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SLY
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[Regular Season Series]
DATE / SCORE / GWG
Mar 24 '11 / MTL 0 @ BOS 7 / Johnny Boychuk
Mar 08 '11 / BOS 1 @ MTL 4 / Lars Eller
Feb 09 '11 / MTL 6 @ BOS 8 / Michael Ryder
Jan 08 '11 / BOS 2 @ MTL 3 - OT / Max Pacioretty
Dec 16 '10 / BOS 3 @ MTL 4 / Brian Gionta
Nov 11 '10 / MTL 3 @ BOS 1 / Brian Gionta
Bruins: 2-3-1
Canadiens: 4-2-0
[Playoff Series Schedule]
Thursday, April 14 at Boston, 7:00 p.m. VS
Saturday, April 16 at Boston, 7:00 p.m. VS
Monday, April 18 at Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 21 at Montreal, 7:00 p.m. VS
*Saturday, April 23 at Boston, 7:00 p.m. VS
*Tuesday, April 26 at Montreal, TBD
*Wednesday, April 27 at Boston, TBD
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[THE SKINNY]
The only Original Six matchup in this year’s first round, Boston vs. Montreal promises to keep the fireworks going.
Simply put, these teams -- and their fan bases -- do not like each other. After a brief period of dormancy, the fires that stoke this red-hot rivalry are once again raging.
A pair of bitter incidents highlighted this year’s regular-season series -- a fight-filled blowout by the Bruins on Feb. 10 was followed by the Zdeno Chara hit on Max Pacioretty in a game on March 8.
Both those events have added fuel to perhaps the best rivalry in sports, one that will play out before two passionate and hostile fan bases for the third time in four years. Three springs ago, the Canadiens got past the Bruins in seven games, and the following year Boston swept the Montreal Canadiens before falling themselves, to Carolina, in the second round.
Last year, Boston was knocked out in the second round in catastrophic fashion against Philadelphia after taking a three-games-to-none lead, while Montreal made a surprising and inspiring run to the conference final.
Both have designs on another deep run this spring, but one will be handed another bitter chapter in this long-running rivalry.
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[BRUINS FORWARDS]
The Bruins have their share of players that can create offense.
Milan Lucic had a career year, topping the 30-goal plateau for the first time. Plus, they are deep down the middle with Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci dishing sweet passes to a collection of wingers that bring a varied skill set to the table.
The question remains, though, as to whether those wingers can score with enough regularity.
Nathan Horton had a great start to his first campaign in Boston, but has struggled on and off since. Michael Ryder has not flashed the goal-scoring touch that made him such a hot commodity a few years back. As a result, he is sliding down the team’s depth chart. Rookie Tyler Sequin has had his bright spots, but they have been less and less frequent as the season has worn on and there are suggestions he won’t have a starting spot when the playoffs arrive. Does veteran Mark Recchi have enough gas for another long playoff run?
The Bruins do have all the grit they will need, though. Daniel Paille, Brad Marchand and especially Shawn Thornton play the crash-bang, north-south game that seems to flourish as series become extended.
[CANADIENS FORWARDS]
No playoff team has scored fewer goals at even strength than the Canadiens, and that deficiency perfectly describes what has been the team’s weakest area this season.
The Canadiens' group of undersized forwards is led by Tomas Plekanec, one of the premier two-way players in the game, but who has struggled offensively during the second half of the season.
Plekanec has scored just 3 goals in 22 games since Feb. 10, a dry spell that can help explain the team’s rather pedestrian 7-7-1 finish to the season.
But while Plekanec has only slowed down of late, the Canadiens veteran triumvirate of Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta and Michael Cammalleri have been underwhelming all season.
Gomez just completed the worst statistical season of his 11-year career, not only failing to put up the offensive numbers with only 38 points in 80 games, but also putting up the worst plus/minus rating of his career at minus-15.
This group of veteran leaders will need to pick up their games in the playoffs if the Canadiens are to have any chance of success.
