Register To ParticipateBlog of Ice
Playoffs: Round 2, Post 1
Posted on April 29, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Hockey, NHL, Playoffs | Leave a Comment
Habits are hard to break, right?
So after taking last week to try to summarize the Bruins’ season, and using the weekend for things that don’t get done much during the Bruins’ season (plus a quick Sunday afternoon trip to Providence, to watch the Baby B’s clobber Portland and take a 2-0 series lead in Round 2 of the AHL playoffs), I sat down Monday night to watch the only game on the NHL schedule — Montreal at Philadelphia, Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semis.
Couldn’t help myself, though. I took notes as the Flyers held on to win it, 3-2, and lead the series 2-1.
— Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau changed a good deal of his lineup before the game, then changed some back mid-game. Most interesting — at least if you watched the Canadiens-Bruins series — was Carbonneau’s breakup of the Steve Begin-Bryan Smolinski-Tom Kostopoulos line.
End to end, Game 1 through Game 7, you could argue that was Montreal’s most consistently effective unit, but Carbonneau pushed Begin down to the fourth line (Mathieu Dandenault was scratched) and replaced him with Guillaume Latendresse. Something about adding some scoring, apparently — and maybe Begin adds a little bang to the fourth line, too. Tough call, though: Begin-Smolinski-Kostopoulos wasn’t broke, so …
The Brothers Kostitsyn (Andrei and Sergei), who began to play together in Game 6 against the B’s, seemed separated by the end of Monday’s game. Permanent? We’ll have to see. Truth to tell, Saku Koivu may be the only Hab on the top two lines who has pulled his weight on a game-to-game basis since he returned for Game 6 of Boston-Montreal.
— I know, I know, he’s the No. 1 guy, the goalie of the future, all that … but I still don’t know that returning to Carey Price in Game 4 is such an obvious move for Carbonneau. Yeah, he had a rough patch against the B’s and recovered in Game 7, but staying with a kid when you’re ahead in a series, 3 games to 1, is one thing: Starting him again in Game 4, on the road, after two sub-par outings (and some of the terrible puck-handling decisions he showed against the B’s), in a series you’re trailing, 2-1, is something else. Not that I really think Carbonneau will do it, but the idea of starting Jaroslav Halak in Game 4 isn’t so crazy to me.
— That the Flyers won despite giving Montreal 8 power plays is a testament to Martin Biron’s fine play in goal (with a little luck from posts and the crossbar), and to the fact that life can be unfair. From Steve Downie taking two foolish penalties (one left the Flyers two men short for 2 full minutes) to Derian Hatcher smashing Francis Bouillon into the boards behind Montreal’s net when he was out of the play (that one cost Hatcher 5 minutes, and the Habs scored twice to cut into Philly’s 3-2 lead) the Flyers showed their trademark lack of discipline for much of the night.
– Scott Hartnell, who famously put Bruin Andrew Alberts out for months by drilling him into the boards when Alberts was on his knees, seems a little off with his timing. Kostopoulos, who had been taken down in the faceoff circle about three minutes into the third period, had almost risen to his feet when Hartnell bowled him over. The puck was about 10 feet away at the time, but Hartnell wasn’t penalized.
OK, so there was that incident at the end of Game 2, when Kostopoulos punched unsuspecting Flyer Kimmo Timonen. (Kostopoulos admitted he was wrong the next day, saying he gave in to the frustration of losing.) Still, it’s hard not to be amused by Flyers coach John Stevens calling Kostopoulos’ Game 2 punch “cowardly,” when Hartnell’s out there tagging people who aren’t in position to defend themselves.
— Didn’t take any notes on this, but it’s been on my mind: If you followed the Bruins this year, then you know that Patrice Bergeron and Alberts were seriously hurt on illegal hits by Flyers, and that the Canadiens ended the Bruins’ season.
So who do you root for in this series?
Game 7: Bruins eliminated
Posted on April 21, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Boston Bruins, Hockey, NHL, Sports | Leave a Comment
Part of the 5-0 final is deceptive: The Candadiens didn’t outplay the Bruins by 5 goals in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
Unfortunately, the zero Boston put up was legitimate. An unexpectedly positive regular season and often thrilling first-round series against the No. 1-seeded Habs ended because the B’s, as was so often the case all season, couldn’t score. After putting up 10 goals over Games 5 and 6, the B’s were eliminated via their second shutout loss of the series.
