Three Possible First Round Playoff Matchups

With eight games remaining on their schedule and the playoffs just around the corner, it's time to look ahead to the possible 1st round match-ups. Currently Montreal leads the NHL with 100 points following last night's overtime loss in Nashville. Very likely, Montreal will be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in the Eastern conference. I will look at the three most likely match-ups for Montreal (in no particular order).



Washington Capitals (currently 7th in the Eastern Conference)

So far Montreal has swept the season series with one game left to be played in Montreal on April 2nd.

Why Montreal would win this series

The Habs have more depth in their line-up thanks to the genius moves made by GM Marc Bergevin. Also, Montreal can rely on the experience of shutting down Steven Stamkos, comparable to the monumental task of shutting down Ovechkin. This season, Montreal has seemed hungry to excel in the NHL after going deep in last year's playoffs. I just don't think Washington has the depth to beat Montreal four times.

Why Washington could win this series

One big reason Montreal could fall is the presence of superstar Alex Ovechkin. Ovie has the skill to single-handedly take over a game. There aren't too many players with the kind of impact on a game as Ovechkin. Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and TB's Stamkos are two other players that are game changers. Montreal cannot give Ovechkin any time or space or he will burn them. Another major factor to consider is the man behind the Capitals bench in Barry Trotz. Trotz has a reputation for coaxing a lot out of a little. He's so good with fringe players that he could squeeze water from a stone.

Predicted result: Montreal in 6 games

Boston Bruins (currently in 9th place in the Eastern Conference; one point back of the 2nd WC spot)

This is the second likeliest first round opponent for the Habs. Montreal swept the season series vs. the Bruins. I don't expect this one will end in a sweep. The Bruins are good enough to steal a game or two.

Why Montreal would win this series

Simply put, Montreal matches up very well against the physical Bruins. Also, Boston has an aging stale core. They virtually have the same cast of players that won the 2011 Stanley Cup. Montreal, on the other hand, has a young vibrant roster that should contend for several years. Most of their core players (PK Subban, Carey Price, Tomas Plekanec) are just entering their prime years, I just don't see Boston lasting through a seven game series against Montreal. Oh and Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask has historically struggled against the Habs.

Why Boston could win this series

As mentioned above this will be a very physical series and the physicality will take its toll on the Habs. Maybe Subban might be playing through an injury and that is impacting his effectiveness. Boston might be an older team, but this means they have more experience. Also, one has to be concerned with Montreal's struggles to score. There have been more than a few games this season where the Habs have struggled to score and in the playoffs it's very hard to nurse a one goal lead.

Predicted result: Montreal in 7 games


Ottawa Senators (currently 8th in the Eastern conference)

If the playoffs started today, this is the team Montreal would face. Ottawa won 2 of 3 games vs. Montreal this year. In my opinion, this is the toughest of the potential first round opponents. See below to know the reason why.

Why Montreal would win this series

The biggest advantage Montreal has over Ottawa is playoff experience. Ottawa has not been a playoff team since the 2012-2013 season. They are also a very young team, likely prone to mistakes. Yes, Ottawa is on a hot streak, but eventually they will lose again. To win this series, Montreal must stay out of the box and win the first two games of the series. This will create doubt in the heads of the Senators players.

Why Ottawa could win this series

Ottawa is on a ridiculous hot streak. At one point, they were 14 points out of a playoff position. A lot has to do with the stellar play of rookie goalie Andrew Hammond, aka the "Hamburglar". Hammond has not lost a game in regulation, going 14-0-1 during the streak. There have been countless goalies in history (Ken Dryden, Tim Thomas, and Jonathan Quick) who have gotten hot and carried their teams to the holy grail.

Predicted result: Montreal in 7 games

Two teams I'm glad Montreal won't face in the first round

The two teams are the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres thankfully are in full tank mode and have officially been eliminated from playoff contention. The Sabres and Habs met four times this season with Buffalo taking three of four. Buffalo has the potential to be a dangerous team in the next five years depending on how well they draft and develop their players. Tampa Bay, if you will recall, Montreal swept in the first round last season. However, the Lightning were missing two key pieces. Starting goalie Ben Bishop was out with a major elbow injury and forward Steven Stamkos had only recently returned from a fractured leg. Stamkos was not 100% and wasn't in game shape. This season, both players are back and that has made a massive difference to the Lightning. Should Montreal get past the first round, they will almost certainly face TB at some point in the playoffs, Likely in the EC finals.

Bottom Line

I think Montreal will win the first round, but they can be their own worst enemy. Should the Habs take any one of the Bruins, Senators or Capitals lightly, they will be in tough. The teams that make the NHL playoffs are all capable of doing damage. Montreal must capitalize on their scoring chances, stay out of the penalty box and hope the bounces go their way.

The Habs could also face the Detroit Red Wings in the first round if Tampa Bay wins the division.

Go Habs Go

A Habs fan blogging from BC

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Why Travis Moen needs to go

Thursday was a great night to be a Habs fan. Not only have they won against the hated Boston Bruins, we managed to watch a pretty awesome opening game. A great video montage showing all Montreal players and where they came from, as well as presenting them one by one with the now traditional flame holding ceremony. Without any surprise, the crowd has been the loudest for Price, Subban, Galchenyuk, Tokarski, Pacioretty and Desharnais. However, not every player in the team managed to get cheered as loud as their other teammates. The guy who got the worst welcome is without a doubt Travis Moen. In fact, I absolutely understand the fans who did not cheer for him. Here's why:

Travis Moen joined the Montreal Canadiens back in 2009 after winning the Stanley Cup in 2007 with the Anaheim Ducks. At that time, Moen was a pretty solid third line player; he could get some points in as well as being an enforcer. He even scored the series' winning goal in the 2007 Stanley Cup final. He managed to keep a record of four goals and five assists for nine points in 16 games during these playoffs. He also had a pretty good year in 2006-2007 with 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points in 82 games, spending 101 minutes in the penalty box. That definitely was his best season overall. Back in the days, he was a little bit like what Brandon Prust is nowadays. Between 2008 and 2011, he spent most of his time being an enforcer, with a record of 24 goals and 35 assists for 59 points in 319 games, as well as getting 325 penalty minutes. In 2012, that's when things started going downhill for him; 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points and 124 penalty minutes in 160 games. He basically went from a ratio of 0.18 points/game and 1.02 PIM/game to 0.21 points/game and 0.78 PIM/game. Now, one could say he actually improved in points per game, but Moen hasn't been signed to score goals. The alarming statistics is the straight downward progression of his penalty minutes per game. What it basically means is that whenever the Canadiens signed him, they were expecting a guy who could deliver solid bodychecks as well as dropping the mitts to defend his teammates, and he has been a huge letdown in the last three seasons. Not only is he refusing to scrap, he even starts throwing sucker punches on the back of an opponent's head while keeping his gloves on as we could see earlier this year.

Since that fight against Kevin Miller during which he sustained a concussion and miss some action, Moen has not been the same player.

At the moment, Moen is pretty much taking the spot of a young player who could do better by either bringing speed and points like Michael Bournival, or hitting hard and fighting like Dale Weise. Worst, Moen still has a cap hit of $1.825M for the next two seasons, while Bournival has a salary of only $660,000 and Weise has a cap hit of $1.025M.

The rumors are that Habs GM Marc Bergvin is currently shopping Moen, but that nobody is interested in the grizzled veteran. It is more likely that a contending team comes knocking at the trade deadline to add size and experience to their line-up in prevision of the long playoffs. Still, the best the Canadiens could probably receive in return is a late-round pick.

What would you do with Travis Moen?

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Goaltending Controversy Averted and Must See Match-Up's

Greetings Habs Nation,

Bye Bye, Budaj

Peter Budaj moves on to Winnipeg along with prospect Patrick
Holland in exchange for Eric Tangradi.

There's no doubt that the main headline in Montreal Sunday was the trade between the Canadiens and the Winnipeg Jets that sent back-up goalie Peter Budaj and prospect Patrick Holland to the Jets for forward Eric Tangradi.

