The Bruins Continue To Roll Along While Claude Julien's Canadiens Fall Deeper Into a Pit of Despair

One of the many fun things about sports is how they can almost eerily echo things that happen in anybody's everyday life. Sometimes, a team can play bad but then figure out how to turn the momentum just at the right time to ultimately get the desired result. Is that not similar to when you are having a crappy day but then some simple act of kindness or random thing (a song, a joke, a pet, etc.) makes you smile and suddenly, things are looking up again. This is a long-winded way of pointing out that right now, the Bruins (19-3-5) are on fire while their hated rivals the Canadiens (11-10-6) are falling apart at the seams.

In their third of four meetings of the season (stupid NHL schedulemakers) already, Boston allowed the first goal less than two minutes into the tilt but then used a trio of third period goals to send Montreal away with their eighth straight loss. The 3-1 victory for the B's extended their win streak to seven games and their point streak to 11 games (8-0-3) overall, they last lost in regulation on November 8 in Detroit (4-2)-a entirely forgettable setback that we shall not ever talk about again. Another tell-tale sign of a club that's on a serious roll is when they get unexpected contributions from role players up and down the lineup. Enter David Backes: playing in his first game in nearly a month (Nov. 2 vs. Ottawa was when he got concussed), he scored the game-winning goal midway through the third, on the power play of all things.

The regular season is not even a third of the way through so I'm not suggesting that we start making plans for a Bruins duck boat parade next June quite yet but you have to admit that this team is A) really fun to watch and B) also very easy to root for. The fact that the Black and Gold could even cost Claude Julien his job for the second time in less than three years is deliciously ironic as well. Poor Coach Potato Head aka Handsome Ralph is watching his franchise goaltender Carey Price play like a bum (he entered tonight with a 3.19 goals against average-46th in the NHL-and .897 save percentage-43rd in the league) while their penalty kill unit is similarly awful (30th in the NHL).

Claude has already been fired once as Canadiens head coach so why not make it twice? Granted, he's still owed a ton of money the next few years so I don't know how willing they will be to get rid of him at this juncture but that's always the obvious move in pro sports when a team is floundering like this. Also, the Montreal media and fans are not exactly the most reasonable and well-adjusted people in the world either which doesn't help his cause.

The only goal that the Habs scored was a direct result of a brutal mistake from captain Zdeno Chara. His defensive partner Charlie McAvoy passed the puck to him behind Boston's net but Montreal third line right wing Joel Armia stole the puck off his stick then flipped a backhander at Tuukka Rask (28 saves, 13-2-2) that ended up in the net after it deflected off of McAvoy's skate. Armia's 10th goal of the season was unassisted and it tied him with that little weasel Brendan Gallagher for the meager team lead. Rask made sure that his team didn't face a bigger deficit as he made a pair of good saves later in the opening frame-on a blast from the point by defenseman Jeff Petry then a one-timer by Armia from the slot.

By turning up the intensity (both emotional and physical) the Bruins started to dig their way back in the second period. Defenseman Connor Clifton knocked over Montreal second line left winger Nick Cousins with a nice hit. Price (31 saves, 10-9-3) made a good save on Chris Wagner's spinning shot from the slot but soon after that, all hell (for all intents and purposes 2019 style) broke loose as Pasta went after Canadiens captain Shea Weber. Jake DeBrusk got taken down by Gallagher while Charlie Coyle and Brandon Carlo played peacemakers. It all resulted in a power play for Boston (interference on Weber) which they didn't score on. Still, Price almost let a shot by Matt Grzelcyk elude him and the Charlestown native swept the rebound across the goal line (but never over). Montreal still led 1-0 after the second period but you could feel like things were going to change soon enough for the home team.

David Pastrnak scoring the tying goal at 6:16 of third period was perhaps the most predictable part of the whole evening. His NHL-best 25th goal (!!) was a rocket off the post and in. Anders Bjork and Carlo had the assists on Pastrnak's eighth goal in his last eight games. Boston's second power play was the moneymaker as Cousins was called for holding and Backes put in a one-timer from David Krejci and Grzelcyk at 10:29 for his first goal of the season (in his 9th game). With Patrice Bergeron (lower-body injury) out, Backes stepped into Bergy's bumper position on the man-advantage and did a reasonable enough impression of it. The Canadiens quickly folded from there as Jake DeBrusk scored on a one-timer of his own less than three minutes later (at 13:27). Charlie Coyle (3 goals, 7 assists in his last 11 games) had the lone assist on DeBrusk's sixth goal of the season. Jake is starting to heat up a bit himself with six points (3 goals, 3 assists) in his last five games. Price was getting the classic Carey Carey chants from the Garden crowd and for old time's sake, Julien's hapless team got called for too many men on the ice thus nullifying the slim chance they had to comeback.

The Bruins get the day off tomorrow then they will have a pregame skate on Tuesday ahead of that night's (7, NESN) meeting with the Hurricanes (16-10-1). Can you say 2019 Eastern Conference Finals rematch? Carolina isn't a great team but they have some talented players and they play generally entertaining games so that should be more interesting than your typical Tuesday night in early December affair. Boston still hasn't lost in regulation at TD Garden (11-0-4) this season and with the way that Pastrnak and Marchand are playing along with the timely things by everyone else, there are many good reasons to tune into the Bruins these days.

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The Bruins Outplay the Canadiens For the Most Part but Still Find a Way to Lose 3-2 In Overtime

After closing the regular season series in style vs. Buffalo (23-17-6) and Toronto (28-15-2) respectively, Boston (26-15-5) had a chance to similarly finish 3-1 vs. Montreal (25-17-5) with a win at TD Garden this evening. Instead, their Original Six rivals managed to survive a barrage of pucks (the B's outshot them 43-22) and a last-second tying goal to come away with a 3-2 overtime victory thanks to Jeff Petry's game-winner just 15 seconds into the extra session. Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (18-13-4) did his best Braden Holtby impression as he improved to 26-13-5 vs. the Bruins in his career.

Entering tonight, Boston had been 16-6-0 at the Garden and they increased their likelihood to win as Brad Marchand gave them a 1-0 lead at 14:09 of the first period. His beautiful snipe was a bar down shot on Price with Patrice Bergeron and Matt Grzelcyk picking up the assists on his 17th goal of the season. The Bruins were 16-3-2 when they score first this season but Montreal quickly answered when Marchand Jr. aka Brendan Gallagher tipped in Jeff Petry's shot at 18:27 of the first. That little rat's 18th goal of the season was also assisted by Phillip Danault who won the faceoff (against Marchand after Bergeron was mysteriously kicked out) and passed it back to Petry at the point. Between those goals was one of the best fights that you'll ever see in the NHL these days: Kevan Miller vs. something called Nicolas Deslauriers (a 4th line right wing). If you like hockey fights (and what red-blooded American doesn't?), you have to check that one out on hockeyfights.com.

For all the fun and excitement of the first, there was little of either in the second. Boston owns the No. 3 power play in the NHL which is all well and good but they have also allowed 10 shorthanded goals which is the most in the NHL. Yuck. Paul Byron skated in on a breakaway and beat Tuukka Rask (19 saves) with a backhander at 17:09. Byron's 10th goal of the season was unassisted and it's hard to fault Rask on that one. Tuukka had won his last five starts so I suppose that he was due for an off-night although this loss hung on many shoulders, not only his.

Donning their Winter Classic jerseys, the black and gold had more shots than the Canadiens in every frame but the third was by far the most lopsided (17-4 good guys). Montreal looked like it would survive with a Claude Julien special (a 2-1 win where you get dominated) but the immortal Michael Chaput-a fourth line center-that was out there in crunch time had other ideas. He was called for delay of game with 2:05 left in regulation when he put the puck over the glass in his defensive zone. Boston couldn't score on the power play until Rask was pulled for an extra skater. With a 6-on-4 advantage and time running out, David Krejci blasted in the tying goal with 37.6 seconds left on the clock. Krejci's 10th goal of the season (3rd game in a row with a goal) was assisted by Marchand and David Pastrnak.