The chief culprit was the power play, which went 0 for 6. The Bruins had three power plays while they still trailed, 1-0, and three more in a row after Montreal’s two-goal burst halfway through the second period. Their failure to connect on any of them made the Canadiens’ two goals in the game’s final 2:02 meaningless.
All things considered, it was an excellent year for the B’s, but a tough way to close it.
Second period
The Montreal scoring bursts Boston had been able to avoid after the first couple of minutes in Game 1 rose up in the second half of the second period, leaving the Bruins behind, 3-0, and within 20 minutes of elimination.
Trailing 1-0 entering the second, the B’s continued to play as well,or better than Montreal, but rookie goalie Carey Price (17 saves through the first 40 minutes) made a couple of key saves — especially one on Marco Sturm, at the end of a 2-on-1 rush – and that kept the Habs afloat long enough to take advantage of a couple of plays involved Boston captain Zdeno Chara.
Fourth-line forward Mark Streit caught Chara fishing for the puck during a quick 2-on-2 break inside the Bruins’ blue line, and after beating Chara cleanly to give himself a breakaway, Streit made a nice move to beat Tim Thomas through the 5-hole to make it 2-0 at 10:45.
Chara was just exiting the penalty box (he’d been called for holding Tom Kostopoulos, but if it was a penalty at all, it was a hook) when Andrei Kostitsyn scored off a pass from his brother, Sergei. Andrei got a shot through the legs of Mark Stuart in the slot, and it sailed over Thomas’s glove.
Montreal’s goals came 4:28 apart, and gave the Habs their first mulitple-goal lead since Game 2, when they had a 2-0 lead in a game they won in overtime, 3-2.
The Bruins were playing with only 11 forwards. Glen Murray left the game in the third period, after sliding into the boards head/neck/shoulders first during a Boston power play. Murray, who had redirected a Marc Savard pass wide of the Canadiens net, was then shoved from behind by Roman Hamrlik, who wasn’t penalized.
First period:
On most levels, it was the type of start the Bruins sought in Game 7 at the Bell Centre. Their failure to score, though, left them in a one-goal hole entering the second period.
All four of Boston’s lines had scoring chances, and the B’s finished the first period with an 11-8 edge in shots. The Canadiens, however, got a break to take the lead after just 3:31: Mike Komisarek’s one-timer from the middle of the point hit the blade of Bruin Petteri Nokelainen’s stick and changed direction, sliding past the right pad of Thomas.
The Bruins didn’t change the lineup that finished Game 6. Montreal used the same players as in Game 6, but coach Guy Carbonneau broke up his ineffective first line: Right wing Alexei Kovalev moved onto a line with Christopher Higgins and center Saku Koivu, and that line set up Komisarek’s goal. Kovalev was replaced on the Andrei Kostitsyn-Tomas Plekanec line by Sergei Kostitsyn.
Boston’s power play went 0 for 2 in the first period, both chances coming after the Habs went ahead. The B’s stayed within a goal entering the second, though, with a pretty routine penalty kill after Stuart took a cross-checking penalty with 2:58 left in the period.
Game 6: 10 fast post-game facts
Posted on April 19, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Boston Bruins, Hockey, NHL | Leave a Comment
It was easy to miss something here and there, with goals being scored at such a furious pace at the end of the Bruins’ 5-4 victory in Game 6. Here are a couple handfuls to snack on while waiting for Game 7 on Monday night.
1. The Bruins only led the game for 2 minutes, 48 seconds — 11 seconds after Phil Kessel’s goal with 4:15 to play (Christopher Higgins answered at 15:56), and for the last 2:37. They were otherwise behind by 1 goal (1-0, 2-1 and 3-2), or tied.
2. All 9 goals were scored at even strength. Both teams scored a goal in a 4-on-4 situation.
3. Four Bruins had 2-point nights — Phil Kessel (2 goals); Marco Sturm (goal, assist), David Krejci and Marc Savard (2 assists apiece).
4. Kessel now leads all players in the series with 3 goals, despite only playing Games 1, 5 and 6.
5. Milan Lucic, who scored his 2nd goal of the series, led all players with 7 hits.
6. Bruins defenseman Aaron Ward, who missed Game 5 because of a knee injury, was plus-3 (better than anyone on either team) and registered 4 hits.