It would be silly to have an article without at least touching on it and so I will do so, however for a deeper look into the trade, check out Dan Beaulieu's trade analysis.

To me, the deal makes sense. Marc Bergevin is making room for the team's youth by shipping out Budaj and giving the back-up responsibilities to Dustin Tokarski. It shouldn't come as a surprise that it was reported soon after the trade that Peter Budaj had requested a trade after being ignored in the playoffs. It wasn't a shock to see some fans question Budaj's reputation as a good teammate after learning about his request, but that's just unfair. Budaj did what he could to help the team when called upon and when the team was in a dire situation, he was looked over and kept on the bench. It was clear the Canadiens were headed in another direction so why wouldn't he want to move on?

Patrick Holland, whom the Habs acquired as part of the deal that saw Mike Cammalleri off to Calgary, has not done much to impress since the trade. In 126 games with the Hamilton Bulldogs, Holland managed only 45 points (16 goals and 29 helpers) and in his five NHL appearances with the Canadiens he put up goose eggs on the score sheet. With numbers like that and prospects like Nikita Scherbak, Sven Andrighetto, Jacob De La Rose, Christian Thomas etc. ahead of him, there was no chance he'd ever crack the line-up.

As for Eric Tangradi, he's a bonus to what really was just a trade that gave our former back-up what he deserved, a shot to land more ice time, and a salary dump that saved the Habs roughly $800,000 by giving the job to Tokarski. It doesn't hurt that Tangradi stands at 6"4' 221 lbs, but he'll be starting the year in Hamilton.

Something I like to do each year is take a look at the schedule and talk about which games should not be missed. Due to the fact that my access to a computer is limited these days I'm late to the dance and the games you'll need to catch have already been covered by our own Nick Malofy.

However, going into the 2014-15 season, there are a few games I'm looking forward to for different reasons. I usually point out the first game of the season between the Habs and the Bruins or Leafs strictly because of the rivalries. Or games against former teammates just because they used to play with us or even games against superstars. This year I have different reasons to look forward to certain games.

I'm not personally going to circle any games between the Penguins or Capitals because I've been watching Crosby and Ovechkin for years. I won't get too excited about a match up against the Leafs because, well let's face it... rivalry or no rivalry the Leafs have become pretty irrelevant. So much so that the league may even give the city another team, kind of a "do-over".

So here are the match up's I'm going to be sure to watch this season.

Milan Lucic vs. Dale Weise/Alexei Emelin
Thursday, October 16th 2014

The Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens always put on a hell of a show. The fact that the Habs ousted the heavily favorited Bruins in the seventh game of last year's Eastern Conference semi-final will add some excitement to this game. However, as I mentioned there is more to it than a simple rematch or an added game to on of the most storied rivalries in all of sports.

What everybody remembers most about the match-up last spring was the end of series handshake when Bruins jacka... forward, Milan Lucic said something along the lines of "I'm going to f*cking kill you" to Canadiens forward Dale Weise. Some not so loving words were also shared with Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin. With these two teams already hating each other and more than likely heading into a season where they will fight for the division title, some added death threats should add to the excitement.

*I feel as if the word "allegedly" should have been thrown in there.

Tomas Plekanec is hated most by the NHL's most hated
player, Brad Marchand.

Brad Marchand of the Bruins, who is very hated by Canadiens fans, other team's fans and pretty much anybody decent, stated in the off season that the player he hates more than anybody else in the league is none other than Montreal Canadiens co-co-co-co captain, Tomas Plekanec. When Plekanec was asked about it he laughed and stated "I enjoyed his comments about me. It comes from a person that actually almost everybody in the NHL hates!"

Just a little more fuel the fire.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Chris Kreider 
Saturday, October 25th 2014

Chris Kreider of the New York Rangers is not the most loved player in Montreal since taking Habs goaltender Carey Price out of the playoffs last spring on route to the Rangers six game series win in the Eastern Conference finals. I'm not going to re-open the case to discuss whether or not it was on purpose. The fact is the fans haven't forgotten and you can sure as hell bet the players haven't either.

Players are professional and the Canadiens have more than likely put the incident behind them. I wouldn't be surprised to see the game end without Kreider receiving any kind of punishment from the Canadiens, but on the off chance that I'm wrong... I'll be watching. That's not to say that fights will get me to watch (to be completely honest you could take fighting out of the game and I couldn't care less), but just the energy in the building after seeing a player who an entire city blames for their lack of a 25th Stanley Cup being reprimanded... has to be electrifying.

For the record, in my opinion Tokarski played great, Lundqvist played better and I've still yet to be sold by opinion or video evidence that Kreider did it intentionally.

Brendan Gallagher vs. Josh Gorges
Wednesday, November 5th 2014

This is so much more than just a player facing off against his former team, you can tell by the fact that I left out Brian Gionta. Players play their former teams all the time, get over it. What attracts me towards this one is the opportunity to watch a pesky net crashing Gallagher battle in the blue paint against Josh Gorges, the man who plays a solid shut down role and who also happened to take Gallagher into his home when the young pest first joined the league.

Whether it was in interviews or the two jabbing at each other via Twitter, you could see that Gorges and Gallagher were close. After being taken under his wing you could always see just how much Gallagher respected Gorges. What adds to the match-up is their respective style of play, Gorges is a stay at home defenseman whose job it is to keep players like Gallagher out of the blue paint and it's Gallagher's job to get under the skin of the opposition's d-man. Should be an entertaining battle in front of the net.

It's tempting to add the Habs vs Peter Budaj simply because of the recent transaction, but that would be quite hypocritical, wouldn't it? Instead I'll add one last match-up that doesn't even include the Canadiens.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Josh Gorges
Thursday, October 28th

Hahaha... Gorges was asked to waive his no-trade clause to go to the Leafs and he declined because he hates them hahaha.

Ok, ok that's enough. While that is fantastic for Habs fans because of the love for Gorges and the hate aimed at the Leafs, it is a very reasonable reason. That's not a jab at the Leafs. If any player who had played for the Leafs for as long as Gorges wore the "CH" was willing to just up and join the Habs without a second thought you'd have to question his dedication to his team.

Gorges simply didn't want to play for a team he had grown to hate over the years because of the bitter rivalry stating that there was no way his heart would be in it. That's quite reasonable if you ask me. Even Brendan Shanahan, president of the Maple Leafs, went on record as saying that if Gorges had accepted right away he would have questioned whether or not he was the type of player the Leafs wanted.

Either way, respectable reason or not it's safe to say that decision and reasoning will more than likely upset the Leafs fan base (yes, they have one) and the reception Gorges will get at the Air Canada Center on the 28th of October is one that I'm hoping to see.

Would you take offence if a player refused to play for your city's team?
Will the Habs target Kreider in October or leave the incident in the past?
Is there anyone easier to hate than Marchand?
And finally, does the parting of Budaj really mean that much or was too big of a deal made over the situation of a back up goalie?

Let me know your thoughts.

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Save The Date: Some Key Habs Games for 2014-15

Greetings Habs addicts!

As training camp progresses forward - how about that Jiri Sekac!? It is time to take a look at the upcoming schedule and mark some key dates on the calendar. Last season was a special season for the Canadiens, advancing as far as the Eastern Conference Final before bowing out to the New York Rangers, who promptly bowed out to the powerhouse Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup final. Looking ahead at the 2014/15 season, here are some entertaining games to look forward to throughout the season:

Photo Credit: HockeyInsideOut.com

Canadiens @ Toronto Maple Leafs
Wednesday October 8, 2014
The season opens on the road against the Maple Leafs in Toronto. Although the Leafs have been afterthoughts come playoff time seemingly every non-strike shortened year for the past decade, they tend to start strong every season and have a very physical style that gives the Canadiens trouble. Last year this same season opening match-up led to the downfall of George Parros, as he suffered a horrible concussion while scrapping with Colton Orr. The Leafs did not improve much this off-season, choosing to bring back former role players in Matt Frattin and Leo Komorov. A win here always starts the season off right.

