For the first time in four years the Stanley Cup playoffs come back to Boston. Being picked by many to finish dead last in the NHL, Boston was supposed to be the door mat of the league. Now they are in the playoffs. That alone makes the B’s relevant in Boston again, never mind that they face off against their hated rivals, the Canadiens. What is better than a Boston vs. Montreal playoff battle? The B’s head into the series as the heavy underdogs. What else is new?They have been the underdogs all season long. B’s Habs, wouldn’t want it any other way.

2007-2008 Regular season match up

The Habs owned the season series, sweeping Boston in all eight games. To go back further, Montreal has won 11 straight against the B’s. The last time Boston beat the Canadiens was on March 3, 2007 in a 3-1 home victory.

2007-2008 Winner Scores

Canadiens 6-1
Canadiens 2-1
Canadiens 7-4
Canadiens 4-2
Canadiens 5-2
Canadiens 8-2
Canadiens 4-2
Canadiens 3-2

Playoff History vs. Montreal

The Montreal Canadiens lead the all time playoff series 95-57. In 30 series against the Habs, the Bruins have won only 7. To say that Montreal has gotten the better of Boston would be an understatement. In the last post season meeting the Bruins as the top seed fell to the Habs (eighth seed) four games to three.

Bruins Playoffs Stats

The Bruins are a much better team when they have the lead. That was evident all season long. Like the regular season, getting an early series lead is important as well.

When leading a series:
                                Total Series         W        L
1-0:                                  53               36         17
2-0:                                  30               24          6
3-0:                                  16               16          0
2-1:                                  29               21          8
3-1:                                  18               17          1
3-2:                                  20               17          3
When trailing a series:
0-1:                                  48               10          38
0-2:                                  31                 0          31
0-3:                                  19                 0          19
1-2:                                  31                 7          24
1-3:                                  20                 0          20
2-3:                                  20                 2          18

Why Boston will win.

Tim Thomas

Goaltending. Goaltending. Goaltending. Unlike all the other sports, the best regular season teams are easily upset in the opening round without much dismay. That reason is goaltending. Lower seed teams steal series because their goaltender is hot. A great goalie can beat a great team. It’s the equivalent of have dominate pitching in baseball’s playoffs; the exception is that an NHL goalie will play every night. Picture having Josh Beckett pitch every inning of every post season game. The Red Sox wouldn’t have lost a single game.

Tim Thomas is capable of providing that type of magic. As an NHL all-star, Thomas has experience his best year as a pro and now is playing in his first post season. A reminder of the 2006 Edmonton Oilers is in order. Behind the great goaltending of Dwayne Roloson, the eight seeded Oilers made it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals only to lose to the Hurricanes. If Thomas gets hot and the B’s muster up some timely goals then we are talking about a reverse fortune the last time these two faced off in the playoffs.

Health

The Bruins, who have been banged up all season long, are starting to look healthy. With the news of Patrice Bergeron being cleared to play and Marc Savard returning to the line-up, Boston will look as good as they did all year long. It still hurts to have Chuck Kobasew out, but add Bergeron and Savard to the emergence of the youth, now you looking like a formidable opponent.

On the other side of the table, Montreal’s Captain Saku Koivu will miss at least a couple of games with a foot injury, but expected to play at some point during the series. Koivu is the Habs captain and consummate leader, as he goes so don’t the Canadiens. The B’s hope that he is out for an extended period of time.

Coaching

I keep referencing the last time the Canadiens and Bruins played each other in the playoffs. It was an all time Bruins low. Up 3-1 in the series and being the top seed in the east, all came crashing down at the hands of the Habs. One thing that you may not remember is the coach of the Canadiens in that series. It was none other than current B’s coach, Claude Julien. If there is any aspect that Boston can say they are better in than the Canadiens it is in the coaching department. Although Guy Carbonneau has had a tremendous year, he has yet to coach a team in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Julien has. And he’s had remarkable results.

Why Boston will lose.

Carey Price

Much like I stated with Tim Thomas, the Canadiens goaltender can win you a series. Like Thomas, Price was relatively unknown heading into the season at the NHL level. Yet, Price has been a great goalie for the Habs. So good, he made Cristobal Huet expendable at the trade deadline. Price won gold at the World Junior Championship last season and guided Hamilton (AHL) Calder Cup championship. So he has had post season success, just not at the NHL level yet. A bad stat for Bruins fans is that Price is the first sub 20 year old goalie to win 20 games since Patrick Roy. Price doesn’t have to be as dominate as Thomas does because of a more talented team in front of him.

Talent

In every aspect of the game, Montreal is more talented than the Bruins. Starting with the goaltender. Price is a highly regarded as the next great goaltender. Having already won gold at the junior championship level and the Calder Cup (AHL’s version of the Stanley Cup), Price is big game proven. After the deal to send Huet to the Caps, Price has lead the Habs into the playoffs on a 14-4-1 run. Although both goalies will be making their playoff debuts, Thomas is 10 years older than Price and has already backstopped for a first place team.

On the offensive side, Montreal is loaded with four (Kovalev, Plekanec, Kostitsyn, Higgins) 20 goal scorers while Boston only has one (Sturm). The Canadiens have the NHL’s most productive power play, while the Bruins are near the bottom with  the 28th-ranked penalty-killing unit. Mismatch? I think so. The Habs are fast up front and can draw a lot of penalties if the Bruins don’t skate. If the B’s can’t stay out of the box, then they are looking at 15 straight losses versus Montreal.

Montreal does have more depth on D, but not by much. Mark Streit and Andre Markov both have over 50 points on the season, while the B’s have Chara with 51 points. The Habs are deeper along the blue line.  The Canadiens are more productive from their entire defensive corps, not to mention two very good defensive defensemen in Hamrlik and Komisarek.

Experience

The Bruins will have 11 first-time playoff performers. That’s not surprising considering that the NHL is a much younger league now. But where this favors the Habs is that Boston’s top players haven’t been there while Montreal has. Koivu, Kovalev, Higgins, Markov and on and on, all have seen NHL playoff hockey. As for the Bruins, Zdeno Chara is the only big gun for Boston with that experience. All-star forward, Marc Savard’s 659-game playoff wait is the longest in the NHL. David Krejci is a rookie. Tim Thomas had been a career minor leaguer.

Review

Its never easy predicting the out come of an NHL playoff series, especially if a goalie gets hot. It’s hard to take the Bruins in this match up. If you are looking for some hope ,the Bruins can absolutely win this series if Thomas stands on his head and the B’s plain and simple, out work the Habs. Montreal just lost Saku Koivu their captain and leader for a couple of games. They are starting a rookie in goal. The Habs play in Montreal, where the press coverage is oppressive, against Boston where the press forgets the Bruins even exist. Montreal comes in with a coach with no playoff experience, against a guy who engineered the biggest playoff upset of the decade. All that said with a Bruins team that may get healthier as the series goes on, gives Bruins’ fans hope.

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