Boston, MA

Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien has credited 22-year-old defenseman Torey Krug for their five-game triumph over the New York Rangers that earned them a spot against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference final.

"You always hope that guys can come in and help your team out," said Julien. "There's no doubt he was magic for us in this series."

Krug's power-play goal at 3:48 of the second period tied the score at one before the Bruins finished the Rangers with a 3-1 victory to advance to the Eastern Conference final against the Penguins.

It was the fourth goal in five playoff games for the 5-8 Krug, who has played just three regular-season NHL games.

"Obviously, that was the turning point for us," Krug said. "It's a great feeling. I'm glad we could close it out in front of a great crowd. It was so loud in there I could barely hear myself think a couple of times. It was a great experience."

Milan Lucic credited the team's success to Krug's emergence and the outstanding play of fellow rookies Matt Bartkowski and Dougie Hamilton.

"When you see a guy like him who's able to step in and play the way he did in the series, it lifts you up and makes you play harder. You see how hard he plays and you try to thrive off that," Lucic said.

"He's got great skating legs, he jumps into the open areas and you saw the one-timers he had the last couple of games," teammate Dennis Seidenberg said. "They were very nice shots — perfect shots."

The Bruins scouted Krug feverishly during his collegiate career at Michigan State and then the organization ultimately signed him as a free agent on March 25, 2012.

He made his NHL debut and played two games at the end of the 2011-2012 season. He began his first full rookie season with the organization's AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, and was recalled to Boston once during the lockout-shortened 2012-2013 season.

"I understand how special this is. With that, I just go out there and try to play my game and contribute to the team any way possible. Every game, I seem to have been able to do that," Krug said.

 

Young Defenseman Torey Krug Shines for Bruins

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