Boston Bruins @ Canadiens
Thursday, October 16, 2014
After starting the season out with four games on the road, the Canadiens return to the Bell Centre welcoming their bitter rival the Boston Bruins for the home opener. Fresh off last season's heated playoff series, the Bruins will be looking to avenge the playoff loss and ruin what is always an incredible atmosphere for opening night. The Bruins were strapped by the salary cap this off-season and did not make any significant improvements while watching Jarome Iginla take his 30 goals to Colorado. As always, this will be a tough game after a truly captivating opening ceremony.

Colorado Avalanche @ Canadiens
Saturday October 18, 2014
Fresh off the emotions from the home opener, the fans get a couple of days to recover before they welcome back Patrick Roy and his Colorado Avalanche squad. Last year, St. Patrick's homecoming as a head coach was quashed by a hat-trick performance from Thomas Vanek in a 6-3 Canadiens win. Vanek is in Minnesota now, but an off-season trade between the two clubs saw Daniel Briere head west and P.A. Parenteau arrive in Montreal. Expect both to show up and do their best to exact revenge against their former clubs.

New York Rangers @ Canadiens
Saturday October 25, 2014
Prior to a three-game western Canada road trip, the rematch of the Eastern Finals happens in Montreal, but this time with Carey Price in goal instead of Dustin Tokarski. The Canadiens dominated the regular season match-ups the past two seasons before the Rangers stepped up in the wake of Martin St. Louis' mother passing away and man-handled the Canadiens throughout the series en route to a 4-2 series win. Revenge will be on the Canadiens' mind and Chris Kreider should keep his head up as fans and players remember how he took out Price early on in the series. Expect Kreider to receive the Zdeno Chara treatment from the sold out Bell Centre crowd.

Pittsburgh Penguins @ Canadiens
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Sidney Crosby and his Pittsburgh Penguins make their first appearance of the season in Montreal. Sid grew up as a Habs fan and anytime these two teams match up, defense seems to be put by the wayside and a shootout ensues. While this game will not have much bearing on the standings, there always seems to be an entertainment factor involved with these high scoring affairs.

Buffalo Sabres @ Canadiens
Saturday, November 29, 2014
On the back end of a home-and-home series, former captain Brian Gionta and defenceman Josh Gorges make their return to the Bell Centre. While this is the third match-up of the season between the two teams, it will be the first time those two players get to face their former mates in the town they used to call home. Expect emotions to be high, especially for Gorges who never wanted to leave the city to begin with. While the Sabres are expected to be a bad team and the Canadiens should win easily (knock on wood), a big ovation should be expected for both players prior to the start of the game.

Los Angeles Kings @ Canadiens
Friday, December 12, 2014
While this match-up will not truly affect the standings, there is something to be said about seeing how you match up against the team that won it all the year prior. The Kings are a powerhouse of an organization and locked up deadline acquisition Marian Gaborik to a seven year extension this off-season. Last year, the Canadiens lost both games played including an embarrassing 6-0 drubbing in Montreal. Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Drew Doughty, Jon Quick and company are looking to repeat this season. This will be a true test to see where the Habs rank this season.

Washington Capitals @ Canadiens
Saturday, January 31, 2015 @ 1:00 PM
Arizona Coyotes @ Canadiens
Sunday, February 1, 2015 @ 1:00 PM
The annual Superbowl weekend tradition of matinee games. This year Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals come to town on Saturday while the Arizona (formerly Pheonix) Coyotes make their lone appearance in Montreal on Superbowl Sunday. Always a fun weekend of sports in Montreal.

Toronto Maple Leafs @ Canadiens
Saturday February 14, 2015
There will be no love on Valentine's Day between these two teams or their respective fans as the Maple Leafs make their first appearance of the season in Montreal. Throngs of fans will make the trek up Highway 401 from Toronto to create one of the most energetic atmosphere's in sports. The crowds are always split for this match-up and Hockey Night in Canada viewers will hear a "Go (garbled gibberish) GO!" chant throughout the game as both sides try to out-do the other cheering on their favorite teams. Where these two teams sit in the standings will also add to the excitement as we are entering the second half of the season and the games begin to have more meaning, especially division match-ups such as this one.

Canadiens @ San Jose Sharks, 
Canadiens @ Anaheim Ducks, 
Canadiens @ Los Angeles Kings & 
Canadiens @ Arizona Coyotes
Monday, March 2 - Saturday March 7, 2015
Easily the toughest week on the calendar for the Canadiens this season as they make the annual West Coast road trip. Four games against three of the NHL's best teams in six days is extremely tough. Last year, Dustin Tokarski filled in admirably for the injured Carey Price, making 39 saves in his first start as the Canadiens beat the Ducks 4-3 in a shootout in what proved to be Saku Koivu's last game against the Habs as the former captain retired this off season. That was the only win on the road trip as they lost 2-1 to Los Angeles, 5-2 to the Coyotes and 4-0 to the Sharks. Safe to say the Canadiens want to have a little more fun in the sun this time around.

Canadiens @ Toronto Maple Leafs
Saturday, April 11, 2015
The season comes full circle as the Habs round out the regular season with one final match-up in Toronto against the Maple Leafs. This will be the fifth and final regular season match-up against the teams and in years past, it has had some significant bearing in the standings. Expect it to be one more barn burner before the playoffs begin. As great as this match-up always is, its even more special when it has meaning. There is nothing like knocking the other team out of playoff contention on the last day of the season. If all goes well, it will be Montreal eliminating Toronto and not vice versa.

There you have it, Habs addicts, some great match-ups to look forward to. While every game is always entertaining, some are just a little more special than others. Be sure to listen to the Pre-Game and Post-Game shows on MontrealHockeyTalk.com and participate in the Tweet Chat using the Hashtag #MtlHockey. Corey Collard, Rob Elbaz, Steve Hindle, Nick Murdocco and Coach K bring some of the most interactive and uncensored analysis of each and every game. If you haven't listened before, make this the season you tune in. You will not be disappointed!

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Nick Malofy is a transplanted Montrealer, currently living in evil LeafLand. He is a contributor here at HabsAddict.com and give him a follow, as he can often be found rambling on Twitter.

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Canadiens shed their underdog image in battle with Bruins

When the Canadiens stood eye to eye with the Bruins through seven games of high intensity, top quality playoff hockey, they competed in a battle of equals. This was no story of David versus Goliath, despite the fact that David Desharnais, Daniel Briere or Brendan Gallagher could all have been easily cast as Davids to Zdeno Chara’s Goliath.

As expected, the Boston Bruins pitted their size, depth and grit against the finesse game of the Montreal Canadiens. But this time around, something kind of strange happened.

Any attempts the Bruins made to intimidate the Canadiens, tactics that may have paid off in the past, became almost comical instead in this series. Milan Lucic and Torey Krug beat their chests in an alpha-male goal celebration, Dale Weise responded mockingly in kind. Lucic flexes a muscle on the Bruins bench, Weise responds again.

In Game 5 Shawn Thornton squirted water at PK Subban, an act you’d expect more from a clown at a carnival than a profession hockey player in the midst of a hard-fought series.

Even Lucic’s reaction and comments during the final handshake seem petty and childish in hindsight, an image that wasn’t helped by him referring to Weise as a baby after the incident.

Claude Julien complained to reporters about biased referees, Michel Therrien bypassed the issue in his own press conferences, firing off jokes instead. Julien commented that the Habs were perceived as the good guys while the Bruins were depicted as villains. In a sense he was right, although it didn’t help that a handful of idiots clad as Bruins fans decided to spew racist hatred at PK Subban after the first game.

Credit goes out to the Bruins organization for taking exception to the comments and for stating in no uncertain terms that they were unacceptable from any that wanted to call themselves fans of the organization.

Even with all the antics on and off the ice, the series never turned violent or ugly. Things simply got heated, the way playoff hockey should.