7. The Bruins have scored 10 of their 15 goals in the series in the 3rd period. Montreal has scored 3 in the 3rd (two last night).
8. Montreal’s first-line wingers, Andrei Kostitsyn and Alex Kovalev, were both minus-3. Kovalev had 2 shots; Kostitsyn just one.
9. Canadiens captain Saku Koivu, sidelined by a fractured foot until Game 6, had 2 assists and won 15 of 21 faceoffs (71 percent) in just 15:02 worth of ice time.
10. P-J Axelsson, Glen Murray and Shawn Thornton are the only Boston forwards to have played all 6 games without scoring a point.
Look for a Game 7 preview, in print and at ledger.com, on Monday morning.
Game 6: B’s win thriller, 5-4
Posted on April 19, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Boston Bruins, Hockey, NHL | Leave a Comment
(Here’s the tidied, tightened version.)
Fittingly, an astonishing sequence ended an incredible game.
After playing from behind much of the night, and tying the score with 7:47 left in the third period, the Bruins took the lead, lost it 11 seconds later on Christopher Higgins’s second goal of the night, then went ahead on Marco Sturm’s goal with 2:37 to go.
As well as Phil Kessel (2 goals) had played, Sturm gave him a run for his money in the heroism department.
Sturm made a brilliant pass from the corner to Kessel, who lifted his second goal of the game over Carey Price with 4:15 to play. Sturm’s own goal came after he bumped a Canadien off the puck in the offensive zone, took it to the right circle for a shot, then drove the net to reach his own rebound. He held the puck as Price went down, then fired it over him for the winner.
Shane Hnidy, who’d just been the victim of a terrible bounce, got a much more favorable deflection at 12:13. Hnidy’s wrist shot from the right point — courtesy of Marc Savard’s faceoff win — was deflected in the slot by rookie Milan Lucic, tying the game at 3-3 just 2:09 after Montreal took its third lead of the game.
The Bruins, who’d already wiped out 1-0 and 2-1 deficits, fell behind again with 9:56 left in regulation on a lucky break for Montreal defenseman Francis Bouillon and a terrible bounce for Hnidy. The Habs worked the puck to Bouillon (2 regular-season goals) at the left point, and after a few strides into the circle, he snapped a shot that hit Hnidy’s stick and went through Tim Thomas.
– Rookie Vladimir Sobotka — onside by an inch, if that — swatted a backhander off the pads of Price and inside the far post 3:13 into the third period, pulling the B’s even, 2-2.
Peter Schaefer, who’d just been robbed by Price on a one-timer from the left circle, rushed the puck up the middle as Sobotka burst over the blue line. Schaefer’s pass hit the shaft of a Montreal stick and trickled toward the net, from where Sobotka smacked his second goal in as many games past Price.
The Bruins were shorthanded less than a minute later (Andrew Ference, for interference), but improved to 4-for-4 on the penalty kill for the night, and 27 for 29 for the series.
Second Period:
— Tomas Plekanec, a few seconds after exiting the penalty box on a hooking infraction, took a long pass behind Boston’s point men and restored Montreal’s lead on a breakaway at 7:43. As is often the case such situations, the Bruins were pressing furiously on their power-play, with Glen Murray having one shot blocked in the slot, then having the puck get poked past him just outside the crease before coming out of the zone.
— Boston had a great chance to tie it on its next power play, when Savard, standing below the right circle, hit Zdeno Chara sneaking in the back door from the left point. Savard’s pass was perfect, but Chara’s shot hit the near post.
— David Krejci hit Boston’s second post of the period with 3:50 to go. Hnidy’s wrister from the point hit traffic in front; Krejci banged it through the maze, past Price’s left skate, and squarely off the post.
— Kessel, apparently still not over the fact that he was pulled from the lineup for Games 2-4, scored Boston’s first goal of the night on a brilliant individual rush. After starting Boston’s Game 5 comeback with his first career playoff goal, he tied Game 6 with perhaps the best goal of the Bruins’ season.
With both teams at 4 skaters per side, Kessel snapped a hard pass to Savard at center ice, and when Savard tried to beat Maxim Lapierre with a spin move, he fell. Savard kept the puck close while on the seat of his pants, though, and Kessel came up from behind him with speed and took the puck across Montreal’s blue line. An outside-inside move got Kessel past defenseman Bouillon, and Kessel then rifled a wrist shot past Price to the far corner at 1:54.
