Marc Savard has taken a lot of flak for his lack of playoff experience. Widely considered one of the best passers in the league, Savard made no mistake in converting a great feed from Dennis Wideman to pull the Bruins to within a game of the Canadiens in their best of seven series.
It marked the second straight game that Boston has outplayed the Habs and this time they got the win. Tim Thomas was brilliant in making several stops through the third period and overtime to give his team a chance. Carey Price sparkled at the other end of the ice and couldn't be faulted on either goal.
There are some causes for concern for Habs fans. Mike Komisarek is back, but still hasn't looked like the shutdown guy that was drawing comparisons to Scott Stevens during the regular season. Saku Koivu and Francis Bouillon continue to recover from injuries suffered late in the season and their absence is becoming more evident. Mark Streit was brutal on the coverage of Bruins wrecking ball Milan Lucic on the first goal and it's becoming more and more obvious that he's more suited to playing forward when the going gets rough.
The Habs first line and power play were shut down big-time last night, due in part to Claude Julien having last change and also to the Canadiens inability to get pucks into the slot and high percentage shooting lanes when it counted. Adjustments need to be made.
Tomorrow night's game is HUGE, they say a playoff series doesn't really start until the home team loses a game. The Canadiens need to get this one started tomorrow night.
Showing posts with label Boston Bruins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boston Bruins. Show all posts
Monday, April 14, 2008
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Gameday: Boston Bruins
Montreal Canadiens (8-3-3) at Boston Bruins (7-5-2) 7:35pm
The Canadiens begin a four-game road trip tonight in Boston.
It looks like there will be two twenty year old goaltenders between the pipes as Carey Price goes for the Habs, and Tuuka Rask appears to be Claude Julien's choice to make his first NHL start.
The Habs have beat the Bruins four times in a row. They got off to a hot start, winning five of their first seven games but have gone 2-3-2 since.
Montreal has yet to trail after the first period through 14 games this season, outscoring its opponents 16-7 in the opening 20 minutes.
The Habs have won six of their last eight games.
If the first part of the season is any indication, the crowd at TD Banknorth Garden shouldn't be a factor. With the Patriots re-writing history, the Red Sox winning another World Series and Boston College vying for a National Championship, no one in Beantown seems to have time for the Bruins.
The Canadiens begin a four-game road trip tonight in Boston.
It looks like there will be two twenty year old goaltenders between the pipes as Carey Price goes for the Habs, and Tuuka Rask appears to be Claude Julien's choice to make his first NHL start.
The Habs have beat the Bruins four times in a row. They got off to a hot start, winning five of their first seven games but have gone 2-3-2 since.
Montreal has yet to trail after the first period through 14 games this season, outscoring its opponents 16-7 in the opening 20 minutes.
The Habs have won six of their last eight games.
The Bruins, meanwhile, have scored just four goals in their last three games, and have been held to two goals or fewer nine times in their 14 contests. They are tied for 28th in the league with 32 goals on the season.
The Bruins played in Buffalo last night and dropped the game 2-1 in overtime. The Canadiens need to capitalize on the possibly tired Bruins by coming out of the gates strong.If the first part of the season is any indication, the crowd at TD Banknorth Garden shouldn't be a factor. With the Patriots re-writing history, the Red Sox winning another World Series and Boston College vying for a National Championship, no one in Beantown seems to have time for the Bruins.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
What a Night
So The Red Sox are in the World Series. The Patriots are the most dominant NFL team I've ever seen. The Bruins started the season 5-2-0 and strutted into the Bell Centre on a four game win streak.
Boston is riding high on sports glory right now, but the Cristobal Huet and the Habs brought their not-so-beloved Bruins back down to earth with a resounding thud. Huet improved to 6-2-0 against the Bruins in his career, kept the Habs in the game early, and then the forwards took over and put on a passing clinic in what ended up as a 6-1 blowout.
The Canadiens were outshot 32-20 in the contest, but that's where the Bruins dominance ended. Marc Savard looked like an angry punk with a big contract, Zdeno Chara looked like Larry Bird on skates and Manny Fernandez stopped 14 of 20 shots. People had been busy jumping on the Bruins bandwagon for the last few days following their convincing win streak, but the team picked to finish last in the East by many of the "experts" was true to form last night, losing to the Habs for the 13th time in their last 17 meetings.
Alex Kovalev was spectacular. Dominating the flow of the game, especially on the power play. Saku Koivu and Tomas Plekanec were winning faceoffs all night. The Canadiens were passing the puck so fast at times that I felt my head spinning just watching them. Brisebois, Grabovski and Steve Begin all scored highlight-reel goals.
Breezer actually had what I consider one of his weaker performances this year, but his teammates picked him up, and all four lines played a great game. This team is scary when they get confident and use their speed. Cristobal Huet is starting to look like the magical guy who led the league in save percentage two years ago and was an Eastern Conference all-star last year. Here's hoping he can keep it up all year. Carey Who?
Just kidding. The Habs have a huge weekend coming up with back-to-back road games against two hungry and gifted teams, the Hurricanes and the Penguins. Expect Carey Price to be in goal for one of the two games.
It's always nice to see the Canadiens win a game that doesn't come down to the last ten seconds. Don't expect too many like that but enjoy them.
Boston is riding high on sports glory right now, but the Cristobal Huet and the Habs brought their not-so-beloved Bruins back down to earth with a resounding thud. Huet improved to 6-2-0 against the Bruins in his career, kept the Habs in the game early, and then the forwards took over and put on a passing clinic in what ended up as a 6-1 blowout.
The Canadiens were outshot 32-20 in the contest, but that's where the Bruins dominance ended. Marc Savard looked like an angry punk with a big contract, Zdeno Chara looked like Larry Bird on skates and Manny Fernandez stopped 14 of 20 shots. People had been busy jumping on the Bruins bandwagon for the last few days following their convincing win streak, but the team picked to finish last in the East by many of the "experts" was true to form last night, losing to the Habs for the 13th time in their last 17 meetings.
Alex Kovalev was spectacular. Dominating the flow of the game, especially on the power play. Saku Koivu and Tomas Plekanec were winning faceoffs all night. The Canadiens were passing the puck so fast at times that I felt my head spinning just watching them. Brisebois, Grabovski and Steve Begin all scored highlight-reel goals.
Breezer actually had what I consider one of his weaker performances this year, but his teammates picked him up, and all four lines played a great game. This team is scary when they get confident and use their speed. Cristobal Huet is starting to look like the magical guy who led the league in save percentage two years ago and was an Eastern Conference all-star last year. Here's hoping he can keep it up all year. Carey Who?
Just kidding. The Habs have a huge weekend coming up with back-to-back road games against two hungry and gifted teams, the Hurricanes and the Penguins. Expect Carey Price to be in goal for one of the two games.
It's always nice to see the Canadiens win a game that doesn't come down to the last ten seconds. Don't expect too many like that but enjoy them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)