There is a reason that Claude Julien is the Head Coach of an Original Six team and I am sitting here blogging from my cell phone.
That reason finally manifested itself last night in Montreal, as Julien was rewarded for his patience with the lineup, as the underachieving Michael Ryder scored in the first period and then again in Overtime, helping the Bruins even the series at 2 games a piece.
Yes, I wrote an article on earlier this week that questioned Julien's decision to leave Ryder in the lineup in favor of the speedy rookie Tyler Seguin. Today I feel like the Fonz, who could never admit being wrong.
However, I would rather be wrong and win a playoff series than be right and suffer another brutal playoff loss to the Canadiens.
Julien stuck with Ryder because of his experience and playoff success, and it looks like it was the right move, even if he doesn't do anything for the rest of the series. Ryder showed off his sniping ability early in the second period,lifting a wrister past Carey Price to tie the game at 1.
His true heroics came in overtime, picking the corner on Price on a feed from the bad ass Chris Kelly 1:59 into overtime, sending the 21,273 fans home very angry and possibly suicidal.
The Bruins overcame a 3-1 deficit and raised their level of play when the stakes were highest, saving their season with a spectacular effort from Ryder, Chris Kelly, and other unsung heroes. We all owe Ryder an apology for dogging him in the last few weeks, and even if he doesn't score again this series, I don't care.
The series is tied 2 games a piece and moves back to Boston for a critical game 5 on Saturday, where a win would put the Bruins in great position to advance to the next round.
So all together now..."We were wrong!!"
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