2011 NHL Playoffs: Montreal Canadiens-Boston Bruins Analysis After Game 3

It seems as if these teams don't feel like winning in front of their home crowd.

After playing two perfect road games, the Montreal Canadiens abandoned their successful gameplan and tried to play too fancy, in my estimation. They looked quite dysfunctional in the first period—they were unable to execute. The Canadiens could not capitalize on their home-ice advantage and fell 4-2 to the Boston Bruins.

In a twist of fate, the Boston Bruins regained their legs. With the series on the line, they capitalized on their early opportunities and went into the dressing room with a 2-0 lead after the first.

If the Habs were to get back into the game, they would have to regain momentum by scoring early in the second period.

Unfortunately, that was not quite the case.

The B's, notably Rich Peverley, notched another goal after an errant giveaway by the seemingly mortal Carey Price.The Habs goalie was not having his best game.

One would think that with a three-goal deficit and no chemistry on the night, the game was over.

In this case, one would be incorrect.

Andrei Kostitsyn turned Zdeno Chara—who was playing brilliantly up until that point—inside-out and scored five-hole on Tim Thomas. It was a bad goal that Thomas should have stopped.

The Canadiens seemed to be back into the game, but nothing would prepare their fans for their third period.

It was an utter domination of the Bruins, one like I haven't seen from the team in quite some time.

The Habs outshot the Bs 15-6 in the period.

Tomas Plekanec scored his first goal of the playoffs. It was a quick turnaround shot that beat Thomas—you guessed it—five-hole.

To his credit, after giving up the two softies, Thomas made some brilliant saves.

The Bruins iced the game when Chris Kelly scored on an empty net.

Both teams are going to need to work on their powerplays: they were a combined 0-for-9 in the game.

The Bruins certainly outplayed the Habs in the first half of the game. The Krejci-Horton-Lucic line made quite the impact, with both David Krejci and Nathan Horton scoring goals.

Thomas was solid, for the most part.

And then, it's as if the wheels fell off and the two teams traded places.

The Bruins got a little bit too comfortable with their lead and the game ended up being a nail-biter.

In the end, it was too little, too late for the Canadiens. If they had started game three playing the same kind of game that they had in the two games in Boston, perhaps the outcome would have been different.

Hindsight is 20-20, I suppose.

Let's see if the Habs can get back on track in Game Four on Thursday.