As the playoff seeds began taking shape, it seemed destiny that the Bruins would meet the Canadiens in the first round. With the rivalry’s tensions the highest they had been in quite some time, it was only fitting that the two teams would meet in the postseason. 

Yet as the standings were solidified, the real story was what would happen if both the No. 3 Bruins and the No. 2 Flyers advanced to the second round. It would be the second time in as many seasons that the two teams met in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and given the way things had gone a season ago, the story lines would be aplenty. 

Naturally, when the B’s eliminated the Habs and the Flyers bounced the Sabres in the quarterfinals, the Bruins had to deal with reminder after reminder of what happened the last time the teams met in the playoffs. To many, the Bruins, who infamously blew a 3-0 series lead as well as a 3-0 lead in Game 7, would be on a course to avenge what happened last year. The series would be an emotional one, and for Boston, it would be all about redemption. 

The Bruins, of course, downplayed any talk of that. From the moment they closed out the Habs, they maintained that they were not spending their time thinking about making up for their 2010 collapse. 

It took four games to realize that maybe they were telling the truth. Everyone was expecting a big emotional series, yet the Bruins kept their emotions in check. Andrew Ference called it a “business-like” approach prior to Game 4, and the B’s certainly didn’t look like an embarrassed squad trying to right the wrongs of playoffs past. Instead, they simply appeared to be members of a focused, diligent team that made very quick work of the Flyers in a four-game sweep. Players said how nice it was to get past Philadelphia given what happened the last time, but history simply wasn’t a driving force behind the sweep. 

“We just took it one game at a time,” captain Zdeno Chara said after the game. “Last year wasn't even in our thoughts or talks in this room. Seriously, we were just taking it one game at a time, one period at a time, and trying to focus on our game and the job we had to do. That's the best and healthiest approach, I think.”

Sure, it’s the healthiest approach to take, and for a team that’s back in a 0-0 series, it’s one they’ll need to take if they want to get past Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference finals. Yet there’s another obvious reason nobody mentioned as to why this postseason hasn’t been about erasing ugly memories. Though the Bruins are taking baby steps, what they ultimately eye is much bigger than forgetting the way their season ended a year ago. It’s bigger than anything else, in fact. It’s the biggest thing any player could play for, and the B’s are now eight wins away from it. 

Yes, the Stanley Cup talk can now begin. The B’s aren’t quite close enough to taste it, but they’re closer than they’ve been in a long time (19 years) and that counts for something. They could have made this postseason about a lot of things, but their determination throughout the Philadelphia series made it pretty clear that they’ve only got one thing on their mind, and it’s something that is rather feasible if they keep it up. The one-period-at-a-time strategy is something that has helped them inch their way toward the coveted trophy, and if they want to achieve the desired result, they’ll stick to it.

“You have a big picture, a big end goal, which can be the Stanley Cup, but you can’t learn an hour in advance how you are going to get there, how you are going to accomplish that,” Tim Thomas said after the game. “You have to play the games and look at it on the smaller scale of things.” 

The small scale has worked for the Bruins, because the prize at the end is bigger than any reputation repair they could have performed. 

Now, unless a certain Jumbo-sized Shark happens to find his way back near the Atlantic Ocean in a couple of weeks, it will be hard to spin any game from here on out as being about anything but a certain trophy that lacks the names of Chara, Thomas and Patrice Bergeron, among many others. The B’s may be taking it 20 minutes at a time, but it’s getting them closer to finally bringing them the ultimate prize. 

NO BERGERON? IF SO, BIG PROBLEM

Bruins fans had good reason to celebrate on Friday night, but their road to the Cup may have hit a snag, depending on how things stand with Patrice Bergeron. The 25-year-old, who leads the Bruins with 12 postseason points, left Game 4 in the third period following a hit from Claude Giroux and did not return to the game. 

Claude Julien offered no update on the center following the game, though Peter Chiarelli could update the media Saturday morning in Wilmington. 

If it’s something minor, the B’s could benefit from the Western teams taking their time in settling their series. After all, the Lightning will have been off for a day longer than the Bruins when their series does start, and if they don’t start until the middle of next week, Bergeron might have a couple extra days to heal. 

If Bergeron is to miss games, it will be a huge blow to the Bruins. Tyler Seguin would finally get in the lineup, but the lines would see some tweaking (Chris Kelly centered the Bergeron line for the majority of the third period) without arguably Boston’s best player these playoffs. The B's lost David Krejci last season and saw it play a major factor in their demise. They can only hope they don't lose Bergeron.