2011 NHL Playoffs: Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens, Game 3

Hey there hockey fans, sorry I didn't provide a Game 2 article, but Mark Ritter summed it up beautifully, so I figured I wasn't going to duplicate the whole thing.

Game 3 at the Bell Centre came with high expectations from the Hab faithful that the Bruins will continue their losing ways in their barn.

Tim Thomas and company knew that this was a virtual do-or-die situation, with the prospect of the Habs poised to return the favor and sweep the B's, much like what Boston did in the 2008-2009 season.

The Habs knew that if they could keep up the pressure, they would have a good chance at taking the series into Thursday with a strangling 3-0 lead.

The Bruins know that they have what it takes to win games against their long-time rivals and tried to steal a couple in a place they simply did not have success in the recent past.

"When you're down in a series like that and you've got to climb back up, it definitely is a challenge of character, will, desire, commitment and everything else that goes with it," Bruins coach Claude Julien told ESPN Sunday. "We've got to roll up our sleeves here and go back to work."

The players in the Boston dressing room were fully aware of what needed to be done and what to expect.

"I'm sure it's going to be crazy, just like it was here," Bruins forward David Krejci said. "We've played there many times, so we know what to expect. All we can do is focus on our game and do it on the ice. I wouldn't make it such a big deal. Yeah, we've lost two games, but there's still lots of hockey left and I believe we'll win the next game. It's a good feeling in the room and we're [looking] for a momentum change really quickly."

All in all, the Habs had some great rebounds to pounce on as Thomas kicked some pucks far out, but the puck support of the Boston Bruins was virtually non-existent—a mistake they corrected in Game 3.

Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, a.k.a. Montreal's Public Enemy No. 1, suited up to play and was ready to contribute. Most feel that the loss in Game 2 was due to his absence, as he is the leader among time-on-ice stats. The Bell got loud every time Chara touched the puck, but that is nothing new to the veteran player.

“I don’t know how much louder you can boo him,” Shawn Thornton said about Chara, who did not speak today. “Every time he touches the puck, 20,000 people have booed him here for the four years I've been here. I don’t expect anything different. He’s used to it and he’s pretty strong mentally, so I don’t worry about it.”

The Game

First Period

It was Boston's turn to score first and fast, as David Krejci got his first goal of the series in under three minutes of play.

Just as Milan Lucic's penalty expired, Dennis Seidenburg backhanded the puck to Patrice Bergeron along the boards to Carey Price's left side. Bergeron quickly picked up Krejci who skated in all alone from the right point and he buried it past Carey to give the Bruins the lead for the first time in the series.

The Bruins didn't let off the pedal.

Chara ripped one from the point which went off the boards and right to Nathan Horton who banked it off Price. The puck just barely got past the goal line before Jaroslav Spacek could clear it. The goal was called and it went upstairs to confirm Horton's first career playoff goal. 2-0 B's.

Second Period

In the first two minutes of play, Price tried to play the puck past Mark Recchi, but it went off Recchi's skate right to Rich Peverley, where it then bounced off of him and landed in front of him, leaving the net completely unattended. Peverley did not waste such an opportunity and the Bruins were in a commanding position, leading 3-0.

The Habs needed a boost, and they got just that. Andrei Kostitsyn skated in with Michael Cammalleri and Kostitsyn received a backhanded pass. Kostitsyn then made what looked like a lazy backhand that most (including myself) would consider a weak goal on the five-hole. Montreal got on the board, and it was 3-1 Bruins.

Third Period

The Habs came out with some jump as they knew that they had to get a goal and quickly. Less than five minutes in, Tomas Plekanec raced along the boards to get in the Bruins zone. Chara looked like he had him covered, but Plekanec did a blind spinning shot that beat Thomas in the five-hole...again. The game got interesting with the Habs down a goal and lots of hockey to play. 3-2 Bruins.

The combined intensity of the Habs, with the panic play of the Bruins, made the game extremely tense for the Black and Gold, as the Bruins were out-shot 15-6 in the final frame. The difference was clearly Thomas making some fantastic saves.

The final nail was placed in this game by way of Recchi passing to Chris Kelly, who popped the puck in the empty net. PK Subban slid in after it, after a heck of an effort to try and catch it.

Final Score: 4-2 Bruins, and the series is now 2-1 Habs.

The Good

The Bruins played to their strengths. Puck support, collapsing on the net to prevent too many Habs at Thomas, and crowding Price. They used their size to hit the players legally and smartly to create both defensive and offensive chances. The time and space was taken away from the Habs and this allowed the Bruins to get on their game.

The Habs turned on the heat and threw pucks at the net. The two goals that they got weren't pretty, but who says they all have to be? As long as they count—that is what matters to any team that makes them.

The Bad

For the life of me, I could not understand why the Bruins would let off on the pedal like that. This Montreal Canadien squad was largely the same squad that took their play to the Eastern Finals and there should have been no different mindset to say they couldn't do it again.

The Habs could not generate too many quality chances at Thomas until the third period.

The Ugly

The 15-6 SOG in favor of the Habs in the final. The two goals allowed by Thomas and Price's clearing attempt that turned into a Bruin goal.

My Take

I have been reading a few forums and I have to say this to both the Bruins and Habs fans:

The Bruins win did not come solely as a result of the Habs playing poorly, it was, to a great deal, the play of the Bruins that prevented the Habs from using their speed and skill from scoring on Thomas, and what shots did get to Thomas weren't all bad. Thomas was on his game.

Price is not the sole reason that the Bruins won. The Bruins took advantage of some errors just as much as the Habs did in Games 1 and 2.

I will be the first to tell you that the Bruins were not playing to their potential in Game 1. They played less than half the game and both goals were off turnovers. In Game 2, Chara was a last-minute no-go and that had to rattle the players, as they were missing a man that plays 25-plus minutes on any given night.

On the flip side, the Habs were not playing poorly. They took advantage of the errors and miscues and capitalized on them like any team should in Games 1 and 2. In Game 3, the Bruins had an effective response to their play and got a win out of it.

Some say Price was a lucky goalie, but Thomas had some luck of his own. On numerous occasions, each goalie could have been scored on, but the puck was in the wrong place at the right time for them. 

I stand by what I have said in the past. The Bruins have the necessary tools to win games and so do the Habs. Although their tools are contrasting, it is a matter of how they are used and this series is a perfect example of that.

I also said that a larger, stronger, more physical team will win the Cup this year. Will it be the Bruins? Let's cross that bridge when we come to it. They have three more bridges that need to be crossed before that one can even be addressed, while the Habs need to cross two of their own to prevent the Bruins from advancing.

Now that the notion of a sweep is out of the way, I look forward to Game 4.

This is Cory Ducey saying "Hit Hard, But Keep It Clean."