Oh man, where do I begin? First, I promise not to whine about the referees too much in last night's Game 6 between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
Yes, the men in stripes played a huge part in Montreal's 2-1 win but crying about that would overlook the fact that the Bs shot themselves in the foot (0 for 19 on the power play in the series) repeatedly like only they can. Plus, the Canadiens had a goal blown off after an incorrect quick whistle less than four minutes into the game.
The Canadiens scored both of their goals on 5-on-3 advantages. I'd love to bury Boston but they actually played pretty well considering all the joke calls that went against them and bad bounces.
Milan Lucic was given a game misconduct at 4:37 of the second period after stapling Montreal's Jaroslav Spacek into the boards. The hit wasn't all that bad but Spacek turned at the last second and ended up bleeding which in the Bell Centre is the equivalent to murder. There was no reason for Lucic to be kicked out but once that happened, you had to know that the Bruins would probably fall short no matter what they did last night.
After a penalty for too many men on the ice (ugh, again) and slashing on Dennis Seidenberg, Mike Cammaleri gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 10:07 of the first period. P.K. Subban and Tomas Plekanec assisted on Cammaleri's one-timer that left Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (25 saves) with no chance to stop it.
Seidenberg bailed himself out from his earlier penalty by tying it up with a 4-on-4 goal 48 seconds into the second period from Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley. Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (31 saves) didn't cover the post close enough and Seidenberg was able to wrap around the net and squeeze it in.
Shortly after Lucic's game-changing penalty, Patrice Bergeron got a delay of game penalty for putting the puck out of play in his own end. Once again, the Canadiens cashed in (what a concept) as Brian Gionta scored his third goal of the series from Scott Gomez and Cammaleri. Thomas stopped Camalleri's initial one-timer and Gomez's rebound but Gionta got the third rebound past him.
For my money, the most needless penalty call was late in the second period when Nathan Horton barely slashed a Montreal defender before going in on a breakaway. A weak sauce slash negated a breakaway. I could have thrown my TV's remote through the window at that point, it doesn't get much more frustrating.
Predictably the Bruins huffed and puffed in the third period but couldn't find the tying goal against Price and here we are.
Game 7 tonight at TD Garden, exactly what no Bruins fan wanted. When you have a chance to close a team out in the playoffs, you have to do it (ask the Sabres). Boston's last three postseasons have ended with losses in Game 7, including the last two at home.
If you need me, I'll be curled up in the fetal position with my Bruins footie pajamas until 7 p.m.
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