The B's were 4-4 in overtime while the Habs were 2-5 but that proved to be a useless stat as Montreal won the opening faceoff and Boston never touched the puck before they lost. Max Domi took the original shot that was saved by Rask but Petry was on the doorstep to bat it in (without the use of a high stick) for his 10th goal of the season. Byron had the second helper on Petry's 200th career NHL point. It was a stunning end to a game that at times was a thriller but also a complete bore (thanks Claude!) for long stretches as well.

It's a practice day tomorrow at Warrior Ice Arena for the Bruins before they travel to Philadelphia. The Flyers (17-23-6) have the second fewest points in the NHL but for some reason, the geniuses at NBC Sports thought before the season that this matchup would be worthy of their coveted rivalry night spot on Wednesday (7:30). From there, Boston rushes back to meet the lowly Blues (20-20-4) on Thursday (7, NESN) at the Garden. Finally, the unofficial first half of their campaign comes to a close here on Saturday night (7, NESN) as they host former BU head coach David Quinn and the rebuilding Rangers (18-20-7). The schedule czars were definitely Boston's friend in this instance because they head into their bye week which leads directly into the All-Star break which is the following weekend. That means that their next game following New York isn't until January 29 vs. Winnipeg (29-14-2). Even that is at the Garden so theoretically, the Bruins don't have to leave the Boston area for over two weeks and really where else would you rather be at the end of January than this frozen tundra?

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The Canadiens Completely Shut Down the Bruins 3-0 In Their 1st Meeting of the 2018-19 Season

Is any goaltender in the NHL currently worse in first periods than Tuukka Rask (3-3-0)? That might be a slight exaggeration but it feels that way as another slow start by the Bruins' (6-3-2) embattled goalie put his team in a hole that they ultimately never recovered from in an utterly lifeless 3-0 loss this evening at TD Garden. Montreal (6-2-2) has been one of the early surprises in the league this year and while they don't appear to be anything too special, they certainly own Rask (10-16-3 in his career vs. the Canadiens). Conversely, Carey Price (25-11-5 in his career vs. the Bruins) made 33 mostly routine saves for his 1st shutout of the season and 41st of his NHL career.

The Atlantic Division should continue to be run by Tampa Bay (7-1-1), Toronto (8-3-0) and Boston once again this season so it will take awhile longer for me to take the rebuilding Canadiens seriously. There are three more meetings between these ancient rivals in this campaign but for Chapter 1, you have to give it up for Claude Julien's rag tag group of young guys and no-name veterans. Not counting the garbage time empty-netter late in the third period, Montreal's two even strength goals were scored 1:21 apart midway through the first period. On one hand, you could say that gave the B's plenty of time to recover. However, I would contend that the first one was so weak that it deflated the home team, only to be accentuated by another that came via a bizarre scramble shortly thereafter.

Brendan Gallagher's sixth goal of the season was all thanks to Rask who somehow couldn't squeeze his pads against the near side post at 9:18. Quinnipiac's Matthew Peca and Xavier Ouellet had the assists on a shot that any NHL goaltender should be able to stop in their sleep. Tie Domi's little boy Max got in on the fun with his first career goal against the Bruins at 10:39. Artturi Lehkonen was hooked on a breakaway (it would have been a penalty) but before Boston could touch the puck for the whistle, it went to Domi who initially whiffed on his shot but then had enough time to recover and roof it by Rask (20 saves) for his sixth goal of the season (extending his point-streak to 6 games). Former Lightning bust Jonathan Drouin (8 points in his last 7 games) and Lehnkoen had the helpers on what turned out to be an insurmountable lead for the Canadiens.

Just like Claude's old Bruins teams, Boston controlled play in the third (outshooting Montreal 14-4) but ended up with nothing to show for it. The gameplan wasn't sexy but the Habs certainly executed it as they had eight more hits (28-20), five more takeaways (16-11), four more blocked shots (12-8) & one more faceoff win (35-34) than the B's. Boston's fourth-ranked power play also went 0-for-3 which didn't help matters. Jamie "the other" Benn banked in the empty-netter with 28.2 seconds left in regulation to send the traveling Montreal fans home happy. That was his first point of the season and first goal since Dec. 5, 2017.

There is one game left in October for the B's as they visit another upstart club-Carolina (6-3-1) on Tuesday (7, NESN). It's an odd (and very rare) two-game road trip that ends in Nashville (8-3-0) next Saturday night (8, NESN). The good news is that will be followed by what has the potential to be an entertaining four-game homestand against Dallas (5-4-0), Vancouver (6-5-0), Toronto and Vegas (4-5-1) that lasts for a week. Boston is 4-1-0 at home and 2-2-0 on the road so expect those records to balance themselves out a little bit more.

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The Bruins Played Possum With The Canadiens, Tying It Up Late Then Beating Them In Overtime

It had been 23 years since the Bruins (40-15-8) swept the season series with the Canadiens (25-29-11) so Boston took care of some history with their better-late-than-never thrilling 2-1 overtime victory tonight at TD Garden. The B's finished 4-0 against Claude Julien's hapless Habs thanks to an overtime goal by Brad Marchand and 27 saves by Anton Khudobin (14-4-4). Montreal's goaltender Antti Niemi (48 saves, 4-6-3) deserved a better fate as he stood on his head for almost the entire contest before Jake DeBrusk tied it up with a power play goal at 17:15 of the third period.

One of the standard elements of this wonderful season for the Bruins has been numerous guys going down with injuries, only to have countless other teammates step up in their absence. Tuukka Rask was a late scratch with what B's head coach Bruce Cassidy termed a "very minor injury" so Khudobin was a last-minute starter. More worrisome was that rookie stud defenseman Charlie McAvoy skated a grand total of one shift (for 37 seconds) before calling it a night with a lower-body injury. The team has a scheduled day off on Sunday so we'll have to wait and see if he's out there for practice on Monday. Props to the remaining five defenseman for Boston who all played at least 20:04 (Brandon Carlo) and as much as 24:46 (Torey Krug since there were 6 Bruins power plays).

The Canadiens took a 1-0 lead at 9:16 of the first period as Kevan Miller threw an outlet pass right to Brendan Gallagher aka Dollar Store Marchand and he buried a shot past Khudobin for his 23rd goal of the season. Khudobin certainly wasn't as busy as Niemi, Montreal outshot Boston 12-10 in the first but proceeded to get bombarded (40-16) over the final 42:06 of action. It was more of a quality over quantity type night for Khudobin who at one point late in the third period had to ditch his mask (to get a whistle) because two of the straps had snapped.

Boston has now won its last six games overall vs. Montreal and they huffed and puffed for most of this one to earn the two points. David Pastrnak hit the post early in the first when the Bruins had a 3-on-1. Boston trailed 1-0 after the first period and couldn't convert a 2-man advantage that they had for 44 seconds in the second period. Going into the third, the records did not favor the home team since they were 2-13-3 when trailing after two while Montreal was 17-1-1 when leading after two. Jonathan Drouin was called for delay of game for flipping the puck over the glass in his own end which finally broke his team's back. Nick Holden played a perfect slap pass to DeBrusk to tip in for his 13th goal of the season with Torey Krug picking up the second assist.

The Bruins continued to dominate in the extra frame as they outshot the Canadiens 4-0 as they never really let Montreal gain possession of the puck. Ironically, Marchand's goal came about with Cassidy shuffling some new players onto the ice. He showed all the power in his small frame by wheeling around the net to gain a good shooting angle where he fired a low shot by Niemi in traffic. Krug and Brian Gionta had the assists on Marchand's 25th goal of the season and his 10th career regular season overtime game-winner.

Boston went 3-0 this week at home without Patrice Bergeron (including 2 OT wins) and they'll try to go 3-0 next week as well with Detroit (26-28-10) coming here on Tuesday (7, NESN) followed by Philadelphia (34-20-11) on Thursday (7, NESN) and Chicago (28-29-8) wrapping things up on Saturday afternoon (1, NESN). It's hard not to feel really good about this team, considering how many of these seemingly improbable wins they have pulled out in 2017-18. The moves that they made at the trade deadline have only solidified a group that has legitimate Cup aspirations. Time to start drinking the Black and Gold Kool-Aid folks, it's delicious.

