John Tortorella guarantees that Blue Jackets will be back for Game 7
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – MAY 04: Columbus Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella directs his team during the third period of Game Five of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden on May 04, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Bruins defeat the Blue Jackets 4-3. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella is calling his shot.
On the wrong end of a 4-3 final in Game 5 at TD Garden, and now down in their best-of-seven series three games to two, Tortorella has made it known that his team will be back in Boston for a do-or-die Game 7 next Wednesday night.
“We got some lines to get some offense,” Tortorella said when asked about his team’s play in the losing effort. “We found some lines that were going to give us some offense and we’ll get ready to play Game 7.”
It’s that last part that’s interesting, of course, as Tortorella has already moved beyond a must-win Game 6 and is looking forward to Game 7 at TD Garden. It’s the kind of confidence that’s to be expected from a coach that has a Stanley Cup win to his name (the Tampa Bay Lightning won it all with Tortorella behind the bench in 2004), as well a round-one victory that saw him pump his team up enough to allow them to sweep the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Lightning in four games last month.
“We will,” Tortorella said when asked what makes him confident in his Game 7 prediction. “Because we will.”
Bruins winger Brad Marchand offered a quick no when asked if he had any response to Tortorella’s guarantee.
Tortorella could be trusting the stats here, though, as the Bruins have dropped six straight Game 6 contests while holding a 3-2 series edge, with their last victory coming in 2010’s first-round series against the Sabres.