Emotions were exposed, sure, but there was no ugly kneeing incident that cost a budding young defenseman his playoffs and another player seven games worth of suspensions. There were no heads squeezed into the glass from the force of a blindside hit. There was simply incredible hockey, played on the line of order and chaos.

The showdown that resulted was worthy of any battle of titans the Western Conference could muster. It should go down as an equal to many from the golden years of the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry, seven hard fought games featuring some of the most talented players in the world.

This series went the distance not because one team failed to finish the other off, but because there was just that little to separate the two. The first four games each needed either in overtime to settle or saw a goalie pulled and a one goal lead on the line in the final moments. Through those first four games, the teams each won once at home and once on the road, and they split the two OT affairs.

In the end the better team won. But the Canadiens only emerged the better team because they won this series. You could say the Bruins were the favorites at the start of the series, but it would have been wrong to call them superior; that still needed to be proven.  

So if the Bruins could be could be considered Stanley Cup contenders, the Habs have shown they deserve the same deference.

It’s an unusual position for the Canadiens and their younger generation of fans. This was a team after all that’s reached the conference finals just once in the past 20 years, and even then it took a miracle run that was cut quickly short in the third round. The newest generation of fans have come to know a team that seemed to relish the role of the dangerous underdog, a team capable of knocking down, or at least competing with, the giants of their conference.

Now this team demands respect. They demand to be viewed as equals with the league’s elite.

The Capitals and Penguins fell before the Habs in 2010, and with them, three of the game’s greatest scorers. In 2011, the Bruins were pushed to overtime in the seventh game of the opening round after the Canadiens had stolen a 2-0 series lead on the road. And even though the Bruins would go on to win the Stanley Cup that season, the Habs of that era still could not be considered championship material.

This postseason the Habs have clung to the underdog reputation more by default than merit.

When this year’s Canadiens vanquished the Bruins, they did it by holding leads through the majority of the series. They led for over 115 minutes of the final two games and kept their opponent to just a single goal, scored on the power play.

The Canadiens go into the third round having earned the respect that PK Subban knew the team deserved all along. The Canadiens qualified for the playoffs with the same seeding as the Chicago Blackhawks and LA Kings, another pair of contenders. Some of these teams will necessarily be eliminated in the coming weeks, the Kings possibly even sooner, but that doesn’t mean they are not among the elite few that have the Stanley Cup within their grasp.

Even though this team has started to earn respect, they also know they haven’t really won anything tangible just yet. That was made clear by Carey Price, a goalie who looked by no means finished in his post-series interviews. Price conducted himself like a player just reaching the halfway point of his toughest journey.

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Series Recap: Bye Bye Bruins; Habs Advance

Greetings Habs Addicts!!

Wow, it has been a long time since the city had a buzz like this going on during the NHL playoffs!

Montreal beat the Bruins 3-1 last night in Boston to secure a berth in the Eastern Conference final against another Original Six team, the New York Rangers.

In my Habs Addict series preview - The Habs Are Shipping Up To Boston - I broke down the season series, looked at each team by position and indicated who I felt would be the winner. Yes, I admit I have a biased opinion on the result, but here is the my final paragraph and prediction from that article:

Photo Credit: Nationalpost.com

Prediction: Boston and Montreal physically beat each other up, score some fantastic goals and keep the fans on the edge of their seats all series long. A hot goaltender can win a series. Carey Price is that goaltender as Montreal wins the series 4-3 in another hard-fought, best of seven series. One for the ages is upon us. Enjoy it!

That statement could not have described the series more accurately.

This was a very physical series. The Bruins were targeting the Montreal defenders with body checks each and every time they could. Overall, the Bruins landed 269 hits on Canadiens players while the Habs returned the physical action with 247 of their own. On average the big, bad Bruins had 38.4 hits per game while the smaller, speedier Habs nearly matched them with a 35.2 average over the seven game series. The Bruins were bigger, but they were slower. Zdeno Chara was challenged often by David Desharnais and Brendan Gallagher, both of whom showed tremendous grit and character this series. Gallagher was his true antagonizing self all series long. Dale Weise and Brandon Prust laid the body on Bruins every shift they played. On the Boston side, Milan Lucic was flexing his muscles - literally at times - battling with PK Subban all series long. Both players attacked each other physically, but Subban did more damage on the scoreboard. Brad Marchand was a non-factor offensively, but was often seen taking cheap shots at Habs players both during the action and after the whistle had blown.

The difference came down to a hot goaltender stealing the series. For all the talk about Peter Budaj having Boston's number, Carey Price has been extremely successful in his career against the Bruins. Tuukka Rask has not had any sustained success against Montreal. This carried over into the playoffs. Carey Price set the tone for the series in Game 1 when he made 48 saves during the Habs double-overtime win. Price was absolutely outstanding, making difficult save after difficult save. For the series, Price sported a 2.04 goals against average and a dazzling .936 save percentage. Boston rarely beat Price unless the puck was deflected or shot from the point through heavy traffic. Going into game seven, the Bruins had also hit ten goal posts. But the posts are a goalie's best friend, after all. Tuukka Rask was far from terrible, but when you watch game seven, Price was calm and composed as he always is while Rask was noticeably shaky at times, often battling himself to control the puck. Price also addressed the team in the locker room between the second and third period, telling them to 'remain in the moment, forget the past and focus on the now'. They responded.

After the game during the hand shake line - hockey's ceremonial show of sportsmanship - Milan Lucic exemplified the class we expect out of the Boston Bruins: He visibly stopped Dale Weise and said something to the effect of "I'm going to f**king kill you next year". Apparently he also said sometime similar to Alexei Emelin. Lucic and Emelin have a history between each other. Weise mentioned the incident to reporters after the game but declined to go into specifics. Lucic responded to Weise talking to reporters as Weise being a baby; "What's said on the ice, stays on the ice."

Clearly, Milan Lucic is an idiot. If you are going to stop someone on a televised broadcast and threaten them, you should expect someone in the media will be able find someone who can read lips and translate what you said. On TSN during the intermission of the Los Angeles Kings vs Anaheim Ducks game, Aaron Ward had harsh words for Lucic about his post-game behaviour. When a former team-mate calls you out, you should know what you did was stupid and immature. Way to stay classy, Milan.

Photo credit: Sportsnet.ca

(Note: If you want a good laugh, #WhatLucicToldWeise was trending on Twitter shortly after the game ended. There were some great tweets out there)

For those who only loosely followed this series, here is a brief recap of all seven games played.

Game 1: Montreal 4, BOSTON 3 (2OT) 
Boston had home ice advantage to start the series. Carey Price makes 48 saves and single-handedly kept an out-played Montreal team in the game. P.K Subban had two powerplay goals - carbon copies of each other as both occurred with Matt Bartkowski in the penalty box and both were set up by Andrei Markov - including the double-overtime winner. Habs blew both a 2-0 and a 3-2 lead in the third period. Rene Bourque and Francis Bouillon also scored for Montreal.

Game 2: BOSTON 5, Montreal 3 
Montreal blew a 3-1 lead with ten minutes to go in the third period, allowing 4 Boston goals including an empty-net capper as Boston drew even in the series 1-1. Thomas Vanek deflected in two Subban point shots for his first two goals of the series, both on the power play. Mike Weaver also scored for Montreal. Francis Bouillon had two Boston goals deflect off him and into the net. Boston out-hit Montreal for a second game in a row.

Game 3: MONTREAL 4, Boston 2
The series moved to Montreal. Douglas Murray was inserted into the line-up over Francis Bouillon to provide physical presence. Travis Moen replaced a banged up Brandon Prust for this one. Thomas Plekanec opened the scoring while Subban had a goal and assist as Montreal jumped to 3-0 lead. Dale Weise and Lars Eller (empty net) also scored for Montreal. Carey Price was sensational again making 26 saves.

