Territorial edge and possession time of the puck don't always translate to victory in hockey, but if nothing else, staying in the other team's end of the ice and holding the puck provided a pretty good idea of how the night should go.
For two games in Raleigh, N.C., the Bruins barely made their way into Carolina's end of the sheet, and the few times they did gain the offensive zone, they typically were headed out faster than Jenny Craig would bolt an all-you-can-eat dessert buffet.
The Bruins are headed back to Raleigh today, and their Game 6 battle tomorrow night against the Canes at the RBC Center, because they led in all the key categories in Game 5. They were more intense, more physical, better able to handle the puck and maintain offensive pressure, and the few times they had to rely on their goalie, Tim Thomas, he was better than Cam Ward.
"We obviously created more speed through the neutral zone," noted Bruins coach Claude Julien, his club stymied in Games 3 and 4 in Raleigh, where they fell into a 3-1 deficit in the best-of-seven series. "And we were more determined to get to pucks and win battles. It's a cliche that it's a game of inches, but we had to gain those inches, and overall were more determined tonight."
A far cry from two nights before in Carolina, following his club's demoralizing 4-1 loss, when Julien said his club picked the worst time of the year to play its worst hockey. Forty-eight hours later, the Bruins were back in synch, looking much more like the club that erased the Canes here in the first game of the series - back when their fans were dreaming of a sweep.
With the game scoreless, and the Bruins in control of nothing more than a 10-2 lead in shots, power forward Milan Lucic locked his laser stare on Canes defenseman Dennis Seidenberg and drove him hard into the corner to Ward's right. It was everything the Bruins couldn't do during their stay in Carolina, Lucic providing one of those "statement" body slams that confirm to the other side that it is in for an evening of serious physical play.
No more were the Bruins going to tolerate, or be embarrassed by, the Carolina defensemen making their simple, quick-transition passes, with Boston's forecheckers standing there, flat on double-runners. When Lucic made contact, the sellout crowd of 17,565 voiced its appreciation, and for the remainder of the evening the Canes barely made a peep - unless one were to count the ugly slash to Zdeno Chara's ankle that Jussi Jokinen delivered in the final minute of the second period. The Bruins made their point with strong physical play, while the Canes opted for cheap stick work, with the officiating crew caught napping on the malicious Jokinen hack.
"Just a D-to-D pass there, and I was able to get to him," said Lucic, musing over the big hit on Seidenberg. "And the fans responded to it. We did a better job of getting on the puck and keeping it in the zone."
In very short order, the Bruins saw the value of determined, physical play when Seidenberg, no doubt still stinging from the big hit, was whistled for slashing. And only seven seconds later, after Marc Savard won a draw in the same circle where Lucic lined up his big hit, Mark Recchi tipped home a Chara long-range wrister for a power-play goal and a 1-0 lead.
"We were trying to do the job physically in the other games, too," said Bruins defenseman Dennis Wideman. "We did a better job of getting through the neutral zone, a better job of getting it in there and putting on some pressure."
Meanwhile, the Canes were absent their lengthy stretches of puck possession in Boston's end. On one shift in Carolina in Game 3, the pesky Chad LaRose motored around at will, skating around the likes of Chara and Aaron Ward. There was no statement check by the Bruins that night. The same in Game 4. The only statement the Bruins appeared to be making was that their season would end with their game in disarray and their focus nonexistent.
Thomas, who went the first 11 minutes without seeing a shot, made his statement just a little more than two minutes after the Recchi tip brought the 1-0 lead. In one of the rare instances when the Canes were able to maintain possession, ex-Bruin Sergei Samsonov ripped off a shot from right of the slot, about a 25-footer Thomas never saw.
"That was a positioning save," said Thomas.
Thomas deflected the puck to his right, where an onrushing Joni Pitkanen labeled the rebound for the open left side of the net. Thomas, though, flashed over and turned it back. Two huge saves, only two seconds apart, at 17:13 and 17:15.
"I saw Pitkanen coming in and I was going to do everything I could to stop it," said Thomas.
The series now stands 3-2 in Carolina's favor. It is the 21st time in playoff history that the Bruins have tried to battle back from a 3-1 series deficit. They stand 0 for 20, and only once (last spring vs. Montreal) have they ever been able to make it to a Game 7.
"Hopefully. we've put some pressure onto them," said Thomas. "Hopefully, emotion can carry you a bit, but ultimately it's up to us to carry over that emotion."
Last night was a start. A good one.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com. 