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Nearly A Year Later, The B's Are One of the Top Teams in the NHL & The Habs are One of the Worst

Remember when it felt like the Bruins (25-10-8) could never quite seem to catch up with the Canadiens (18-21-6) both in terms of overall team speed up and down the ice and more importantly on the scoreboard? My oh my how things have changed recently as now Boston has won four straight games against lowly Montreal following tonight's easy 4-1 victory at TD Garden. Of course for Bruins fans, they'll never grow tired of seeing the Habs become a complete dumpster fire like this. After beating them 4-3 in a wild shootout at the Bell Centre on Saturday night, the B's let the Canadiens score the first goal before they slowly made them submit to another defeat. Even better, Boston can beat these jokers three times in eight days since they meet this Saturday night (7, NESN) in Montreal as well. Thanks, NHL schedule makers!

Faster than you could say Handsome Ralph, the Canadiens were up 1-0 as rookie defenseman Jakub Jerabek threw the puck at the net and it deflected in off Zdeno Chara just 31 seconds into regulation. Jerabek's first career NHL goal was assisted by Charles Hudon and Paul Byron. Montreal led the entire game for a grand total of 6:19 as Boston tied it up on a sweet passing play from Brad Marchand to Patrice Bergeron to David Pastrnak for the goal. Marchand was actually on his knees when he flung the puck to Bergeron who quickly dished it to Pastrnak (get it?!) for his 18th goal of the season. Against Isaiah Thomas and Paul Pierce's wishes, the Bruins showed a nice tribute video for Claude Julien that drew a huge ovation from the Garden crowd. See NBA, these things can be done with minimal drama and whining.

In soccer terms, both clubs enjoyed the benefit of an own goal as Ryan Spooner put the Bruins ahead 2-1 at 2:37 of the second period when his attempted pass went off the enigma known as Jonathan Drouin, by Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (28 saves; 13-15-4) and into the net. Spooner's sixth goal of the season was assisted by David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk. Not only is Montreal a terrible team but they are also boring to watch (unless you hate yourself) which is about the worst combination that you can be in sports. They were only down a goal going into the third period but once Marchand bagged a power play goal at 3:40 of the third period, it was basically over. His 19th goal of the season was assisted by Bergeron and Torey Krug. The final score actually could have been way more lopsided as three Bruins hit the crossbar or post (Noel Acciari, David Backes and Krejci) over the course of 60 minutes. Julien pulled Price for an extra attacker with a few minutes left since what the hell right? It predictably backfired immediately as Krejci (8th goal of the season) scored an empty-netter at 16:46 from Backes.

All in all it was a great day for the Black and Gold as they honored former Bruin Willie O'Ree on the 60th anniversary of his first NHL game (he broke the league's color barrier). PS how is he not already in the Hockey Hall of Fame? Boston mayor Marty Walsh declared tomorrow "Willie O'Ree Day" and the city is opening a street hockey rink in his honor which will be completed by this summer in Allston. The B's extended their point streak to 14 games (10-0-4) which is the longest in 2017-18 in the NHL and goaltender Tuukka Rask's (21 saves; 16-8-4) personal point streak reached 15 games (13-0-2) as well. Finally, after missing 36 games recovering from the broken leg that he suffered vs. Vancouver on October 19, veteran defenseman Adam McQuaid returned to action subbing in for Kevan Miller who has the bird flu or something.

The B's are right back at it tomorrow night (7, NESN) against the Islanders (23-19-4) at Barclays Center. New York is one point out of both Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference so unlike the Canadiens, they have plenty to play for. That figures to be another start for Anton Khudobin (9-2-4) with Rask getting the Canadiens once more on Saturday. If it ain't broke, don't fix it right? So while we chuckle at Julien circling the drain in Montreal (again), realize that these Bruins under head coach Bruce Cassidy are a real force in the East. This is probably looking too far ahead (but what else do you want to hear in mid-January?) but with a few breaks going their way, the Bruins could make this spring a real memorable one for Boston sports teams and I'm not just talking about the Celtics.

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Bruins Sweep Their Pivotal 3-Game Homestand with Resounding 4-0 Victory vs. Montreal

Remember like a week ago when we were all resigned to the fact that the Bruins (29-23-6) weren't going anywhere this season? The inevitable firing of head coach Claude Julien finally happened on Tuesday and that was one of the only real interesting facets left in 2016-17. As my old pal Lee Corso loves to say on ESPN's College GameDay, "not so fast, my friend!" In case you haven't noticed, the B's look like a completely different team these last three games under interim head coach Bruce Cassidy. Tonight, they beat Montreal (31-19-8) 4-0 at TD Garden as they go into their NHL-designated bye week with a three-game win streak (tying a season-high) and a whole new outlook on life. Perhaps the best part was after the beating when Canadiens goaltender Carey Price admitted that "we seem to have lost our identity." That is one beautiful quote from the best player of the team that I hate more than any other in pro sports.

It's hard to fathom how the same group of underachieving guys can suddenly turn into a quality team: knocking off the Sharks, Canucks and the Canadiens in the span of four nights. Boston improved to a season-best two games over .500 at the Garden (15-13-0) and they also ended with a split of the four-game season series with Montreal. Tuukka Rask (25 saves, 6th shutout of the season) actually notched his first ever win vs. the Canadiens in Boston (he had been 0-9-3 before that). The heated rivals are going in opposite directions as the Canadiens fell to 3-6-1 in their last 10 games while the Bruins improved to 6-4-0 in their last 10.

Obviously it's way too early to explain why Cassidy's team is superior to Julien's but there are a few interesting trends to point out: the power play which was good under Claude has stayed red-hot with goals in each of their last eight games (11 for 30, 36.7%) while Boston's defensemen have been frequently activated and in turn, contributing way more offensively (adding 2 more goals tonight including Zdeno Chara's 1st shorthanded goal since 2011). From the start, this felt like an old Bruins-Canadiens game when the rivalry was entertaining and unpredictable. Torey Krug and Andrew Shaw fought 58 seconds into the proceedings, settling a longstanding beef from the last matchup.

Adam McQuaid started the scoring with what quite possibly was the prettiest goal of his NHL career (in his 400th game). His one-timer (2nd goal of the season) was assisted by rookie Peter Cehlarik (1st NHL point) and Torey Krug at 8:57 of the first period on what looked like a set play of sorts off of a faceoff win by the B's in Montreal's defensive zone. Boston's penalty kill unit (6 for 6) was great all night, especially late in the first when they had to negate a two-man advantage for 1:37. The Bruins' special teams were the story in the second period as well with Zdeno Chara of all people dangling around Alexander Radulov for a shocking shorthanded goal at 5:08 (his 5th of the season was assisted by Ryan Spooner and Brad Marchand) and then David Krejci finished a beautiful sequence of touch passing on the power play with David Backes and Cehlarik registering helpers on his 14th goal of the season at 15:05.

Both teams had played yesterday (Boston is now 2-6-2 in Game 2s of back-to-backs while Montreal is 6-4-2) but it was still a bit surprising that Price didn't get pulled either after the second period with his team lifeless and trailing 3-0 or when Frank Vatrano put in a lucky bounce off the boards (after Krejci's one-timer from David Pastrnak missed the net) for his eighth goal of the season at 5:00 of the third period. This being the Habs, they were up to their usual low rent tricks as Nathan Beaulieu gave Chara a Milan Lucic memorial nut tap late in the second and Alex Galchenyuk hit Kevan Miller with a high-stick right in the face (which drew blood for a double-minor) late in the third. Miller fought Mike McCarron in garbage time with the funniest part being that McCarron was sent straight back to the AHL after the game. Happy trails, you bum!

The Bruins are tied with the Canadiens and Jets for the most games played so far this season so I'm sure that they are happy to get a rest. They are off through Friday and they will practice on Saturday in San Jose before facing the Sharks (34-18-5) on Sunday night (8:30, NBC Sports). That tilt kicks off a four-game road trip in California (Anaheim and Los Angeles) before they end in Dallas (22-25-10) two weeks from now on February 26 (12:30, NESN). Boston's next home game isn't until February 28 (7, NESN) vs. Arizona (18-28-7) so let's hope that they are still the quality road team (14-10-6) from earlier this season under Julien.