Game 4: Boston 1, MONTREAL 0 (OT)
Call up Matt Fraser scored a fluke goal in overtime as Tuukka Rask was finally flawless against the Canadiens. Douglas Murray and Mike Weaver started the overtime and Murray was horribly out of position on the winning goal. Rask and Price duelled throughout the game, making 33 and 35 saves, respectively. Brandon Prust returned to the line-up in place of Travis Moen. Boston ties the series 2-2.

Game 5: BOSTON 4, Montreal 2
The Bruins finally displayed the game that earned them the President's Trophy as the top team in the NHL this year. Physically dominated the Habs by out-hitting them 39-29. Douglas Murray was exposed as too slow and could not clear the puck out of the defensive zone. Bruins jumped ahead to a 4-1 lead until P.K. Subban wired one home with 2 minutes left in the game. Again on the power play and again with Matt Bartkowski in the penalty box. Third time this series. Subban was squirted in the face with water by the Bruins Shawn Thornton late in the game. While no penalty was assessed, Thornton was fined by the NHL. Brendan Gallagher had the other Montreal goal. Daniel Briere was a healthy scratch for Montreal, replaced by Travis Moen. Boston leads the series 3-2.

Game 6: MONTREAL 4, Boston 0
The Canadiens returned to Montreal with their playoff lives on the line and responded with the best game they played this entire season. Complete and utter dominance of the Bruins. Nathan Beaulieu was a surprise addition to the line-up in place of Douglas Murray and made his professional hockey playoff debut paired with Mike Weaver. Beaulieu picked up an assist on Max Pacioretty's first goal of the series in the second period. Lars Eller opened the scoring in the first period and Thomas Vanek scored a pair of goals to ice the game. Daniel Briere returned to the line-up for Montreal. Carey Price stopped 26 shots - including many difficult ones - for the shutout. Series is now tied 3-3.

Game 7: Montreal 3, BOSTON 1
The deciding game in the series was played in Boston. Dale Weise opened the scoring just 2:18 into the game. Montreal dominated the action in the first period, relying on speed to go along with a punishing physical game. Max Pacioretty scored the series-winning goal for the second time in these playoffs midway through the second period. Daniel Briere iced the game late in the third period with a power play goal and Nathan Beaulieu had another assist, giving him 2 assists in just under 18 minutes of ice time in the playoffs. Total. Carey Price was sensational, making 29 saves while Tuukka Rask was visibly shaky and stopped only 15 of 18 shots faced. Alexei Emelin was a physical force with 7 hits on the blue line for Montreal.

There is no better feeling than defeating the Boston Bruins in a playoff series. The Bruins are bruising physical team. Players like Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic play the game with an often dirty edge. Shawn Thornton is a goon, plain and simple. Zdeno Chara is nasty. Claude Julien is easily the most unlikeable coach in the NHL. The Bruins are the Habs biggest rivals, with all due respect to the losers in blue and white up there in Toronto. Winning this series playing the Habs style of speed game gives them great confidence heading into the next round against the surprising New York Rangers (Series Preview will be available on Friday). Montreal is playing a complete game right now, with a hot goalie, solid defense and production from all four forward lines. Getting fourth line production is what helps win Stanley Cups. Ask Los Angeles. Ask Boston. Ask Chicago. Dale Weise, Daniel Briere, Michael Bournival and Brandon Prust are providing both the intangibles and the points.

Enjoy this victory, Montreal fans. Savour every moment of it. Because we just witnessed one for the ages.

 ---
Nick Malofy is a transplanted Montrealer, currently living in evil LeafLand. He is a contributor here at HabsAddict.com and give him a follow, as he can often be found rambling on Twitter.

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Playoff Preview: Canadiens at Bruins (Round 2, Game 7)

 
Match Up:

Wednesday night, the Canadiens and Bruins square off one final time this season, for the 12th time this season and the 903rd time overall. Boston will host Game 7 for the third time in the last four meetings, dating back to 2004 when only Andrei Markov and Patrice Bergeron were in the lineups for Montreal's 2-0 win.

Max Pacioretty, Lars Eller and Thomas Vanek pitched in with the offense in Montreal's 4-0 win on Monday to force Game 7, while Price posted 26 saves for the shutout, with a little help from David Desharnais.

The game starts at 7 and airs on CBC and RDS.

What to Watch:

The Habs have found some serious production from their defensemen in this series. PK Subban has 4 goals and 3 assists, Weaver and Bouillon have both chipped in with goals, Markov has all of his 5 assists in the in these playoffs against the Bruins and even Nathan Beaulieu chipped in with an assist in his first ever NHL playoff game. The better news for the Habs was that in Game 6 the offensive stars kicked in, as Vanek, Eller and Pacioretty took care of the scoring. Vanek had his second two-goal game of the series on Monday.

The Bruins stayed true-to-form in this series, they haven't relied on one hero for success and spread the scoring around. Reilly Smith has led the way with 3 goals, as many as the top-line of Jarome Iginla, Milan Lucic and David Krejci have scored combined. Krejci led the Bruins in points this year with 69, but he has just 3 assists in 11 playoff games so far.

What's at Stake:

Game 7. Win and move on, lose and go home.

Who's Out:

Alex Galchenyuk (knee) might be just a few days from being game ready, but he'll miss his second straight playoff series for the Habs.

The Bruins won't get any of their wounded back for Game 7 either, Dennis Seidenberg (lower body), Chris Kelly (back) and Adam McQuaid (ankle) remain out.

What Else:

As they've done for several big games in the past, the Habs are opening the doors to the Bell Center to watch Game 7. Tickets went on sale at 10 dollars apiece with proceeds going to the Montreal Canadiens Children's Foundation.

The Habs and Bruins meet in Game 7 for a 9th time in their histories, the most in professional sports. Patrice Bergeron and Andrei Markov have both played in 3 of the 8 prior meetings, Carey Price and Tomas Plekanec have played a pair, as have Milan Lucic, David Krejci, Shawn Thornton and Zdeno Chara.

The Question Mark:

Who are your series MVPs picks and who will be the star on Wednesday?

Let us know what you think, leave a comment or send us a tweet using the #MTLHockey hashtag on Twitter.

The Montreal Hockey Talk Pregame Show starts an hour before puck drop, join the live conversation by using the #MTLHockey hashtag on Twitter. And don’t miss the Post Game Show starting 5 minutes after the final siren.

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Nathan Beaulieu The X-Factor

Carey Price made 26 saves and Thomas Vanek scored a pair of insurance goals, the last one into an empty net after goals by Lars Eller early in the first period and Max Pacioretty in the second frame as the Canadiens took advantage of the Bruins’ missed opportunities to win 4-1 on home ice and force a Game 7. This will be the ninth time in 34 playoff meetings that the two fierce rivals have gone the distance. 

Still, the biggest story of last night's win might have been the decision that head coach Michel Therrien made prior to the do-or-die game. Therrien pulled a bold move and inserted rookie defenseman Nathan Beaulieu in the line-up to take Douglas Murray's spot on the third pairing alongside veteran Mike Weaver. Beaulieu made his coach look very good by chipping in an assistalong with a shot and a +2 rating in 9:36 of action. Beaulieu was on for 58.3% of 5-on-5 shot attempts when he was on the ice in his playoff debut for the Canadiens in the win. 

Nathan Beaulieu, a 21-year-old rearguard, appeared in his first playoff game and also saw two minutes of power-play time. Beaulieu has played in 23 regular-season games during cups of coffee over the previous two seasons and had four points, all assists, with the big team. This season, he mostly played with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL, notching 7 goals and 20 assists for 27 points in 57 games to go along with a 33 penalty minutes and a miserable -19 rating.

Beaulieu, who used to play for assistant coach Gerard Gallant with the Saint John Sea Dogs, played less than six minutes in the first two periods, yet his impact on the game was enormous in that time. He was fortunate to be on the ice for the game's first goal potted by Lars Eller, following a mistake by rookie defenseman Kevan Miller, but the second goal was a direct product of the poise he played with all evening when he spotted Max Pacioretty all alone in the neutral zone and sent him on a breakaway.