The period ended as it began, with 4 skaters per side. Andrei Kostitsyn took Montreal’s second diving penalty of the period, after token interference from P-J Axelsson.
First period:
The Bruins had a big edge in scoring chances by the first TV timeout, with the Lucic-Savard-Kessel nearly scoring at the end of a rush that defenseman Mark Stuart joined, and a Sturm one-timer from the left circle (Krejci made the pass) that Price stopped with his left arm.
The early hitting was furious. The biggest Bruins (Lucic and Chara) laid serious licks on Josh Gorges and Andrei Kostitsyn, respectively. Montreal defenseman Mike Komisarek, who was on the silent side in Game 5, has so far made up for that with big bangs on Sobotka (after a whistle, but unpenalized) and Krejci.
The B’s took the first penalty (Aaron Ward for tripping at 7:04, with Lapierre embellishing, but not getting penalized for it), but the Bruins not only killed the penalty, they had the only shot. Axelsson had a clean breakaway, but Price closed his 5-hole after Axelsson faked to his backhand.
Diving worked to the Habs’ advantage a few minutes later, though. Steve Begin embellished Kessel’s slash at 9:30, setting up a 4-0n-4 manpower situation which, given Montreal’s inability to score on the power play, might have been better than a 5-on-4.
It certainly seemed so just 14 seconds after the penalties were called, when Montreal took a 1-0 lead. Saku Koivu beat Savard on a faceoff to the left of Thomas, and Higgins put a nice move on Dennis Wideman to get to the front of the net and tuck a shot through Thomas’s legs.
(A little more evidence on that tongue-in-cheek, diving-to-success theory: Stuart deserved the tripping penalty he took for getting his stick caught between Sergei Kostitsyn’s legs at 15:35. Try as he might, though — and Kostitsyn executed a 360-degree spin on his way to the ice — no diving penalty was assessed. Montreal had to take the power play, and the B’s killed it relatively easily. Montreal dropped to 2 for 27 in the series at that point, after leading the NHL during the regular season.)
A scrum at the end of the period resulted in Chara and Begin taking roughing penalties. The second period starts at 4 skaters per side.
B’s-Habs, Game 6: Lineups
Posted on April 19, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Boston Bruins, Hockey, NHL, Sports | Leave a Comment
First, the lineup changes:
Aaron Ward was back in the lineup after missing Game 5 with a knee injury; Phil Kessel stayed in the lineup. Boston’s scratches were Andrew Alberts and Jeremy Reich.
Montreal brought Saku Koivu, Francis Bouillon and Mark Streit back — all from injuries, with Koivu and Bouillon playing for the first time in the series. The Canadiens scratched D Ryan O’Byrne, RW Michael Ryder and RW Guillaume Latendresse. Latendresse had played all 5 games; Ryder had been scratched once previously; O’Byrne had played only twice in the series.
The return of Koivu, Montreal’s captain, is expected to allow Christopher Higgins (0 points in 5 games) to move back to a wing, from center. Streit, who missed Game 5 with a hip injury, will also play forward.
B’s-Habs, Game 6: Pre-game (Ward, Koivu, etc.)
Posted on April 19, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Boston Bruins, Hockey, NHL, Sports | Leave a Comment
Morning skates have wrapped up, and both coaches have held their press conferences. Here’s what we’ve been told so far:
— Bruins coach Claude Julien said defenseman Aaron Ward, who missed Game 5 with a knee injury, will probably play tonight. If so, Andrew Alberts would be the most likely defenseman to be pushed out of the lineup.
— Patrice Bergeron tried again Friday to receive clearance from the Bruins’ medical staff to play, but was turned down. He said he expects to be in touch with his doctors again on Monday.
— Julien wasn’t asked if Phil Kessel would remain in the lineup, but given his Game 5 performance after being scratched for 3 straight games, there’s little doubt that Kessel will return. That probably means another night in the press box for Jeremy Reich.
The Canadiens’ news was a little more significant.. Montreal captain Saku Koivu and defenseman Francis Bouillon both pronounced themselves fit to play for the first time in the series, and confirmation came from coach Guy Carbonneau.
Koivu, who scored 56 regular-season points, hasn’t played since fracturing a bone in his foot in a March 28 game at Buffalo. He started skating in the middle of this week.
Bouillon suffered an ankle injury the night after Koivu got hurt. He played 74 games before that and scored only 8 points, but he was plus-9 and averaged more than 17 minutes per game.
