Bruins-Canadiens: Back to 2004?

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?—you will notice the series has followed almost the same script.

And on Thursday night, the 2008 Bruins also won, 5-1.

History will show that the 2004 Canadiens overcame both the 2-0 and 3-1 series deficits by shocking the Bruins in seven games.

How will the current Bruins-Canadiens series turn out?

I'm sure the Bruins writers here on BR (namely Matt Baker http://bleacherreport.com/users/10370-Matt_Baker and Matt Bernier http://bleacherreport.com/users/9336-Matt_Bernier) are stoked about the turn of events.

We'll see what unfolds in Boston on Saturday.

Perhaps the Canadiens will come out and play to their capabilities and just end this once and for all. You know Montreal head coach Guy Carbonneau will not let his team slip and be forced to go to a seventh game.

(Note: This photograph was taken from various articles seen on Bleacher Report, which I originally saw on "NHL Playoffs: Canadiens, Bruins To Battle in Eastern Conference", by Daniel Arouchian, http://bleacherreport.com/articles/16436-NHL-Playoffs-Canadiens-Bruins-To-Battle-in-Eastern-Conference-060408. Nice picture!)