A very adept skater, the left-handed blue liner has the uncanny ability to make a good first pass and position himself well in the defensive zone to help his defensive partner. In his own zone, Beaulieu gets to the puck first, and coupled with no fumbling around, it allowed the third pairing to avoid getting hemmed into our own zone and icing the puck desperately. Beaulieu brings good puck movement and transition, or the opposite of what Douglas Murray offers.

I personally don't think we can understate how important Beaulieu's presence was on that third pair last night. Instead of being a brutally exploitable match-up for the Bruins' third and fourth lines in on our own zone, as it was with Francis Bouillon, and especially with Douglas Murray, the Bruins really couldn't control the puck down low to exploit the cycle and get good scoring chances from the point. We had three reliable defensive pairings for the first time in the series last night and it paid off aplenty. 

While Beaulieu is still raw in his positioning, he has terrific speed that allows him to join the offensive rush coupled with a good hockey vision, an excellent puck awareness and a great passing ability. A resilient skater, Beaulieu never gives up and helped us outskate the Bruins and beat them with our biggest asset: speed.

Beaulieu will definitely be in the line-up for Game 7 in Boston tomorrow and we can be confident that Michel Therrien will not be afraid to play the rookie for about ten minutes, including time on the second power play unit.

What do you think of Nathan Beaulieu's play on Monday?

No Foolin' Fred Poulin

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Playoff Preview: Canadiens vs Bruins (Round 2, Game 6)

 
Match Up:

The Canadiens play host to the Bruins on Monday, down 3-2 in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The game is set to start at 7:30 and can be seen on CBC and RDS.

The Habs are coming off a 4-2 loss on Saturday in what might have been their worst performance so far in the playoffs. Tomas Plekanec took 3 minors in the game, including a pair of consecutive penalties that led to two Boston goals, putting the Habs behind 3-0 less than 2 minutes into the second period.

What to Watch:

With the Habs down 4-1, PK Subban scored a power play goal to give his team some life in Saturday's game, his fourth goal in 5 playoff games against the Bruins. Subban now has 12 points in 9 games during these playoffs and a total of 28 points in 35 career playoff games. At the other end of the spectrum, Max Pacioretty earned an assist Saturday, giving him 1 goal and 4 points in 9 playoff games this year, a total of 4 points in 13 career playoff matches.

Tuukka Rask had a shaky start to the series but he's played a big role in Boston's last 2 wins. Rask had a 33 save shutout in Montreal Game 4 and made 29 stops on Saturday, giving up 2 power play goals. Rask and the Bruins haven't given up an even strength goal since around the 14 minute mark of the second period in Game 3.

What's at Stake:

For the first time in these playoffs, the Canadiens are fighting for survival. This will be game 10 for the Habs in this postseason, and not only is it the first time that they're playing to stay alive, it's also the first time that they trail in a series this year.

Who's Out:

The Canadiens are still missing Alex Galchenyuk (knee), although he has been skating. Daniel Briere was a healthy scratch in Game 5 to make room for Brandon Prust.
The Bruins are still missing Dennis Seidenberg (lower body), Chris Kelly (back)and Adam McQuaid (ankle).

What Else:

Some good news for the Habs is that Boston has had trouble closing out playoff series in the past. The Bruins have not closed out a series in 6 games since they beat the Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the 2010 playoffs. After that they lost Game 6 to the Flyers in the next round on their way to blowing a 3-0 series lead. They also lost Games 6 in the 2011 Playoffs to the Habs in Round 1 and the Lightning in Round 3 with chances to close out the series. Last year, the Bruins dropped Game 6 in the first round to the Maple Leafs and then needed 3 goals in the third period to force overtime and stay alive in Game 7.

The Question Mark:

If the Canadiens season ended Monday night, would you be satisfied with team's performance this year?

Let us know what you think, leave a comment or send us a tweet using the #MTLHockey hashtag on Twitter.

The Montreal Hockey Talk Pregame Show starts an hour before puck drop, join the live conversation by using the #MTLHockey hashtag on Twitter. And don’t miss the Post Game Show starting 5 minutes after the final siren.

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Playoff Preview: Canadiens at Bruins (Round 2, Game 5)

 
Match Up:

The Canadiens return to Boston for Game 5 against the Bruins Saturday night with the series tied 2-2. The game is set to start at 7:00 and airs on CBC and RDS.

Carey Price and Tuukka Rask both played 60 minutes of shutout hockey Thursday night in Game 4, sending the match to overtime tied 0-0. Rookie Matt Fraser, playing in his first NHL playoff game, broke the deadlock less than 2 minutes into the first overtime to even up the series.

What to Watch:

Max Pacioretty has been held to just 1 goal and 3 points in these playoffs, with 1 assist in 4 games so far versus the Bruins. Linemate David Desharnais has the same stats heading after 8 playoff games, numbers the top line forwards can't be happy with. Rene Bourque has also struggled recently, he's minus 5 with no points in his last 3 games after starting these playoffs with 4 goals and an assist in his first 5 games.

As effective as the Bruins have been in shutting down Montreal's big threats, the Canadiens have been equally solid against Boston's top line. Milan Lucic has an empty net goal and a pair of assists against the Habs so far, Jarome Iginla has been held to just 1 goal and David Krejci has 1 assist so far in this series.

What's at Stake:

With the series tied 2 games apiece, the winner of Game 5 will push their opponent to the brink of elimination with a chance to close out the series Monday night in Montreal. The Canadiens have not yet trailed a series in these playoffs, winning 4 straight against the Lightning and taking the first and third games in Round 2.

Who's Out:

For the Habs, Alex Galchenyuk (knee) is still not ready to return, although he has started skating again.

The Bruins are still without Dennis Seidenberg (lower body), Chris Kelly (back) and Adam McQuaid (ankle).

What Else:

Thursday's game was the 18th of these playoffs that needed overtime to find a winner out of the 64 played as of Friday's action. The Habs and Bruins have gone to overtime 3 times each, twice in Round 2. The Blackhawks and Blues went to overtime 4 times in Round 1, as did the Wild and Avalanche. The Rangers have seen the least OTs of the remaining teams, going to the extra frame just once in 12 games so far.

The Question Mark:

What can Michel Therrien do to help spark Pacioretty an Desharnais in Game 5?

Let us know what you think, leave a comment or send us a tweet using the #MTLHockey hashtag on Twitter.

The Montreal Hockey Talk Pregame Show starts an hour before puck drop, join the live conversation by using the #MTLHockey hashtag on Twitter. And don’t miss the Post Game Show starting 5 minutes after the final siren.

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Playoff Preview: Canadiens vs Bruins (Round 2, Game 4)

 
Match Up:

The Canadiens - Bruins series stays in Montreal for Game 4 Thursday night. The Habs took a 2-1 series lead with a 4-2 win at the Bell Centre on Tuesday. Game 4 is set to start at 7:30 and airs on RDS and CBC.

The Canadiens went up by as many as 3 goals in Game 3, and for the first time this series, they didn't give up their third period lead to the Bruins, hanging on for a 4-2 win. Dale Weise picked up his second game winning goal in these playoffs while Daniel Briere picked up his third assist on a game winning goal.

What to Watch:

PK Subban has racked up 6 points in 3 games versus the Bruins and 10 points career playoff points against the Bruins in 10 games. Lars Eller's strong playoffs continued with an assist and an empty net goal in Game 3 after being held pointless the game before for the first time this postseason. Eller is up to 3 goals and 5 assists in 7 games.

Milan Lucic comes into Thursday's match on a 5-game point streak, he has 3 goals and 3 assists in that span. Patrice Bergeron extended his point streak to 7 games with a goal on Tuesday, his 9 points put him 8th in playoff scoring.

What's at Stake:

The Canadiens are 3-and-0 in home playoff games so far. They'll need another win on Bell Centre ice Thursday to hold onto home ice advantage. While a win for the Bruins would tie the series at 2, it would shift the advantage back to them as the series returns to Boston on Saturday.

