What on earth is happening in the Boston-Montreal series?
The Boston Bruins were supposed to have been gone already, as many—including myself here on Bleacher Report—had written them off right from the start.
The Bruins drew the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs, and the Habs had won 11 straight heading into the series.
Many, including myself, had the Habs winning in a four-game romp.
And after the opening game, in which the Canadiens totally outclassed the B's 4-1, it seemed everything was happening just as we all scripted.
Game Two's third-period-comeback-turned-overtime-loss was yet another reminder that the hockey gods always smiled on the Canadiens. The Bruins made a valiant effort rallying for two goals in the final 20 minutes, but fell in extra time on Alexei Kovalev's power-play goal.
In Game Three, the B's ensured there would be no sweep, as Marc Savard returned the favor with his first career playoff goal, potting home the winner in overtime.
Then the Game Four 1-0 loss, in which Montreal rookie goaltender Carey Price brought back memories of the Ken Drydens, Steve Penneys, and Patrick Roys. The Habs were up three games to one.
But Boston came back Thursday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, teasing Bruins fans one more time with a big 5-1 victory to stave off elimination. Five unanswered goals by the B's.
Incredibly, the Bruins were still alive, and now trail the series three games to two with Game Six coming up Saturday in Beantown.
So this begs the question: What if?
What if the Bruins hadn't been assessed all those penalties in Game Two? What if Game Four had turned out differently?
I still don't see Boston pulling it off—and I'll get lots of hate mail from Bruins fans, no doubt—but, could this be a repeat of 2004?
The series this year and the series four years ago have been strikingly similar.
In 2004, the Bruins were led by rookie netminder Andrew Raycroft (oh, whatever has happened to him?) and were heavily favored, the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference taking on the No. 7 Canadiens.
The favored team won Game One by three goals, Game Two in dramatic fashion in overtime, lost Game Three on the road by a single goal, and won Game Four in another thriller by one goal.
Then the underdog won Game Five on the road, 5-1.
That was in 2004.
And if you've followed the 2008 battle—and I know some sports fans in Boston such as Bleacher Report's own Sean Crowe, http://bleacherreport.com/users/3609-Sean_Crowe, a senior writer here, probably still haven't bought in to the Bruins; who could blame you?—
6 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Matt Eichel about 1 year ago
That's exactly what I started thinking this series could turn into. Except I didn't know the scores were exactly the same or in the same circumstances. This doesn't bode well if the Canadiens don't get their chips together and bodes very well for the Bruins if they can keep slowing the Canadiens down.
Good read!
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Mark Marino about 1 year ago
I'll be at the game on Saturday!
I think the B's win at home...but inevitably lose game 7 in Montreal
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KP Wee about 1 year ago
Well, you're right about Game Six... wow...
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Joe Pawich about 1 year ago
Here's hoping Saku Koivu can return tomorrow and be an X-factor for the Habs. They could use his heart, leadership and puck-movement skills, especially on the power play. No disrespect to a guy like Bryan Smolinski, who had admittedly been much better in recent games than I ever expected him to be at this stage of his career and could be considered a bright spot. But as a Habs' fan, seeing him out there logging man-advantage time does nothing for my confidence.
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KP Wee about 1 year ago
Ha. What do you know - it's back to 2004... what a thriller in Game Six.
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paul stephens about 1 year ago
I'm not a Bruins fan, but this pattern is quite fascinating. Up through game five, the margins of victory have been exactly the same as in 2004. Winners of game 6 each scored 5 goals. Canadiens scored 19 total goals to the Bruins 14 in 2004. Right now the Bruins have outscored the Canadiens 15 to 14. So, my prediction, to complete the perfect book-end, is that the Bruins win 4-0.
Paul
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