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Bruins Fall 4-2 to the Canadiens in their First Meeting of the Season

We are nowhere close to being sure if the Canadiens (4-0-1) are a quality team in 2016-17 but this much is true: they are better than the assorted slop that the Bruins (3-2-0) faced in their first four games of this campaign (Columbus, Toronto, Winnipeg and New Jersey). Many of the names and faces have changed but in this opening installment of Bruins-Canadiens, Boston was no match for Montreal as they lost 4-2 at TD Garden. Tuukka Rask (general soreness) was surprisingly out for the B's but backup goaltender Anton Khudobin (25 saves) did the best he could on short notice, frankly his teammates let him down for the most part. Oh and Montreal improved to 7-0-2 in their last nine regular season games in Boston, yeesh!

Carey Price (19 saves) didn't need to be anywhere near his best since Boston only managed 21 shots on goal in the entire contest. After a scoreless first period, Montreal potted a pair of goals midway through the second. Brad Marchand's brother from another mother Brendan Gallagher made it 1-0 Canadiens at 11:41. He was left wide open above a face-off circle to fire an easy one-timer from Max Pacioretty and Alex Galchenyuk for his third goal of the season. Something named Phillip Danault doubled Montreal's lead at 17:44 when he finished a 2-on-1 from Alexander Radulov for his first goal of the season. Greg Pateryn notched the second helper on the goal that came courtesy of the Bruins getting caught up ice.

The Bruins trailed 2-0 going into the third but thankfully, they woke up a bit thanks to another goal from their fourth line that has already shown some nice chemistry early on. Harvard's Dominic Moore got the goal, assisted by my PC guys Tim Schaller and Noel Acciari. Moore's second tally of the season came at 5:34 to cut it to 2-1 Canadiens. Montreal didn't give Boston much of a sniff at a comeback attempt though as "Lord" Paul Byron broke free for a shorthanded breakaway and goal less than two minutes later at 7:32. Shea Weber (who you might have heard was traded straight up for P.K. Subban over the summer with Nashville) banked the pass to him off the boards that eluded Torey Krug pinching in at Montreal's offensive zone. Andrei Markov had the second assist on Byron's first goal of the season.

Boston's scuffling power play (2 for 20) finally came through 37 seconds after Byron's backbreaking goal as Ryan Spooner (who for some reason was a healthy scratch on Thursday vs. the Devils) hammered in a one-timer from David Backes' sweet cross-crease sauce. David Krejci had the other assist on Spooner's first goal of the season. The B's put some pressure on the Habs for a few minutes when it was a one-goal game but yet again, their suspect defense fell apart when UVM's Torrey Mitchell stole the puck from Joe Morrow and put it past Khudobin with a beautiful diving shot (while he got a high stick in the face by Morrow for his troubles).

This inaugural three-game homestand ends on Tuesday night (7, NESN) as the Bruins host the Wild (3-1-1). Minnesota is at the Islanders (2-3-0) tomorrow night but at the moment, they are in first-place in the Central Division. Unless it's something really serious, you'd have to think that Rask will be back for that one. Following that matchup, Boston heads out on a four-game road trip (Rangers, Red Wings, Panthers and Lightning) that promises to be much more difficult than their first trip. Plus those are all Eastern Conference foes that they'll be seeing plenty of from now until April and hopefully beyond.

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Canadiens Embarrass Bruins 5-1 at Gillette Stadium In The 2016 Winter Classic

It is one thing for a much-hyped event not to live up to expectations but it's another for the home team to completely fall on its face in the biggest game of the regular season in front of a worldwide audience on NBC. Today, Gillette Stadium was the setting for one of the lowest moments in recent Bruins (20-13-4) history as they fell 5-1 to the Canadiens in the 2016 Winter Classic. It wasn't even that competitive as Montreal (22-15-3) jumped ahead 1-0 just 1:14 into the game, led 3-0 after two periods and cruised to an easy victory in this bitter rivalry that has had 733 regular season meetings (most in NHL history).

With the two points, the Habs leapfrogged idle Florida back into first-place in the Atlantic Division. It marked the fourth time in the last few weeks that the B's have had a chance to take over the top-spot, only to lose. The easy excuse for the Bruins was that they were missing two of their best players-Brad Marchand (serving the first game of his 3-game suspension) and David Krejci (on IR with upper-body injury). Conversely, Montreal welcomed back Brendan Gallagher who had missed the past 17 games with two broken fingers. He returned with a goal and assist as he provided an immediate spark to what had been a sputtering team without him. Of course, injuries happen to every team and Marchand's reckless play was his own fault so it's hard to feel much sympathy for Boston's current plight.

I doubt anyone on the Canadiens enjoyed this triumph more than Holliston, MA native Mike Condon (27 saves) who had Tom Brady printed on his special mask for the Winter Classic. Even cooler than that, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick (the mask also said "Do Your Job") and Brady both signed it since they were temporary neighbors for Montreal's goaltender this week. Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask (25 saves) did not have quite as enjoyable an afternoon since his teammates were lifeless and there was little that he could do by himself to prevent most of the five goals. Late in the game, he took a shot to the throat but valiantly stayed in.

David Desharnais was scoreless in his past seven contests so naturally he opened the scoring when he batted the puck out of mid-air. It was his eighth goal of the season, assisted by Dale Weise and Alexei Emelin. Considering that Boston was outshot 14-3 in the first period, they were lucky to only be down 1-0 after 20 minutes. Another nobody tallied a goal for Montreal as Paul Byron dove to put in a rebound at 2:00 of the second. Lynnfield MA native Brian Flynn and Mark Barberio assisted on Byron's sixth goal of the season. A cross-checking penalty on Kevan Miller knocked Dale Weise (upper-body injury) out of the game but the Canadiens power play couldn't capitalize. Boston appeared to cut it to 2-1 at 8:20 when Jimmy Hayes put in what would have been a power play goal following Zdeno Chara's initial shot. The referees blew the whistle when they thought that Condon had the puck covered (he didn't) so Bruins head coach Claude Julien (rocking a Belichick style Bruins hoodie) couldn't challenge it.

Rask made a nice stop on Gallagher but minutes later, Montreal's pesky right wing knocked in Max Pacioretty's aerial pass at 17:20 for a commanding 3-0 lead. It was a sublime piece of skill that basically put away the game for the Canadiens with more than an entire period left. Tomas Plekanec had the second assist on Gallagher's 10th goal of the season. With Boston's shorthanded attack, there was no way that they were scoring three or more goals following that. Since he was the only Bruin with a positive +/- today, it was fitting that Matt Beleskey bagged their only goal. He tipped in Adam McQuaid's shot from the point at 3:56 of the third period. Ryan Spooner had the second assist on Beleskey's eighth goal of the season which gave Boston (and the crowd) some brief life for almost five whole minutes of game action.

Pacioretty shut down the B's with a beautiful one-timer off a saucer pass from Gallagher at 8:49 of the third. Plekanec picked up his second assist on Pacioretty's team-leading 16th goal of the season. Hayes and Lars Eller tried to brawl in garbage time but it wasn't really a fight so they were just called for roughing. 10 seconds later, Byron knocked in another rebound from P.K. Subban and Nathan Beaulieu. Truth be told, Montreal deserved to win by (at least) four goals while Boston should have lost by about 10 goals for the pitiful effort they put up in front of a sell-out crowd (67,246).

Boston's next game isn't until Tuesday (7, NESN) when they host Washington (28-7-2)-the top team in the Eastern Conference. Needless to say, that's a huge tilt especially because the Bruins head out on a five-game road trip (Devils, Senators, Rangers, Flyers and Sabres). Then again, this is the same team that remains under .500 at home (9-10-2) while they are 11-3-2 on the road. It is going to be a rough few days trying to digest this bitter loss, mostly because they figure to hear about it non-stop until Tuesday. Keep in mind though, that they are still only three points behind Montreal with three games in hand and two points behind Florida (21-12-4).

