"Given that the host team, HC Liberec, didn't really put up much of a fight, it's not necessarily easy to evaluate the performance of the Bruins in their final preseason game yesterday. Then again, for a B's team that scored the fewest goals in the NHL last season, any 7-1 explosion has to be a positive step - especially since it came just four days before the start of the vitally important 2010-11 season. "You want to finish on a high note, you want to finish with all pistols firing, and we did that," said Bruins forward Blake Wheeler. "I think everyone is feeling really good about themselves. We have a few good practices to get ready for Phoenix, and hopefully we can carry this over." The Bruins would love to pick up right where they left off yesterday when they face the Coyotes in the opener Saturday at the O2 Arena in Prague. "We stayed with it, that's the value in this game," said Bruins forward Mark Recchi. "We could have played down to their level. Instead, we rose to ours, which is important." The highest-level player on the ice, by a wide margin, was B's center Patrice Bergeron, who piled up two goals and three assists. The B's also got goals from Nathan Horton, Jordan Caron, Tyler Seguin, Greg Campbell and Wheeler. The keys were speed and aggressive forechecking that were simply more than Liberec could handle. In practice this week, the Bruins stressed quick puck movement and transitions, generating more speed and plays through the middle. They looked mighty good at it last night. The B's also did a strong checking job through neutral ice, their pressure creating at least two turnovers that led to goals. "What we get out of this is a lot of confidence," said Wheeler. "I think everyone feels good about their game now. We moved the puck well, we executed the things we've been working on in practice really well. "We talked a few days ago about having to get on the same page. You can see that now that guys (are) thinking about where the puck is going - they know where it's going. You don't have to wait, you can just react. Everyone is going up the ice with a lot of speed." The Bruins clearly had a better approach to this game than they did in Belfast, when they likely didn't take their opponent all that seriously. Maybe having had problems with that team of nobodies taught the B's a lesson, because they came out playing hard last night against an opponent they expected to be much tougher." Read more: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...01006bs_click_in_exhibition_all_guns_blazing/
