The Bruins will always, always choose the path of most resistance

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.

Still can't get over you Michael Ryder

Others have made the J.D. Drew comparison for Michael Ryder and it's perfect.

I'm not going to bite another person's style though and I think I've formulated another great analogy for Ryder: he is the ex-girlfriend that your still friends with on Facebook.

You haven't talked for years, she's not all that hot or appealing anymore and yet, you still find yourself looking at her page from time to time for no explainable reason.

Such is the existence of Michael Ryder. He possesses the best shot on the Bruins but he is the definition of a one-dimensional, lazy offensive player.

When I went to bed last night though, Ryder was the number one star in my constellation. He scored two goals, including the overtime winner as the Bs won a bonkers Game 4, 5-4 at the Bell Centre.

The series is evened up at 2 and Game 5 is tomorrow night at TD Garden.

Given the stakes-with Claude Julien's job on the line and other front-office and personnel moves sure to happen-it's not hyperbole to say last night's win for Boston was one of its most memorable and meaningful in our lifetimes.

Montreal came out flying in the first period and grabbed a 1-0 lead on Brent Sopel's seeing-eye shot from the point at 8:13 (from Mike Cammaleri and David Desharnais).

Ryder tied it up with his first goal of the playoffs, an absolute snipe over Carey Price's (30 saves) shoulder, at 2:13 of the second period.

The Canadiens erupted for two goals in 55 seconds as Cammaleri (from Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez) and Andrei Kostitsyn (from Tomas Plekanec and Travis Moen) took advantage of Bruins defensive breakdowns. As true Black and Gold fans, you couldn't help but feel like it was over.

Julien did something he never does, calling a timeout, and the last-ditch effort worked as the Bruins scored not one but two goals to tie it at 3 before the second period was over.

First, Andrew Ference pounced on a loose puck at 9:59 and also put it over Price's shoulder. Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron assisted on it. The best part was afterwards as Ference flipped off the Bell Centre Zoo. A juvenile move for sure but how can you not love that if you root for the Bruins? They care, isn't that what we always cry about with pro athletes?

Bergeron tied it at 17:04 from Marchand and Seidenberg. Marchand displayed quick hands as he handed the puck to Bergeron right on the goal line, he couldn't miss from there.

Getting those two goals was huge for Boston but Montreal quickly jumped ahead for the third time, early in the third period, thanks to a bogus hooking call on Bergeron.

P.K. Subban roofed one over Tim Thomas (34 saves) at 1:39 on the power play from James Wisniewski and Cammaleri.

One last time, the Bruins answered and it was Chris Kelly (sporting a full cage to protect his busted up face) who was the unlikely hero. He tied it up with 6:18 left in regulation. Rich Peverley and Ryder assisted on it. Kelly was right in front of the net and poked it home.

Ryder capped off a spectacular night for his third line (3 goals, 5 assists) with the biggest goal of his life. Subban going off for a change at the wrong time led to a 3-on-1 rush. Peverley missed the net as always but it worked out well as Kelly got the rebound and passed it to Ryder, who had one more snipe left in his stick.

What a game and what a win for the franchise. The road team has won every game so far, needless to say the Bruins would like to flip that since they host two out of the last three possible games. Win tomorrow night and they're in great shape. Lose and all the hard work of the last two games gets buried. So yeah, kinda important.

Just in time for the Holidays: the Bruins poop in your stocking and puke under your Christmas tree

Oh god damn it, why must the Boston Bruins torture us so much?

After sleepwalking through the start of last night's game at the Bell Centre in Montreal, that was enough to give the Canadiens a 4-3 win.

The Bruins (16-10-4) scored each goal as they frantically tried to scramble from an early 2-0 deficit but it wasn't enough as they suffered their third straight loss.

At this point, I'm with Mike Felger - the Bruins need to seriously shake this up and there's only two ways to do that: 1) make a big trade or 2) fire head coach Claude Julien. Since you know they won't do the first choice, I'll take door number two.

This team has no balls and they're on cruise control as per usual. They'll make the playoffs but then they'll fall apart as they always do in the spring. After all, they've lost three straight Game 7s.

Ok, end of rant. Losing to Montreal (19-11-2) is never fun but especially on a night like last night when a win would have vaulted the Bs to a first-place tie (and theoretically snapped them out of this latest funk).

Unfortunately nobody gave Boston the memo that it was a big game. Michael Cammalleri earned a bogus penalty shot just 1:04 into the game and deked Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (37 saves) for the 1-0 lead.

Maxim Lapierre (from Mathieu Darche, Alexandre Picard) increased it to 2-0 Montreal with a goal at 6:24 of the first period.

Blake Wheeler benefited from a lucky goal on Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (34 saves) to give Boston some life at 15:52 from Mark Recchi and Patrice Bergeron.

With 30 seconds left in the first period, the wheels fell off as a harmless pass from Max Pacioretty banked into the Bruins' net off defenseman Andrew Ference's skate. Scott Gomez and Jaroslav Spacek assisted on the complete gift which signaled serious trouble for the Bs.

This team is stubborn though and they cut it to 3-2 in the second period on Marc Savard's first goal of the season. He tipped a shot from Ference, Tyler Seguin also assisted by firing it back to Ference at the point.

Of course, nothing is simple right now for Boston so they had to give up another back-breaking goal late in the second period. Brian Gionta tipped a shot by Pacioretty with Gomez also notching an assist.

Milan Lucic tallied a power-play goal at 15:10 in the third period, from Bergeron and Savard. Lucic tipped Bergeron's shot from the point, for his team-leading 16th of the season.

Believe it or not, Thomas actually played well and garbage like weak penalty shot calls and tough bounces just didn't go his way. He made a bunch of A+ saves that would not have gone most goaltenders' way.

If you've watched 24/7 Capitals-Penguins on HBO which premiered on HBO on Wednesday, you know what a mess the Caps are at this time. With that said, the Bruins are starting to go over the cliff too so Saturday night's game at the TD Garden is a really important one for both teams.

Time for the Bruins to step up or continue to spiral backwards in the Eastern Conference.

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.