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For A Change, the Bruins Decide to Play Well In Montreal & Actually Beat the Canadiens (3-1)

In recent seasons, the NHL's undisputed best rivalry-Bruins vs. Canadiens-had been downgraded since frankly it became extremely one-sided. That's what made tonight so sweet: Boston (15-9-3) went into the Bell Centre and knocked off Montreal (19-7-3) 3-1. The Canadiens still lead the season series 2-1 with two more games left to play (both in 2016) but at least for once, the B's didn't get psyched out by the Habs.

If it felt like it had been a while since Boston beat Montreal, you were correct. This win for the Bruins snapped a seven-game losing streak (0-6-1) to the Habs. The best element of this for them was that goaltender Tuukka Rask (32 saves) was great as he earned the No. 1 star of the game.

It was a very slow start for Boston as they gave up a stupid fluke goal at 8:49 of the first period. Defenseman Paul Byron threw the puck in front of Rask and it deflected in the net off of Zach Trotman. After the goal initially went to Tomas Plekanec, Byron was correctly credited with his fourth goal of the season and Plekanec (a noted Bruins killer) picked up the lone assist.

Montreal outshot Boston 14-7 in the first period and 12-7 in the second period but Rask kept them in it. Also, it helped that they weren't suckered into dumb penalties like usual when they face the Canadiens (hi Milan Lucic). Brad Marchand and P.K. Subban got matching slashing penalties late in the first while Montreal had two penalties in the second (interference on Tomas Fleischmann and roughing on Christian Thomas) and Trotman was called for hooking but none of the power plays cashed in.

Belmont Hill alum and Needham native Mike Condon (20 saves) is Montreal's No. 1 goaltender for a while with Carey Price on the shelf (lower-body injury). He has been fine although this turned out to be their third loss in a row. In fact, Boston is only eight points behind Montreal in the Atlantic Division now with two games in hand. Haha I know, I know. Just saying. To call the Bruins' third period comeback unexpected is quite an understatement.

The B's tied it at 7:53 on a beautiful shorthanded goal by Loui Eriksson (to quote Rounders: "Pay the man his money"). Zdeno Chara started the play by batting the puck out of mid-air right to a streaking (easy ladies) Eriksson who fought off a check to finish with a nice shot down low on Condon. It was Eriksson's 11th goal of the season. Just 42 seconds later, cult hero Landon Ferraro (with his dad Ray faithfully in the stands) scored the go-ahead goal. He roofed it blocker side on a screened Condon after a nifty backhand assist by Ryan Spooner. Torey Krug had the second assist on Ferraro's third goal in a Bruins uniform (talk about a timely waiver wire pickup by GM Don Sweeney a few weeks ago).

It was only fitting that Patrice Bergeron put it on ice with a pretty insurance tally at 13:42 from who else but Brad Marchand. Matt Beleskey had the second assist on Bergy's ninth goal of the season where he received the puck close to Condon and was able to deke around him to tuck it in.

This is one game basically a third of the way through the 2015-16 campaign but it was a most vital victory for the B's. They had to prove to themselves and the world at large that they could still beat the Canadiens every once in a while. The timing couldn't have worked out better with the Winter Classic only a few weeks away at Gillette Stadium. Boston can go into that confident and without that long losing streak hanging over their collective heads.

The Bruins' next game is on Saturday afternoon (1, NESN) against the Panthers (13-11-4). That contest will be important in a different fashion since Boston is only up three points on Florida (with a game in hand) in the Atlantic Division. Nevertheless, the B's are playing some quality hockey (7-1-2 in last 10 games) while Florida has dropped its last two games heading into Thursday's meeting with red-hot Washington (19-5-2).

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The Bruins Are Off to Their Worst Start Since 2005-06, So There Is That

Another game and another humbling defeat by the Bruins. All we can hope is that this isn't an omen for how things are going to go for the bulk of the 2015-16 season. Montreal (2-0) came to TD Garden on Saturday night and topped the B's (0-2) 4-2 in a contest that truthfully wasn't that close since Boston scored with 31 seconds left to make the final score appear a little less grotesque. Boston has started 0-2 just 13 times in their 91 years of existence, most recently in 2005-06. 0-3 is certainly a distinct possibility since the defending Eastern Conference champs-the Lightning (2-0)-pay them a visit on Monday afternoon (1, NESN).

First things first, the best rivalry in hockey has become very one-sided over the last few years. Montreal has won seven games in a row in Boston (dating back to Jan. 12, 2012) and six overall in the series that has seen the most meetings (730) of any NHL matchup. Tonight was more of the same as the Canadiens used their spectacular team speed and skill to draw six power-plays. They only cashed in on one of them (the first) but for whatever reason, the B's under head coach Claude Julien never seem to have an answer for this style for the most part. Boston's plodding and lack of creativity never looks as bad as it does when they face the Habs, every time it sticks out like a sore thumb.

It didn't take long for Montreal to jump ahead as they drew a bogus illegal check to the head penalty on Matt Beleskey at 1:14 then 11 seconds later, David Desharnais had an easy tap-in from Andrei Markov and Alex Galchenyuk. Boston should have had at least a goal or two later in the first as Torey Krug hit the post, Carey Price (20 saves) robbed David Pastrnak not once but twice on the doorstep and Brad Marchand hit the crossbar.

Lars Eller scored a pair of goals early in the second period, sandwiched around what should have been a goal by Joe Morrow that cut it to 2-1. Instead, the Canadiens basically clinched it by going up 3-0. With Boston's lack of goal-scoring against Price-the Vezina Trophy winner-that is an insurmountable lead in most instances. Morrow's goal was off a rebound but it was ruled no goal since Patrice Bergeron slightly bumped Price (because he was pushed by a Canadien). Julien used the new coach's challenge but still lost (thereby forgoing the timeout) even though it appeared to be an easy correction.

A bounce finally went the Bruins' way as Matt Beleskey's centering pass went off a Montreal skate past Price at 14:26 of the second to make it 3-1. The first goal of his Boston career was assisted by David Krejci and Pastrnak. Mild-mannered Ryan Spooner received a boarding and game misconduct penalty for a hit from behind at 3:30 of the third. Boston was able to kill a two-man advantage for Montreal that lasted 1:05. Dale Weiss hit the post but more importantly to Boston's season, Marchand jumped into his elbow (this is how it happened) and ended up very woozy (he went right to the dressing room and never returned). Tomas Plekanec scored an empty-net goal for his 500th career NHL point and Bergeron scored a power play goal in garbage time after Torrey Mitchell got a match penalty.

Julien made two lineup changes coming into this contest with Max Talbot and Colin Miller (playing in his first NHL game) taking the place of Joonas Kemppainen and Zach Trotman. Talbot's only stat was one hit in 12:18 of ice time so it's hard to quantify any contributions he might have made. Miller had a shot on goal and blocked a shot in 16:13. Claude was happy with his performance so I see no reason why he would be switched out on Monday, why not take Matt Irwin (-2) out and replace him with Trotman? I know that messes up the whole left shot/right shot thing but at this point, do the B's really have to worry about secondary stuff like that? How about the best players play while the scrubs take a seat or better yet, go to Providence or get waived.

Call me crazy but at some point, things will click for the Bruins this season and they will look like the playoff contender that most thought they could be, right? We knew it would be bumpy with Zdeno Chara (still no need to rush him back) and Dennis Seidenberg but these first two games have been downright ugly. Julien is probably coaching for his job and you'd like to see him get a fair shake with a legitimate defensive corps, not this slop. Nobody looks good when your team has this many holes already, Tuukka Rask (34 saves) says hello. One of their major downfalls last season, Boston lacked a real identity and they sure don't have a positive one so far this young season.

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The Bruins Better Hope That They Don't See the Canadiens In the Playoffs This Season

There will always be teams and players that you struggle against consistently but the way that the Canadiens have owned the Bruins this season is some next level stuff. Montreal (34-14-3) swept Boston (28-18-7) in the four-game season series capped off by an easy 3-1 win tonight at TD Garden vs. the Bruins. It seems like no matter what the B's throw at the Canadiens, they always have the answer. Conversely, no team shatters Boston's confidence faster than Montreal, it's like clockwork every time that they play.