Who's Out:

Alex Galchenyuk (knee) is still out for the Canadiens. Brandon Prust missed Game 3 although if he is injured, he's played through the injury for 6 games already in these playoffs.

The Bruins are still missing Dennis Seidenberg (lower body), Adam McQuaid (ankle) and Chris Kelly (back).

What Else:

Goal celebrations have been a hot storyline in this series. It started in Game 1 with Milan Lucic and Torey Krug celebrating a third period goal by beating their chest and the Bruins logo on it. Dale Weise answered the celebration back on Bell Centre ice after his breakaway goal put the Canadiens ahead 3-0 in Game 3. Meanwhile PK Subban's celebration for his out-of-the-box breakaway goal has been replayed almost as often as the goal itself.

The Question Mark:

How do expect the Bruins to react in Game 4 and how will that affect the Habs' game-plan?

Let us know what you think, leave a comment or send us a tweet using the #MTLHockey hashtag on Twitter. Tune in to the Montreal Hockey Talk Pregame Show to hear the answers.

The Montreal Hockey Talk Pregame Show starts an hour before puck drop, join the live conversation by using the #MTLHockey hashtag on Twitter. And don't miss the Post Game Show starting 5 minutes after the final siren.

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Playoff Preview: Canadiens vs Bruins (Round 2, Game 3)

Match Up:

The Canadiens welcome the Bruins to the Bell Centre Tuesday night when they host just their third home game of the playoffs, the fewest of any team still fighting for the Cup. The game starts at 7:00 and will air on RDS and CBC.

The series is tied 1-1 after the Bruins once again overcame a 2-goal deficit in the third period Saturday afternoon. This time around the Bruins were able to complete their comeback when Riley Smith beat Carey Price with a wrist shot after receiving a cross-ice pass from Torey Krug. An empty-net goal from Milan Lucic pushed the final score to 5-3.Zdeno Chara had 1 assist in Game 2 and finished the match with a plus-5 rating.

What to Watch:

For the second straight game, the Canadiens tallied a pair of power play goals on Saturday, both were Thomas Vanek deflections of PK Subban shots. The Habs are 4-for-9 with the man advantage in 2 games against the Bruins after going 2-for-13 against the Lightning in Round 1. On the penalty kill side of special teams the Habs have not only shut down the Bruins through 2 games (thanks largely to some stellar play from Carey Price), they've also been well-disciplined. The Canadiens have allowed just 12 power plays against in 6 games, less than any other team so far this postseason.

The Bruins were shut out in their first playoff game this year, a 1-0 loss to the Wings, but Patrice Bergeron has found the scoresheet in every game since. Bergeron has 2 goals and 6 assists in his last 6 games, picking up a helper in each. Brad Marchand was held pointless in the opening round but has 4 assists already in 2 games against the Canadiens.

What's at Stake:

By splitting the first two games in Boston, the Canadiens return to Montreal with home ice advantage but they'll need to win the next 2 games to keep it. Both teams will be looking to improve after the opening two games, the Bruins found themselves trailing by a pair in the third period of each game while the Habs were unable to hold onto those 2-goal leads despite stellar goaltending.

Who's Out:

Alex Galchenyuk (knee) has started skating on his own but does not seem close to a return. Rene Bourque (flu) missed Monday's practice, there's been no word yet on whether he's expected to miss Tuesday's game.

Michel Therrien will have some choices to make in terms of healthy scratches for Game 3. On defense, Douglas Murray skated in Francis Bouillon's spot during Monday's practice. Meanwhile Travis Moen was scratched in Game 2 after playing his first game since returning from injury in Game 1, and Ryan White has yet to play in the playoffs, both were on the fourth line in practice. Brandon Prust was skating as an extra forward in the latest practice, there's speculation that he's been playing injured throughout the playoffs.

The Bruins are still missing Dennis Seidenberg (lower body), Chris Kelly (back) and Adam McQuaid (ankle).

What Else:

After getting called for icing a stunning 12 times in Game 1, the Canadiens improved dramatically in Game 2 icing the puck just 3 times. For their part, the Bruins have hardly had trouble in that department, they've iced the puck just 5 times in two games against the Habs. The Canadiens will  want to avoid defensive zone faceoffs as much as possible, they've been out-dueled at the dot 88 to 68 so far in the series. That's a mere 43.6% success rate for Montreal.

The Question Mark:

We want to hear from you: Has this Habs-Bruins series lived up to your expectations so far or has there been something missing?

Let us know what you think, leave a comment or send us a tweet using the #MTLHockey hashtag on Twitter.

Be sure to tune into the Montreal Hockey Talk Pregame Show an hour before the puck drop and the Post Game Show 5 minutes after the final siren. Join the live conversation by using the #MTLHockey hashtag on Twitter.

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Monday Musings: Subban, Price Have Habs Heading Home Tied

Greetings Habs Addicts,

After a one week hiatus where Monday Musings was replaced by my extensive Montreal-Boston series preview, it returns this week with the Habs and Bruins sitting tied at one-game apiece in their best of seven series. Montreal went into Boston and stole Game One on the strength of a 48-save gem from goaltender Carey Price, along with a two-goal performance from P.K Subban whose second goal was the double-overtime winner giving Montreal a 4-3 win. Game Two saw the Habs leading 3-1 with ten minutes to go in the third period before the Bruins stormed back with three goals in a five minute span to take the lead. They later tacked on an empty-net goal to ice the game 5-3. Montreal did earn an important split in Boston as the series heads north to Montreal for Game Three and Game Four, but the late-game collapse could have shifted the momentum over to the Bruins. Boston has absolutely dominated the play so far this series. Montreal has had issues with the size of the Bruins forwards, especially in the defensive zone.

- P.K. Subban had a fantastic Game One for Montreal. Subban scored two powerplay goals - carbon copies almost, as both times Matt Bartkowski was in the box and both times he took a feed from Andrei Markov before wiring a one-timer past Tuukka Rask. If you saw the first goal, you saw the second goal. Subban was also the target of racist tweets from a small number of Bruins' fans on Twitter. Subban handled the situation beautifully when he finally did address the issue a couple of days later:

Subban after scoring the overtime winner in Game 1.
Photo Credit: CBC.ca

“It’s completely unfair for anybody to point the finger at the (Bruins) organization or the fan base. They have passionate fans here, great fan base and since I’ve been in the league it’s been awesome. I’ve come to Boston many times. My family has come here, and it’s been great,” - P.K Subban, addressing the tweets after the Habs 5-3 loss.

The Bruins also issues a statement on the issue. Bruins' president Cam Neely addressed the tweets when the story broke, after game one ended:

"The racist, classless views expressed by an ignorant group of individuals following Thursday’s game via digital media are in no way a reflection of anyone associated with the Bruins organization." - Boston Bruins' President Cam Neely

There won't be much more added to this story here. There will always be people out there willing to express ignorant or racist views. In the age of social media, those views reach a far greater audience at a far faster pace. This story broke before the first period ended, although was never acknowledged on the air. P.K Subban handled the situation with great class, as did many fans of the Bruins and Habs who immediately denounced the comments and commenters on Twitter. Fans on both sides need not be reminded that P.K's younger brother, Malcolm Subban, is a former first round pick of the Bruins and currently a member of their farm-team in Providence. Its disappointing that racism still exists in this day and age. It's an issue that has been addressed and has progressed a long way but there will always be ignorant comments made by a select few attention seekers, especially on social media. As Cam Neely indicated, those views do not reflect the opinion of the vast majority of Bruins' fans nor the organization itself. P.K has addressed the situation and has moved on. So should we.

