The box score says that Kevin Shattenkirk played 10:29 Saturday night with one shot on goal, two hits, a block, and a plus-1 rating.
The box score does not show the veteran defenseman’s biggest contribution to the Bruins’ 2-1 Game 7 win over the Maple Leafs, because that actually came on Friday night.
The Bruins did not sleep in their own beds Friday despite being at home. The whole team stayed at a local hotel as part of a preparation shakeup designed to help turn around their postseason struggles at home by mimicking life on the road, where Boston has had more success.
The Bruins did not practice Friday, but they did hold a team meeting and video session at the hotel. And at the end of it, Shattenkirk stood up and addressed the team.
“Shatty gave the group an incredible speech,” captain Brad Marchand said, “that really allowed us to kind of settle down and understand where we were at and how we had to play and what we needed to believe to get the job done.”
This is one of the main reasons general manager Don Sweeney signed Shattenkirk last summer. On the ice, they wanted him to compete for third-pairing minutes and help the power play.
Off the ice, they wanted him to help replace the leadership that went out the door with the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci and the departure of Nick Foligno. He has 14 years of NHL experience and a Stanley Cup to his name.
Shattenkirk has done that, even when he found himself in and out of the lineup at times this season. There was perhaps no better example of that than this series. Shattenkirk was a healthy scratch for Game 5. A less confident, less experienced, less respected player might feel like he’s not the right guy to speak up a few nights later before Game 7.
But Shattenkirk is all of those things, as evidenced by Marchand going out of his way to highlight his speech.
We don’t know exactly what Shattenkirk’s message was, but we can probably get a decent idea based on what the Boston University product said after Saturday's morning skate about the pressure of a Game 7.
“I think you just meet it head on,” Shattenkirk said. “I'm fortunate that I've been through high-pressure moments in my career and to some Game 7s, so you learn. I think it's my job to help some of the younger guys tonight and make sure that, again, they meet it head on, they have fun with it. You don't run from it.”
In Games 5 and 6, the Bruins looked like a team that wanted to run from the pressure. In Game 7, they met it head on and are now moving on to the second round, which begins Monday night in Florida against the Panthers.
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