It has gotten so one-sided that some Bruins fans actually wanted them to start rookie goaltender Malcolm Subban (in his NHL debut) vs. his brother P.K. Yeah, because that makes sense. As usual vs. Montreal, Tuukka Rask (31 saves) wasn't the main issue. Still, there is no hiding from the depressing reality that he fell to 3-13-3 against them all-time.

After a scoreless first period, where Boston killed two penalties, the Canadiens struck first 38 seconds into the second. Dale Weise was stationed on the right post for a laser pass by Max Pacioretty. All Milan Lucic's buddy had to do was stuff it in for his ninth goal of the season, David Desharnais had the second assist.

Carey Price (34 saves) is having a spectacular year, he has to be the front-runner for the Vezina trophy since Pekka Rinne has missed so much time. You can't say the Bruins really challenged him though despite the gaudy save total. Similar to their first goal, Montreal once again found Boston to be flat-footed to open a period and like only they can, made them pay for it immediately. Two Boston defensemen collided in the offensive zone leaving Pacioretty to leak out for a breakaway. He shot the puck by Rask 56 seconds in for his team-leading 24th goal of the season and wouldn't you know that Weise had the lone assist.

The only instance of the Bruins showing any pride at all is when rookie David Pastrnak got just enough of the puck for it to go in at 15:29 of the third. The mad scramble in front of Price was reviewed and correctly called Pastrnak's fifth goal of the season. Lucic and Dougie Hamilton had the assists on the rookie's first tally since January 13.

That brief excitement finally generated for the B's lasted exactly four minutes as that's how long it took Montreal to clinch the two points with an empty-netter by Andrei Markov. His seventh goal of the season was unassisted. It's bad enough that Boston has drawn the fewest penalties in the NHL (122) but the next closest team isn't in the same area code (New Jersey, 147). That inability to get the man advantage always hurts the most when they play the Canadiens who want nothing more than to make it a special teams game (where they excel vs. big, dumb, slow Boston).

Boston hosts Dallas on Tuesday (7, NESN), their final home game before a five-game road trip to the West Coast/Canada. The Stars are not particularly good and the Bruins already beat them in Dallas (24-21-8) so might as well do it again.

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No Other Way To Say It: The Canadiens Currently Own the Bruins & Rask

This is really far away but at this rate, the Bruins have to hope that they don't see the Canadiens again in the playoffs this spring because I think we all now how that will turn out, again. Montreal (16-5-1) is currently the best team in the Eastern Conference and they also have the most points in the NHL so you could make a logical argument that they are the top team period. The Canadiens improved to 3-0 vs. the Bruins this season with a nip and tuck 2-0 shutout by Carey Price (33 saves) tonight at TD Garden that clinched the season series. Their only other meeting is February 8 back in Boston.

Montreal snapped a six-game home win streak for Boston and they've outscored the Bruins by an aggregate score of 13-5 this season. This was one of those wins that felt way more dominant than the final score and shots on goal total (33-23 in favor of the B's) would indicate. The Bruins could have played for 180 minutes against Price without scoring a single goal, it was that pathetic. Of course, David Krejci, Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara being out doesn't help but injuries happen so there is no point dwelling on them for too long.

The scary thing is that Tuukka Rask (21 saves) played about as well as he ever does against Montreal but he still fell short. In his career, he fell to 3-12-3 vs. the Canadiens which is baffling. This loss clearly wasn't his fault since the Bruins should be able to muster a couple goals at home, even in a back-to-back.

Montreal came in with the No. 27 power play in the league which is shocking, especially after Andrei Markov's seeing-eye shot from the point went through countless bodies in front and by Rask at 11:37 of the first period. It was the seventh time in the last nine games that Boston had allowed the first goal, not a trend that you want to see continue. Brendan Gallagher and Tomas Plekanec had the assists on Markov's second goal of the season.

The Canadiens doubled their lead midway through the second period at 8:59 when Plekanec was on the doorstep to sweep in a rebound. Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk had the assists. Boston tried to get some energy by fighting (Gregory Campbell vs. Dale Weise in the first period and Torey Krug vs. Galchenyuk in the third), something that even they rarely do anymore but that did nothing to noticeably spark them.

Chris Kelly was a late scratch for the B's as well with an injury picked up last night in Columbus which meant that Matthew Lindblad was forced to make his NHL debut. Boston wants to get all these young guys experience in the NHL but not at the same time while they're trying to stay afloat.

The Bruins have one final game before their Thanksgiving break: they host Pittsburgh (13-4-2) on Monday (7, NESN). The Penguins are off to their usual superb start but unlike the Habs, Boston typically has their number. We'll see if that holds true this time with so many important players out for Boston. That will be the first time that they meet this season.

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Bruins Completely Flop In Their 1st Game Vs. Canadiens Since Last Postseason

For the first chapter of Bruins-Canadiens in the 2014-15 regular season, it was more of the same carried over from last spring. Boston (ahem Milan Lucic) mentally got out of their game, their defense was a mess and the biggest issue of all continues to be Tuukka Rask's inability to beat Montreal.

The Canadiens (4-1-0) outlasted the Bruins (2-4-0) 6-4 tonight at the Bell Centre. Rask gave up five goals before he was mercifully pulled in the third period, in 18 career regular season starts vs. Montreal, he is 3-11-3 with .902 save percentage. Lucic further disgraced himself (and likely cost himself some money) by making a lewd gesture to the crowd after a boarding call with 1:20 left in regulation. This wasn't cool or funny, the B's were only down 5-4 at the time but that effectively ended it. He got a 10-minute misconduct and P.A. Parenteau scored an empty-netter to clinch it.

If you want to take a positive from this, Boston's offense finally woke up with a season-high four goals. They also blew two separate leads but that's another story. Zdeno Chara's power play goal, a tip in, was answered by Max Pacioretty's power play goal 2:30 after that in the first period. In the second, Boston's defense started to spring a leak or 10 as Brendan Gallagher made it 2-1 before Carl Soderberg tied it. Loui Eriksson gave the B's a short-lived 3-2 lead before they fell apart at the end of the frame. Jiri Sekac scored his first NHL goal and Parenteau slammed home a one-timer with 24 seconds left.

Gallagher's second goal (a slow motion redirect from a mile away) was incredibly soft and signaled the end of the night for Rask. Niklas Svedberg came in and credit Boston for showing some life as Simon Gagne potted his first tally as a Bruin. That was as close as they would get though as Lucic's selfish idiocy (granted the boarding call was probably based on his less than great reputation) sealed their fate.

Gallagher had a career-high two goals and an assist, Pacioretty put together a three-point night as well (1 goal, 2 assists) while David Desharnais, Alexei Emelin and Tomas Plekanec each notched a pair of assists. David Krejci, Chris Kelly and Lucic all had two assists for Boston in the loss.

After a back-to-back on the road against Atlantic Division rivals, Boston gets a day to regroup before closing out this trip in Buffalo on Saturday (7, NESN) at the First Niagara Center. The Sabres (1-3-0) are still one of the NHL's worst teams so the B's have to take advantage of that and come home with two more points. I expect Svedberg to get the start then, I never thought he'd get the call tonight since head coach Claude Julien wouldn't put him in that spot.

UPDATE 10/17: Lucic was fined $5000 by the NHL for his tomfoolery, the highest amount allowed without having a hearing.

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Well It Doesn't Get Much More Bitter Than That: Losing Game 7 at the Garden to the Canadiens

Ugh, that's about all I can say. The Bruins were on the short list of true Cup contenders in the NHL this season but that matters little now since they were unceremoniously bounced 3-1 by the Canadiens in Game 7 at TD Garden this evening. Montreal advances to the Eastern Conference Finals vs. Rangers while Boston is left to wonder what happened after they blew a 3-2 series lead. It's going to be a long summer in the Hub for a team that rightfully had very high expectations for itself and not getting out of the second round hardly cuts it.