The returnees give Montreal a bump in post-season experience. Koivu has played 43 career playoff games (36 points), with 4 goals and 17 points in 13 career playoff games against the B’s. Bouillon has played 17 playoff games (7 against the B’s, all scoreless), but he’ll replace rookie Ryan O’Byrne, who has seen only limited action in two games in this series.
It wasn’t immediately clear which Montreal forward would be scratched because of Koivu’s return. Carbonneau might have to take out another forward or defenseman, too: The status of swingman Mark Streit, who has played defense and forward in this series, may not be determined until just before game time. He missed Game 5 with a hip injury, but was back on the ice Saturday morning.
Updates as they become available …
Game 5: Bruins 5, Canadiens 1
Posted on April 17, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Boston Bruins, Hockey, NHL, Sports | Leave a Comment
Stacked odds or not, their season-long long history made it at least reasonable to assume that the Boston Bruins would make it difficult for the Montreal Canadiens to boot them out of the playoffs Thursday night, even though the Habs were at home.
But a Boston blowout? The very thought was incomprehensible, if for no other reason than the fact that the Bruins didn’t ring up many 4-goal wins all season long.
That’s how the B’s brought the series back to Boston for Game 6 on Saturday night, though. Tied, 1-1, entering the 3rd period, the Bruins took advantage of a couple of breaks and excellent special-teams work to pull away from the Canadiens, 5-1.
Game 6 will be a test of the calm, cool demeanor of Habs rookie Carey Price, who broke down over Thursday’s final 20 minutes. Price gave the Bruins two goals, including the crucial tie-breaker at 3:31. He had just saved a bid by Petteri Nokelainen, then gloved the puck after it popped in the air. Instead of holding it for a whistle, though, Price dropped it in front of his net for teammate Maxim Lapierre — even though Nokelainen was standing just a few feet away. Lapierre swatted the puck away from Nokelainen — but right to Bruin Glen Metropolit, who hit an empty net with his first goal since Feb. 5.
There were squeamish moments ahead, even after Zdeno Chara’s power-play goal at 5:49 made it 3-1. As always seems to be the case in games at Montreal, the B’s had to survive a couple of penalties (one to Metropolit, one to Chara), but even those didn’t slow them down: Marco Sturm, who has had a handful of shorthanded scoring chances in the series, finally scored on one of them, an off-the-rush slapper with 4:47 to play. That shot was a rocket; the bad-angle wrister that Vladimir Sobotka put through Price at 17:48 was simply a bad goal.
Every Bruin who scored netted his first goal of the series, with Phil Kessel’s second-period power-play strike after he’d been scratched for three games the one which kept the B’s alive.
Defenseman Andrew Ference was credited with three assists. Tim Thomas, who has held Montreal to a single goal in each of the last 3 games, stopped 31 shots.
A rewiew of the first two periods:
In what some will call an example of serendipity, and what others will consider proof he should never have been taken out of the lineup in the first place (I’m going with the former), Kessel tied the game at 7:45 of the second with a power-play – the first of Kessel’s career, and just the second man-advantage goal of the series for Boston.
Kessel scored on his fourth try. After taking a pass to the right of Price, Kessel took the puck to the crease and had Price poke it off his stick, then had a rebound turned away before corraling the loose puck and taking it into the left circle. Kessel’s shot from there was blocked by Mike Komisarek, but he followed with a second bid that beat Price to the far side.
For the first time in 3 trips to the Bell Centre in this series, the Bruins were tied entering the third period. They trailed by 2 goals through 40 minutes in Games 1 and 2, which resulted in losses of 4-1 and 3-2 (in overtime).
Here’s what you missed in the 1st period.
Bruins fans who believe in karma or curses can’t have liked the way the first period of Game 5 ended: Krejci pushed the puck through Canadiens’ defenseman Josh Gorges in the last 10 seconds, then drove down the slot to try to reach it before Price. The goalie poke-checked the puck off Krejci, and it then floated toward the net — but off the post. Milan Lucic couldn’t swat the loose puck in from the crease; Glen Murray couldn’t get his stick on a follow-up chance, either.
