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Bruins coach fears run-and-gun games vs. Pens

juliengetty

After avoiding questions about controversial hits, Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien gave the talk about all the rough stuff in Game 1 a big whatever, pointing to it merely being playoff hockey.* The pace of the play wasn’t to his liking, though.

While Boston survived runs of end-to-end hockey, Julien indicated that he wants his team to stick with its traditional, tighter defensive style.

“We got caught into a run-and-gun type of game. I think we all know we’re not a team that does well in those run-and-gun games,” Julien said. " ... Luckily, whatever little mistakes we made, Tukka was up to the task.”

There’s no doubt that the Bruins coach would prefer to take it slow, but Boston has shown an ability to light up the scoreboard on occasion. They scored a respectable 131 goals this season, memorably scored 20 goals in four games against the Philadelphia Flyers in a pretty wide-open 2011 playoff series and possess this postseason’s leading scorer in David Krejci.

Still, Julien would prefer this series to be a grinding, defensive struggle. Looking at the talent at the other end, it’s easy to see why.

* - Go ahead, imagine Julien doing the hand signal. It’s a fun mental image.