As they have all series long, Boston was forced to chase Montreal as they fell behind by two goals for the fifth time (not a winning strategy by any means). Dale Weise scored at 2:18 on an easy tap-in from Daniel Briere and the game might as well have been stopped there since the team that scored first had won every game. Boston couldn't really get out of their own way in the first as even captain Zdeno Chara wasn't himself getting called not once but twice for holding.

The Canadiens proved to be the far more dangerous and deeper team as the series progressed. Max Pacioretty who got untracked with his breakaway goal in Game 6, scored a similarly huge goal in the second period at 10:22-a one-timer from David Desharnais after multiple Bruins including Mr. Selke Patrice Bergeron failed to clear the puck.

Boston finally got on the board at 17:59 as Jarome Iginla tipped in Torey Krug's shot from the point, a power play goal and his fifth overall in the postseason. That's all that Carey Price (29 saves) would allow though and once more, he was better than Tuukka Rask (15 saves). Of course, Rask and the B's also had what the British call "Buzzard's luck" as illustrated by the final Montreal goal-Briere's harmless pass deflected off Chara's skate into the net. It was a fitting end for a team that scored one goal in its final two games and basically forgot how to score. Iginla hit the post with a backhander earlier in the third.

This truly sucks, hockey season is abruptly over and now all we have for months upon months is tedious regular season baseball. Sorry Revs and Cannons, I kind of pay attention to you but nobody else does. The part that really hurts is having to admit that grimy Montreal actually deserved this since they carried play for most of the series. Our worst fears came to life as Boston consistently loses their focus against cheap but effective Montreal. It also helps that the Canadiens have a bevy of guys that can shoot the puck in the ocean which the Bruins sadly do not.

In closing, go Rangers/Blackhawks and Ducks/Kings. I don't think that we can stand much more success for joke city Montreal.

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Why Did the Bruins Even Bother Showing Up for Game 6 in Montreal?

What's that, you thought that the Bruins would make life easier for themselves and eliminate the Canadiens in six games? Oh, well you must be new around here. One of the things you can count on in the last decade is for Boston-Montreal series to go the distance no matter what. After the Canadiens rolled 4-0 over the Bruins tonight in a Game 6 win at Bell Centre that felt more like 10-0, the teams will play a deciding Game 7 on Wednesday (7, NBCSN) at TD Garden. It's the fourth time since 2004 that they've gone seven games against each other.

This never seemed in doubt either as Montreal scored 2:11 into regulation (Lars Eller after a brutal turnover by Kevan Miller in his own end) then added a Max Pacioretty breakaway goal in the second period at 15:24 followed shortly after by Thomas Vanek's power play goal at 17:39. Boston was back to its pop gun ways: Loui Eriksson hit another crossbar, Milan Lucic missed a stunningly easy shot with Carey Price (26 saves; 4th career postseason shutout) out of position and there was even a shot that bounced off Carey and behind him but spun back away from the goal line so it wasn't a goal. I've never seen something like that happen before in my life.

As always with losses by Boston teams, fans were quick to blame someone rather than crediting an opposing team that simply kicked their ass all night. Tuukka Rask (24 saves) actually kept the B's in it for a while including an incredible save with his stick laid on the ice. It's tough to bash him for Eller's goal since it happened in a split second right in front of him. For Pacioretty's, Rask seemed to get caught trying to decide between coming out more to poke it or not with Zdeno Chara skating with Pacioretty. Unfortunately, the B's captain lost the race which was a fitting metaphor for their poopy Game 6 performance.

Vanek's second goal was a de facto empty netter since Rask was still coming off for an extra attacker when the puck went in. After putting together their best win of the series and maybe postseasonin Game 5, it was surprising that the B's laid suck a huge egg in their worst game of the postseason. With any luck, they've already forgotten about this debacle as they try to focus on Game 7. The Bruins earned the President's Trophy which means that the most important game of their season comes on their home ice. Boston has to be happy just to be out of Montreal where they went 1-2 and were outscored 8-3 in this series.

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Matt Fraser Likely Saved the Bruins' Season, Wait What?

Playoff hockey definitely takes years off your life when your favorite team is competing in the NHL postseason but we wouldn't have it any other way, right? In Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals tonight at Bell Centre, Boston outlasted Montreal 1-0 in overtime on Matt Fraser's game-winner at 1:19. Yes, you read that correctly: a 23-year-old rookie that was recalled earlier in the day was the main reason that Boston tied the series at two heading back to Boston for Game 5 on Saturday (7, NBCSN).

There really is no way to properly equate how unlikely Fraser was to be the hero but that's one of the million reasons that makes the NHL playoffs superior to any of the other American pro sports-the sheer unpredictability. Johnny Boychuk's shot from the point went wide of Carey Price (34 saves) and bounced up in front of the cage. Carl Soderberg had the first whack at it then Fraser wheeled around the net to poke it in for his first career postseason goal in his first career NHL playoff game. Not a bad night for the other guy from the Tyler Seguin trade (along with Loui Eriksson and Reilly Smith).

Tuukka Rask's (33 saves) fifth career postseason shutout wasn't as memorable (at least on his end) as you might expect but he did make a huge save on Brian Gionta's breakaway in the second period. This would have been a horrible loss for the B's, not just because they have never rallied from a 3-1 series deficit in franchise history, but they outplayed the Canadiens for long stretches of this game. Often times, they would dominate possession in Montreal's end but had nothing to show for it. Boston hit the post three more times by Jarome Iginla, Soderberg and Smith. I think that makes nine posts or pipes in the series for them, yikes.

Boston improved to 3-1 on the road this postseason while handing Montreal its first loss (3-1) at the Bell Centre. Game 5 is everything since the teams have alternated wins and losses through the first four games. It would help if the B's scored a power play goal. Again, there were very few penalties (3) but Boston went 0 for 2 on the power play making them 0 for 8 in the series. Technically speaking the team that has scored first is also 4-0.

Fraser and Matt Bartkowski were the two changes to Boston's lineup so expect those to stay the same in Game 5, no need to change the mojo now.

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Canadiens Take Game 3, 4-2, For A 2-1 Series Lead Over the Bruins

Around New England if you're a Boston sports fan (and who isn't?), the next couple days are not going to be fun: everyone will be freaking out and there's nothing we can do about it. The Bruins fell 4-2 to the Canadiens tonight at the Bell Centre in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Montreal takes a 2-1 series lead with Game 4 on Thursday (7:30, NBCSN).

Shockingly, for the third straight game the B's fell behind by a pair of goals. They upped the torturous ante more as they went down 3-0 before finally waking up late in the second period. Boston expended plenty of energy to get back in it and they did cut it to 3-2 with a few minutes left but the Canadiens held on and added an empty netter by Lars Eller. Montreal had blown two-goal leads in three consecutive games but you will basically never see a three-goal rally especially in this setting.

Tuukka Rask (22 saves) has allowed three goals or more in every contest this series but you'd be hard-pressed to blame any of these on him, particularly the last two. The Canadiens went up 1-0 at 10:57 on Tomas Plekanec's pretty goal, assisted by Thomas Vanek and P.K. Subban. Boston actually received the first power play (which I didn't think was allowed at the Bell Centre) but six seconds after it was fruitlessly over, Subban came out of the box and beat Rask on a breakaway from Lars Eller and Dale Weise at 14:44.

Believe it or not, Boston played pretty well before that but they were understandably stunned by those and even more so when Weise (a complete bum) was sent in on yet another breakaway and he found a way to score at 13:52. At that point, many teams (cough, Lightning) would have been run out of the Bell Centre but the B's showed their usual dose of heart and spirit as Patrice Bergeorn tipped in Torey Krug's shot at 17:48. Bergeron's third goal of the postseason was assisted by Krug and Brad Marchand.

The Bruins carried the momentum but couldn't make it more interesting until it was too late. Where was that playoff urgency in the first period? The Canadiens for all their faults, are not the Red Wings. Nope, this team kept fightning and Jarome Iginla tipped in Andrej Meszaros' shot from the point at 17:44 of the third period. Milan Lucic had the other assist.

