The Olympics are over, back to the miserable Bruins

It only took one night (or one period really) but the Boston Bruins pretty much erased all the great memories and excitement from the incredible two weeks of hockey at the Vancouver Olympics.

That's a short-sighted exagerration but you have to admit that the B's are a hell of a buzzkill. They had a four-game winning streak going into the break but you wouldn't know it as they looked like the exact same team that lost 10 in a row earlier in the season with a listless 4-1 loss last night to the visiting Canadiens.

Boston (27-23-11) got a power-play goal by Marco Sturm in the first period (from Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard) but as usual they sat back and couldn't build on that. Montreal (30-28-6) is equally average but they still exploded with four goals in the third period.

With today being the NHL trade deadline, I could wonder if the Bruins will make any significant move but since I've been following the team for most of my life, I'm certain they'll sit on their hands and let other teams go for it. That's their style and that's why they're completely irrelevant both nationally and locally.

Former Bruin Glen Metropolit tied it up just 2:40 into the third. Maxim Lapierre and Mathieu Darche also scored before Benoit Pouliot's empty-netter sent Bruins fans home unhappy once again.

Tukkaa Rask had 28 saves but he wasn't the reason they lost. None of the goals he gave up were soft, they all came on odd-man rushes or rebounds.

The B's host the Maple Leafs tomorrow night back at the TD Garden.

This is getting silly

Well the good news is that your Boston Bruins just barely avoided getting shut out for the third consecutive game. The bad news is that they still lost in a shootout last night to the Canadiens 2-1 at the TD Garden and center David Krejci has been diagnosed with swine flu. Haha, really.

Proving that Canada has their priorities straight since the Calgary Flames and their families got shots before the rest of Calgary, the Bruins' luck continues to border on ridiculous. What else can happen to this team?

Former Bruin forward Glen Metropolit scored in the first period and a one-goal lead against Boston (6-7-2) right now is the equivalent of a five-goal lead against any other team.

The Bruins took 43 shots but only Bergeron could solve the highly overrated and underperforming Carey Price. Bergeron had another possible goal whistled off late in the second period when the puck slid under Price's pads but the net came off its moorings.

With goaltender Tim Thomas (25 saves) pulled, the B's finally tied it up with 52 seconds remaining. Bergeron was right on top of Price and he was able to knock home a rebound following Zdeno Chara's blast.

That was the only magic in the Bruins' sticks though as all three shooters in the shootout: Blake Wheeler, Bergeron and Mark Recchi fittingly couldn't score.

Montreal's (8-8-0) Mike Cammalleri beat Thomas for the only goal of the shootout.

Boston will try to score more than one goal tomorrow night against Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres, not an easy task since he's the NHL's hottest goalie.

They're Not Dead Yet

In the first four games of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, the Boston Bruins scored five goals.

Last night at the Bell Centre, the B's used four in the third to defeat the Canadiens, 5-1, and force a Game 6. And did I mention that all five Bruins goal-scorers recorded their first tallies of the series?

Things didn't look good when Alexei Kovalev scored his second goal of the series to help Montreal grab a 1-0 lead in the first period.

The second period was the start of some bananas happenings (in the Bruins favor). 20-year-old Phil Kessel, who was a healthy scratch the first four games, tied it up with a power-play goal 7:45 into the second period.

3:30 into the third, Canadiens goalie Carey Price gave up a softie. He made a stop then blindly dropped a puck right on Glen Metropolit's stick. Metropolit shoveled it home to give Boston a 2-1 lead.

Just over two minutes later Zdeno Chara scored off a blast from the point on a power-play. Marco Sturm officially put it out of reach when he scored short-handed with four minutes and change left. He skated in 1-on-1 with a Habs defenseman and ripped a shot top shelf.

The last goal by Vladimir Sobotka (a weak low shot) was a case of Price not really paying attention. Maybe he was thinking about hitting up the Peel's Pub after the game or one of Montreal's fine strip clubs to drown his sorrow in Molson Ice and fake boobs.

Tim Thomas finished with 31 saves and made all the big stops when the Bruins were behind 1-0 and tied 1-1. He is as close to a sure-bet as you'll find currently on the Bruins roster.

So the series is coming back to Boston after all, not many expected that after the B's lost Game 4 1-0. It's hard to see the Habs losing two more but if the B's somehow win tomorrow night at the Garden, who knows?

When the camera panned around the Montreal bench in the waning moments, there were some worried faces. Perhaps, they feel a choke job coming right around the corner.