The loss of Max Pacioretty to a concussion and fractured vertebra on March 8 was a huge blow to the Canadiens as well, though he is back on his skates and the possibility does remain that he could return at some point in the playoffs, provided his teammates survive long enough to give him a chance.
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[BRUINS DEFENSEMEN]
Everybody talks about Zdeno Chara when the discussion turns to Boston’s defense. How could it not. Not only is Chara 6-foot-9, 255 pounds -- which would be hard to ignore at any time -- but he is among the game’s best defensemen, a perennial Norris Trophy candidate.
But the Bruins are far more than just Chara on the blue line. In fact, they have a good combination of youth and experience, as well as size and skill. In fact, none of Boston’s six regular defensemen possess a minus rating, combining for a plus-105.
Plus, Boston GM Peter Chiarelli made a good unit even better when he obtained veteran offensive defenseman Tomas Kaberle from Toronto. Kaberle has struggled a bit in Boston, but possesses a game-changing offensive arsenal.
[CANADIENS DEFENSEMEN]
The Canadiens have played most of the season without their two cornerstones on the blue line. Both Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges underwent reconstructive knee surgery, but their loss allowed for the emergence of rookie phenom P.K. Subban.
Gorges played his last game Dec. 26, which was also the fifth time in a span of 11 games where Subban was scratched by coach Jacques Martin, causing a huge uproar in Montreal.
Martin approached Subban upon his return to the lineup and asked him to cut down on his risky forays into the offensive zone and focus his energy on the defensive side of his game, pairing him with the steady veteran hand of Hal Gill.
Since then, the Gill-Subban duo has become Montreal’s shut-down defensive pairing at both even strength and on the penalty kill. Ironically, Subban’s focus on defense has led to an explosion on offense as well, as his 12 goals in 43 games since Jan. 1 is tops among NHL defensemen.
Montreal’s second pairing has a similar mix of offense and defense with James Wisniewski and Roman Hamrlik. The third pairing will have a rotation of veterans Brent Sopel (who is playing with a fractured arm), Jaroslav Spacek (who just returned after missing 23 games due to arthroscopic knee surgery), and Paul Mara.
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[BRUINS NETMINDING]
Tim Thomas is the leading candidate for the Vezina Trophy this year for many reasons.
He carried a sub-2.00 goals-against average into the final weekend of the season and finished at exactly 2.00, the lowest GAA in the League. Plus, his .938 save percentage was head and shoulders above any other regular goalie in the League this season.
But perhaps the biggest reason Thomas was on the tip of every hockey fan’s tongue was because of the way he compiled those numbers, as well as his 35 victories. Few goalies battle as hard as Thomas to keep the puck out of the net, a style that reflects the journey the veteran took in becoming a NHL No. 1 late in life.
Boston believes it is that willingness to battle and never give up on a play that makes Thomas the ideal goalie to be involved in an emotional series. Simply, his mental toughness is second to none.
Unlike Montreal, which rode No. 1 Carey Price heavily, Boston got backup Tuukka Rask 27 starts and has complete faith in the young Finn if something bad happens to Thomas.
[CANADIENS NETMINDING]
Just like a year ago when the Canadiens rode the hot hand of Jaroslav Halak to an Eastern Conference Finals appearance, the team’s chances for success in the playoffs sit squarely on the shoulders of Carey Price.
Montreal’s uncontested MVP, Price established a new franchise record by appearing in 72 games, erasing all doubts that General Manager Pierre Gauthier made the wrong decision when he decided to trade away Halak and stick with the team’s No. 5 selection in the 2004 Entry Draft.
The entire team’s philosophy and game-planning is centered around Price, who is relied upon to make the first save while his teammates focus their energy on sweeping away rebounds and trying to make sure those initial shots come from a safe distance.
The one concern is that Price was overused this season and, even though he is only 23, he may be too worn down to handle rigors of a long playoff run.
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has picked the Habs in 7.
