto in Round 1?
Boston is 11-2 in its last 13 games – dating back to Game 6 of Round 1 – with both losses coming in overtime. The Bruins have outscored opponents 40-21 in that span. They’ve won seven straight games at home, outscoring opponents 21-10, and haven’t allowed a goal in their last 186:28 of play at TD Garden.
• Since going to the best-of-seven format in 1939, teams leading the final 2-1 have gone on to capture the Stanley Cup 83 per cent of the time (39-8).
• The referees for tonight’s game are Dan O’Halloran and Wes McCauley. The linesmen are Jay Sharrers and Pierre Racicot.