Alexei Kovalev scored the only goal of the first period, during a 4-on-4 manpower situation. Kovalev’s helmet came off when he was hit by Chara at the Bruins bench, but the Bruins didn’t come up with the puck, and the Habs were able to reorganize and take the puck into Boston territory. It eventually found its way back to Patrice Brisebois at the point, and his shot hit Kovalev in the high slot. Kovalev settled the puck down, and whipped a backhander through a screen that beat Thomas to the far/blocker side at 9:47.
Out of necessity and also in an attempt to invent offense, Bruins coach Claude Julien made a couple of lineup changes: Defenseman Andrew Alberts played because Aaron Ward (knee) couldn’t, and Kessel returned after being scratched for the three previous games.
Kessel’s return resulted in Jeremy Reich being scratched, and in the following line combinations at the start of the game.
Lucic-Marc Savard-Kessel
Marco Sturm-Krejci-Murray
P-J Axelsson-Glen Metropolit-Petteri Nokelainen
Peter Schaefer-Vladimir Sobotka-Shawn Thornton
Only the Axelsson-Metropolit-Nokelainen line went unchanged from Games 2-4. The Sturm-Krejci-Murray trio was a revival; they’d played well together late in the regular season, when Savard was hurt.
The lineup was tweaked a little more in the second period: Schaefer moved to the left side with Metropolit and Nokelainen; Axelsson became the left wing with Sobotka and Shawn Thornton.
The defense pairs:
Chara-Shane Hnidy
Mark Stuart-Ference
Alberts-Dennis Wideman
Montreal had to make a switch, too: Swingman Mark Streit, who has played both defense and forward in the series, didn’t play at all because of a hip injury. Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau put Michael Ryder back into the lineup at wing, after a one-game absence.
Game 4, Final: Canadiens 1, Bruins 0 trail through 2nd, 1-0
Posted on April 15, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Boston Bruins, Hockey, NHL, Sports | Leave a Comment
They had chances — some stopped by Carey Price, others on which they tried to be too fine — and now the Bruins face elimination in their first-round playoff series with Montreal.
Patrice Brisebois scored the only goal of the game on a power play in the last minute of the second period, and the Canadiens held on from there to win, 1-0, and take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. The B’s have to win Game 5 on Thursday night at Montreal to bring the series back to Boston.
After killing 19 of 20 shortanded situations against the NHL’s best regular-season power play, the Bruins gave up a power-play goal at a tough juncture in Game 4: With B’s defenseman Andrew Ference serving an unpopular tripping penalty (Montreal’s Tom Kostopoulos had just been allowed to lift Zdeno Chara’s feet from under him, wrestling-style), Patrice Brisebois blasted a shot from the left circle just below the crossbar with 42 seconds left in the second period.
The Bruins, only 1 for 16 on the power play so far, get a chance to atone as the third period begins. They get a full two-minute power play, courtesy of Steve Begin’s ill-advised decision to trip Milan Lucic in the neutral zone as time ran out.
Game 4 in the Bruins-Canadiens quarterfinal playoff got off to the same high-tempo, physical start as Boston’s 2-1, OT win on Sunday night, except this time there was no scoring through the first 20 minutes.
The Bruins were outshot, 12-9, but probably had the better scoring chances. Marco Sturm almost helped the B’s take a 1-0 during two shorthanded situations, first missing the net after winning a race for a loose puck with Montreal goalie Carey Price, and later watching his 2-on-1 pass to David Krejci go wide on Krejci’s redirection.
The battle between Bruins rookie Milan Lucic and Montreal defenseman Mike Komisarek intensified. Lucic was furious at a low hit thrown by Komisarek at the Canadiens’ blue line (Komisarek was penalized for clipping), and spent the remainder of the period in running dialogue with Komisarek, as well as pounding any Canadien he could reach.
Montreal made the only lineup change from Game 3, adding the size of rookie defenseman Ryan O’Byrne and making swingman Mark Streit a winger instead of a blue-liner. Michael Ryder was scratched.
Bruins-Canadiens, Pre-Game 4:
Posted on April 15, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Boston Bruins, Hockey, NHL, Sports | Leave a Comment
Though it wasn’t quite as quiet at TD Banknorth Garden as it was in the hourse before Game 3, the morning skates weren’t exactly eventful, either.
Claude Julien said that unless something like an illness came up during the afternoon, he didn’t plan to change the lineup that won Game 3 in overtime on Sunday night. That meant winger Phil Kessel would be scratched for the third straight game and defenseman Andrew Alberts would miss his second in a row.
Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau played it coy after the Canadiens skated, telling reporters he hadn’t decided if he’d make any lineup changes. Speculation has been widespread about the possibility of Montreal adding 6-6, 228-pound defenseman Ryan O’Byrne to the mix, after the Habs were outhit for most of Games 2 and 3. O’Byrne, a mid-season call-up from Hamilton (American Hockey League), has no prior NHL playoff experience.
Carbonneau did needle the Bruins a bit about the reaction to their overtime win in Game 3.
“They won the last game, they feel they have the momentum. I’m happy for them.” Carbonneau said. “But, you know, they won 1 game out of the last 14 games (against the Canadiens), so I think we feel pretty confident, also.”
Game 3: Bruins 2, Montreal 1 (OT)
Posted on April 13, 2008 by Mike Loftus
Filed Under Boston Bruins, Hockey, NHL, Sports | Leave a Comment
Marc Savard, the veteran center who’d played more than 650 NHesL games before reaching the playoffs, scored his first post-season goal 9:25 into overtime Sunday night to give the Bruins a 2-1 victory over Montreal, ending a 13-game losing streak against the Habs, and pulling to within 2 games to 1 in their best of 7 first-round playoff series.
Savard jumped onto the ice as a sixth attacker once goalie Tim Thomas left the ice during a delayed-penalty situation against the Canadiens. Peter Schaefer bought time, taking the puck out of the corner to the right of goalie Carey Price, then found defenseman Dennis Wideman attacking from the point. Wideman took Schaefer’s pass in the slot, but put it behind this back to Savard in the right circle. Price couldn’t move to his left fast enough to stop Savard’s wrister and extend the overtime period.
Game 4 is Tuesday night at TD Banknorth Garden; Game 5 will be played Thursday at the Bell Centre in Montreal, where the Canadiens opened the series with 4-1 and 3-2 (OT) victories.
Both teams had chances to end Game 3 after 60 minutes (Bruins rookie David Krejci was denied on a pair of odd-man rushes by Montreal goalie Carey Price; and the B’s were shut out on two power plays), but for the second night in a row, the Bruins and Canadiens went to overtime.
After forcing Montreal to battle a first-period storm, the Bruins couldn’t apply quite the same pressure in the second period, and gave up the first lead they’d had over the Canadiens all season.
Not all that surprisingly, the Habs’ physical, energetic line of Tom Kostopoulos, ex-Bruin Bryan Smolinksi and Steve Begin scored the tying goal. Smolinski got away with some interference, clobbering an unsuspecting Mark Stuart at the side of the Bruins net before the puck got there, clearing space for Kostopolous to drive to the crease and slip a shot past Tim Thomas as 4:26.
The Bruins’ chances thereafter were few, but some were very good. P-J Axelsson came tantalizing close to reaching a loose puck in front of Montreal’s net with Price out of position with 12:25 remaining, and Milan Lucic had back-to-back break-ins with 10:45 and 10:30 to go. Marco Sturm also broke up Price next to Montreal’s net in the last 2 minutes, but the B’s couldn’t poke the puck into the Habs’ unprotected net.
They may not have been able to completely silence the healthy number of Canadiens fans who trekked down from Quebec, but the Bruins’ fans at sold-out TD Banknorth Garden finally had their chance to shake the building at 6:30, when Lucic gave Boston its first lead in 11 games against Montreal this season.
After allowing Stuart’s long pass to go through his skates in front of Montreal’s bench (in the pre-lockout days, it would have been a two-line pass, or icing), Lucic headed for the slot as Savard raced Canadiens defenseman Josh Gorges for the puck. Savard bumped Gorges on the right half-wall, gained control, and snapped a pass to Lucic, who fired a shot over Price’s right shoulder.
The Bruins rode the resulting momentum to several scoring opportunties (notably a Sturm breakaway, on which he missed the net after faking to his backhand), but couldn’t add to the lead. The B’s didn’t lose it either, though, thanks in part to a strong penalty kill (Aaron Ward, for tripping Maxim Lapierre) halfway through the period. Montreal had the puck in Boston territory for most of the power play, but didn’t land a shot on Thomas.
The B’s finished the period with a 10-7 edge in shots, and went into the second period on a power play. Guillaume Latendresse and B’s defenseman Shane Hnidy fought at the 20-minute mark, but Latendresse had a roughing minor tacked onto his 5-minute fighting major.
keep looking »