Boston generated some decent pressure with Rask pulled but Carey Price (26 saves) and Montreal's shaky defensemen held firm. Eller punctuated the win with his empty netter. I still believe in the B's since they have yet to show anything close to their best performance vs. the Habs. Given the fact that Game 4 is basically a pseudo must-win for the Black and Gold and I think we'll see them bounce back. Nobody said this series would be easy, we have to stay positive.

UPDATE 5/8: In an interesting roster move, the Bruins recalled forward Matt Fraser from Providence and sent Justin Florek back to the Baby B's. This makes it seem like Fraser could be appearing in Game 4, stay tuned.

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Bruins Sure Like Their Improbable Rallies In 3rd Periods of Playoff Games

Should the Bruins just start Game 3 down 2-0 and skip the first two periods of play? That seems to be when Boston excels the most vs. Montreal as they rallied for the second time in two games when they were faced with a two-goal deficit in the third. Instead of 2-0, it was 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at TD Garden in Game 2. However, this time the B's got the job done completely and it didn't even take overtime as they won 5-3 thanks to four goals in the third period (1st time in 3 years they had done that in the playoffs). Now the series is tied 1-1 heading to Montreal for Game 3 on Tuesday (7, NBCSN) and Game 4 on Thursday (7:30, NBCSN).

For whatever reason, Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (30 saves) looks unbeatable for the first two periods before he becomes a puddle in the third (Boston has outscored Montreal 7-2 in the third). A change in Game 2 was that Boston managed to score the opening goal as Daniel Paille made it 1-0 at 13:02 of the first period. Carl Soderberg and Andrej Meszaros assisted on his first goal of the postseason (in only his second game).

There were way too many penalties on both sides in the first two periods and that clearly favors Montreal who is 4 for 9 on the power play through two games while Boston is 0 for 4. Something named Mike "Dream" Weaver tied it with a screened shot at 1:09. Thomas Vanek came out of the dog house to score not one but two power play goals for the Habs that were eerily similar. He tipped in P.K. Subban's shot at 18:09 of the second then did the same thing at 6:30 of the third for a commanding 3-1 lead (or so we thought).

The Bruins came roaring back as Dougie Hamilton cut it to 3-2 at 10:56. That was his second goal of the postseason and the wicked wrister was assisted by Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. The Garden exploded less than three and a half minutes later as Patrice Bergeron's harmless flip on net deflected off Canadiens defenseman Francis Bouillon. Bergy's second goal of the playoffs was again assisted by Marchand who quietly has four assists vs. Montreal.

The Canadiens had already burned their timeout so they could do nothing as Reilly Smith scored what turned out to be the game-winner at 16:28. His third goal of the postseason and second of the series was assisted by Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara. Milan Lucic's empty-netter sealed a truly remarkable and also vital win.

We still haven't seen the best of Tuukka Rask (25 saves) in this series which means it should be coming in Montreal. Boston needs to win at least one of those games so they might as well start it off with Game 3 and put some pressure back on the Canadiens. We should all be thankful to have an extra day to get ready for Game 3 since you know there will be numerous calls and plays that will drive us bananas. Oh joy, looking forward to it!

UPDATE 5/4: I had honestly forgotten about him but defenseman Adam McQuaid is officially out for the rest of the season following ankle surgery.

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Montreal Takes Game 1, 4-3 in 2OT

It's only one game but you can feel that the next few weeks are going to be full of some intense NHL playoff games between the blood rival Bruins and Canadiens. Montreal won Game 1 tonight at TD Garden, 4-3 in 2OT on P.K. Subban's power play goal (his second of the game). There is something about Game 1s this postseason that apparently don't agree with Boston as they lost their second in a row. Unlike the one vs. Detroit where they were shut out 1-0, this time they rallied from down 2-0 with three goals in the third period but still came up short.

Boston had 51 shots on goal but Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (48 saves) played about as well as he could plus he was helped out by countless Bruins bungling fantastic chances to score. Montreal built the 2-0 advantage thanks to Subban's power play goal at 11:23 of the first period, a wrist shot through traffic that Tuukka Rask (29 saves) never seemed to pick up.

The Canadiens doubled their lead early in the second period as Rene Bourque beat Rask through his five-hole at 3:38. Boston finally woke up in the third period, in a big way. Reilly Smith cut it to 2-1 at 2:44, his screened shot from the sidewall was his second of the playoffs and it was assisted by Brad Marchand and Dougie Hamilton. Another Bruins youngster stepped up as Torey Krug tied it at two at 6:30 with one of his patented low missiles. His second goal of the postseason was assisted by Milan Lucic and Patrice Bergeron.

Credit to Montreal as all the momentum in the Garden was on Boston's side but still they scored a go-ahead goal at 12:09: Francis Bouillon (what other team would he be on with a name like that?) slammed one home from former BC star Brian Gionta and Bourque. The third period was basically bananas as the team's traded haymakers; Johnny Boychuk's was the last as he tied it at three at 18:02. His Johnny Rocket was his first goal of the postseason, assisted by Marchand and Loui Eriksson. That bomb from the point caught Price off guard (he barely moved) because he was screened beautifully in front of the net.

As always, this game serves as a reminder that anything can happen in overtime. The B's should have wrapped it up in the first overtime since they outshot the Canadiens 14-6. Two penalties ultimately crippled them though as Daniel Paille was called for tripping with 27 seconds left. Boston killed that off but shortly thereafter, Matt Bartkowski was nabbed for holding. Refs never want to make a call in overtime but these two were so obvious that they had to.

Montreal's power play looked like something to fear (2 for 3) and Boston's had an off night (0 for 2) with not enough chances if we're being honest. It's probably best for the Bruins that Game 2 is so close by on Saturday (12:30, NBC), therefore they don't have to let the pain of Game 1 fester for too long. It's not a must-win but they could really use a victory before they head to the Bell Centre where it is really hard for visiting teams to win.

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Bruins Want No Piece of the Weasel Canadiens in the Playoffs

Whenever the Bruins play the Canadiens, it might as well be held under a big top because it is always guaranteed to be a circus. The games are certainly entertaining but damn, Montreal is the only team in the Eastern Conference that is not intimidated by Boston at all. Tonight, the Habs (40-26-7) outlasted the B's (49-17-6) 2-1 in a shootout at TD Garden. With the win, Montreal closed the season series with its biggest rival 3-1. Interesting note: the losing team scored one goal in each matchup.

No matter how many times it happens or what they say, somehow the Canadiens always manage to piss off the Bruins with their usual crap led by that rat P.K. Subban. Boston hoped to put some of this stuff to bed after they rolled 4-1 on March 12 in Montreal but as this game showed, the B's have to hope they avoid the Habs in the postseason. I feel like it's almost a foregone conclusion that they'll meet at some point this spring, if so ugh. You know it'll go six or seven super frustrating games.

Alexei Emelin's power play goal at 6:39 of the first period stood up for almost the entire game. Tuukka Rask (21 saves) had no chance on it since the puck deflected off good old Chris Kelly in front. Montreal's backup goaltender Peter Budaj (28 saves) was having the game of his life when Boston finally cashed in on their sixth power play of the evening. That's one of the most annoying parts of Bruins-Canadiens, it's usually decided by special teams since Montreal flops more than NBA players.

The weird part is that Montreal was still getting those Bell Centre calls at the Garden (six power plays). The only purely enjoyable part of these intense contests is watching a Bruin, in this case Kevan Miller, beat the snot out of a hapless Canadien that didn't really want to fight-Travis Moen who left with a concussion.

The Bruins got on the board at 14:34 of the third period as Patrice Bergeron tipped Dougie Hamilton's shot from the point. Loui Eriksson had the second assist on Bergeron's 23rd goal of the season. It went to overtime but predictably neither team scored. Thank God the stupid shootouts are thrown out in a few weeks for the playoffs. Nothing kills the momentum of a great hockey game more than that cheesy format better suited for little kids.

Boston gets a couple days to stew over this loss which oh by the way snapped their fantasic 12-game winning streak. Thankfully they have three more big games this week and it's not like they go back to playing some shitbags like the Panthers or Sabres. The Blackhawks (41-16-15) come to the Garden on Thursday (7, NESN) then Boston goes to Washington on Saturday and Philadelphia on Sunday. Giddyup, only 10 games left in the regular season.

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