- The Canadiens were seriously outplayed in the first game. The Bruins came out flying and dominated the action, peppering Carey Price with 51 shots in the double-overtime thriller. Price stood on his head, with a little luck from his goalposts as well. The Canadiens stole a game they did not deserve to win. In game two, Price was just as stellar and the frustrations began to boil over. Until the late defensive collapse, Price had stymied the Boston shooters and were on the verge of taking a 2-0 series lead. The Bruins proved they are the best third-period team in hockey as they rallied to come back and steal the game out of the Habs clutches. In the series, 6 of the 7 Boston goals have all gone up and over Price. Aiming high seems to be the gameplan for the Bruins and Price will need to use his size more effectively to block the top part of the net for the rest of the series. Price is a talented goalie and coach Stephane Waite will allow him to make the adjustments he needs. The defenders have done a good job of blocking shots, but need to start playing more physical and clearing the front of the net to give Price a better view of the shots coming his way. Expect to see - much to the chagrin of almost everyone - the return of Douglas Murray to the lineup for game three. Hopefully at the expense of Francis Bouillon, who had two of the Bruins' goals deflect off him and into the net and has consistently been over matched physically by the larger Bruins' forwards.

- The top-line has been nearly non-existent in the playoffs this spring. Aside from the series-winning goal by Max Pacioretty against Tampa, the secondary scoring has been leading the Habs to victory. Thomas Vanek was called out by coach Michel Therrien prior to game two and admitted that he hasn't played well so far during the playoffs. Vanek responded with two powerplay goals, the second one giving Montreal a 3-1 lead before a defensive collapse allowed Boston to steal the game. David Desharnais has had a solid effort, despite often giving up 20-40 pounds on his opponent. Little Davey has not shied away from gigantic Zdeno Chara but has lost the battle more often than not when he has engaged him with the puck. Max Pacioretty needs to start skating hard into the corners and fighting for loose pucks. And most importantly, needs to start scoring. Knowing how Pacioretty is, once the first goal goes in, the rest often come in bunches.

- The Canadiens' best line so far in the playoffs has been the rejuvenated Rene Bourque, playing with an equally rejuvenated Lars Eller and the defensively-responsible Brian Gionta. Through six playoff games, Bourque has 4 goals and 5 points while Eller has 2 goals and 6 points. Gionta has added 1 goal and 4 points to the equation. Brendan Gallagher - a notoriously hated pest if you are a Bruin - has had an energetic playoffs so far, contributing 3 goals and 6 points so far. These players need to continue to produce at this clip, with the top line adding some scoring if Montreal has any hope of getting past this round of the playoffs. The renaissance of Rene Bourque has been nice. Hopefully it continues.

This week the Canadiens welcome the Bruins to the Bell Centre and the raucous Bell Centre crowd will be ready for them. Game Three is Tuesday night with Game Four scheduled for Thursday night. Game Five will be played Saturday night in Boston.  Montreal needs to win at least two of the next three games. All three would be fantastic. For that to happen, Montreal needs to start putting more pucks past Tuukka Rask.

Max Pacioretty: Your time is now.

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Nick M. is a transplanted Montrealer, currently living in evil LeafLand. He is a contributor here at HabsAddict.com and give him a follow, as he can often be found rambling on Twitter.

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Playoff Preview: Canadiens at Bruins (Round 2, Game 2)

 
Match Up:

The Canadiens and the Bruins face-off in Boston Saturday afternoon for Game 2 of the second round. The game starts at 12:30 and airs on RDS and CBC.

The Habs went up 1-0 in theseries with a 4-3 double overtime win thanks to PK Subban's second goals of the night. The Bruins out-shot the Canadiens 51-33, including a 15-10 advantage in overtime, but they weren't able to beat Carey Price until the third period after the Habs went up 2-0.

What to Watch:

Rene Bourque continued to be the Habs most dangerous forward in this postseason. Bourque tallied a goal and an assist bringing him up to 5 points in 5 playoff games this year. PK Subban scored his first 2 goals of these playoffs bringing his points total to 7.

Torey Krug scored his second goal of the playoffs and Patrice Bergeron picked up an assist keeping them at the top of the Bruins scoring leaders with 6 points apiece. The Bruins laid 56 hits on the Habs in Game 1, led by Kevan Miller and Johnny Boychuk who had 7 each.

What's at Stake:

If the Canadiens were looking to return to Montreal with at least a split in Boston, they've already accomplished that mission, but the Bruins did drop Game 1 to the Red Wings before winning the next 4. The Habs will be trying to keep alive the 5-game win streak they're on to start the playoffs, a 6-game streak stretching back to the regular season.

Who's Out:

Aside from Alex Galchenyuk (knee) the Habs are healthy heading into Game 2. Michael Bournival was a healthy scratch in Game 1 to make space for Travis Moen who returned from a concussion he suffered the last time the Habs and Bruins met.

The Bruins are missing Dennis Seidenberg (lower body), Adam McQuaid (quadriceps) and Chris Kelly (back).

What Else:

Tuukka Rask's struggles against the Canadiens continued Thursday night, the Vezina-nominated goalie lost his 14th game in 17 starts against the Habs. Thursday was the first time Rask faced the Habs in the playoffs. Carey Price picked up his 21st career win against the Bruins, but just his 4th in 12 playoff starts.

The Question Mark:

Are there any lineup changes you'd like to see for the Habs heading into Game 2 or should Michel Therrien stand pat?

Let us know what you think, leave a comment or send us a tweet using the #MTLHockey hashtag on Twitter.

Be sure to tune into the Montreal Hockey Talk Pregame Show an hour before the puck drop and the Post Game Show 5 minutes after the final siren. Join the live conversation by using the #MTLHockey hashtag on Twitter.

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Playoff Preview: Canadiens at Bruins (Round 2, Game 1)

Match-Up:

The Canadiens, fresh off of 9 days of rest, are in Boston on Thursday to kick off the second round of the NHL Playoffs. The game starts at 7:30 and airs on CBC and RDS.

Both the Habs and the Bruins are coming off 4 straight playoff wins, but the Canadiens went a perfect 4-for-4 in their series against the Lightning while the Bruins dropped Game 1 to the Red Wings before winning out. The Canadiens had the advantage for the season series between these teams with a 3-1-0 record. The Bruins earned just 3 points in 4 games against the Habs this year.

What to Watch:

The Canadiens were led offensively by PK Subban, Brendan Gallagher and Lars Eller in the first round, each picking up 5 points in 4 games. Gallagher is tied with Rene Bourque with 3 goals to lead the team in that department. Carey Price gave up 4 goals in Game 1 against the Lightning, he then went on to allow just 6 over the next 3 games.

Torey Krug got off to a good start in his second taste of playoff action. The 23-year-old defenseman had a goal and 4 assists against the Wings, giving him 11 playoff points in 20 games. Tuukka Rask heads into the second round with a playoff best 1.16 goals against average and .961 save percentage.

What's at Stake:

If the Canadiens can take one of  the first two games in Boston, they'll return to Montreal with home-ice advantage in hand. Game 1 is also an opportunity for the Habs to get in Tuukka Rask's head. The Vezina-nominated goalie has won just 3 games in 16 lifetime starts against the Canadiens. Rask went 1-2-1 against the Habs this year despite posting a 1.91 goals against average and a .932 save percentage.

Who's Out:

The Habs are still missing Alex Galchenyuk (knee) who could potentially return in this series.

The Bruins have been playing without Dennis Seidenberg (lower body) and Daniel Paille (upper body), but both could return this round. Adam McQuaid (quadriceps) is not expected to return anytime soon.

What Else:

The Canadiens and Bruins face-off in the playoffs for an NHL-most 34th time, making them far and away the most familiar of rivals in the league. The Canadiens already hold 24 series victories to their credit but Boston has won the last two playoff meetings. The Canadiens have won 7 of their 24 Stanley Cups by beating the Bruins in the Finals, winning every Stanley Cup Final series these teams have played against each other.

The Question Mark:

Give us your Round 2 predictions, who wins, how many games, who is the series MVP and Little Bear?

Let us know what you think, leave a comment or send us a tweet using the #MTLHockey hashtag on Twitter.

Be sure to tune into the Montreal Hockey Talk Pregame Show an hour before the puck drop and the Post Game Show 5 minutes after the final siren. Join the live conversation by using the #MTLHockey hashtag on Twitter.

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