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Guarantee? Tortorella says Blue Jackets will push Bruins to Game 7

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Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella says his team will be back in Boston for Game 7. Jeremy Roenick and Anson Carter explain what Columbus must do to make it happen.

John Tortorella didn’t use the word “guarantee” in making a confident statement about the Blue Jackets pushing the Bruins to a Game 7 after Boston took a 3-2 series lead in Game 5 on Saturday, but yeah, he pretty much guaranteed it.

An often-exasperated Torts said that he was happy with the overall intensity and efforts of his team, yet Tortorella also called for more game-breaking, stating that “we need more guys being creative and making plays.”

Torts also requested that reporters stopping asking “dumb questions,” and that basically put out The Bat Signal for something interesting to happen. Tortorella didn’t need much prompting to give a near-guarantee ...
“Things happen for a reason. I truly believe that,” Tortorella said. “We will be back here for Game 7.”

After a few questions, Tortorella was given a chance to backtrack in explaining that semi-guarantee. Instead, when asked why he thinks Columbus will win Game 6, he said “We will,” and “because we will.” So that’s a doubling down of sorts from Torts.

(You can watch Tortorella’s presser in the video above this post’s headline.)

This Blue Jackets - Bruins Round 2 series hasn’t included the nastiest of quotes, although the key characters have given the crowd what it wants. Brad Marchand stirred the pot, and also was unapologetic about throwing a cheap shot earlier in the series. And now Tortorella is giving us some precious bulletin board material.

The Bruins won Game 5 4-3 after a zany third period, one that featured a stretch that was downright dizzying. If that’s a sign that things are picking up to yet another level, and Torts is game to play along, then we’re in for a treat. In that case, just about everyone other than Bruins fans might hope that Tortorella isn’t just bold with this prediction, but actually correct.

Game 6 airs at 7 p.m. ET on Monday. You can watch Game 6 on NBCSN and stream it here.

James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.