Intotheboards.net - NHL Playoffs 2008

POWER PLAY	16TH - 17.6
PENALTY KILL	28TH - 78.6
*FORWARDS*
MARC SAVARD	15-63-78 (+3)
MARCO STURM	27-29-56 (+11)
CHUCK KOBASEW	22-17-39 (+6)
*DEFENSEMEN*
ZDENO CHARA	17-34-51 (+14)
DENNIS WIDEMAN	13-23-36 (+11)
ANDREW FERENCE	1-14-15 (-14)
*GOALTENDERS*
TIM THOMAS	28-19-6 (3 SO) 2.44 GA .921 PCT

ALEXANDER AULD	12-13-5 (3 SO) 2.68 GA .907 PCT

	Boston vs Montreal

	SCHEDULE
	1	APR. 10	BOSTON 1 - MONTREAL 4
SEED 8	2	APR. 12	BOSTON 2 - MONTREAL 3 (OT)	SEED 1
41-29-12 (94)	3	APR. 13	MONTREAL 1 - BOSTON 2 (OT)	47-25-10 (104)
	4	APR. 15	MONTREAL 1 - BOSTON 0
	5	APR. 17	BOSTON 5 - MONTREAL 1
	6	APR. 19	MONTREAL 4 - BOSTON 5
	7	APR. 21	BOSTON 0 - MONTREAL 5
*Montreal Wins Series 4-3*

SERIES PREVIEW

by Tom Schettino - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM

If you had asked the Montreal Canadiens to select their first round opponent one would guess the Bruins would have been high on the list. The Bruins have basically been the Washington Generals to Montreal’s Harlem Globetrotters this season as the Canadiens went 8-0 against Boston and have won the last 11 times the two clubs played.

Boston did play the Canadiens to a 3-2 shootout game in the final match-up of the season, so if the Bruins can duplicate that effort they will give Montreal some trouble.

Forwards: Montreal’s Alex Kovalev (35-49-84) had a tremendous season and played well against Boston. The injured Saku Koivu, Tomas Plekanec, Christopher Higgins and Andrei Kostitsyn also deliver offense for the club. In addition to the aforementioned players Guillaume Latendresse, Sergei Kostitsyn, Steve Begin and Maxime Lapierre drove the Bruins nuts this year with their effort and back-breaking goals. Montreal also has Bryan Smolinski and Christopher Higgins available.

Boston’s top three forwards Patrice Bergeron, Chuck Kobasew and Marc Savard are not in top shape for this series. Savard is recovering from a Begin cross-check suffered during the season while Bergeron has been out with a concussion since October. Kobasew was hit by a teammate’s slap shot and like Bergeron may not play in the series at all. In their place the team will lean on Marco Sturm, Phil Kessel, Glen Murray and David Krejci. Kessel and Krejci are a bit young to be prime-time playoff performers while Sturm and Murray are more complementary types of players. Glen Metropolit, rookie Milan Lucic, Peter Schaefer, Petteri Nokelainen, Shawn Thornton, Vladimir Sobotka, Jeremy Reich and P.J. Axelsson are the other Bruins forwards.

Defensemen: Zdeno Chara eats up over 26 minutes of ice time per game while Dennis Wideman is on for an average of 25 minutes. Chara (17-34-51) is touted by some as the best defenseman in the league, and he is the key performer on the blue line for Boston who basically fall apart if he is not in the lineup. Andrew Ference, Aaron Ward, Andrew Alberts, Shane Hnidy and Mark Stuart round out the corps, but most of them are ranked one place up on the depth chart further than they would on a Stanley Cup contender.

Andrei Markov (16-42-58), Roman Hamrlik and Michael Komisarek anchor an underrated unit. The group also has swingman Mark Streit when he is not playing up front. Josh Gorges and Francois Bouillon are depth players for the club and they rarely make mistakes.

Goaltending; Montreal general manager Bob Gainey raised a few eyebrows when he dealt veteran Christobel Huet at the trade deadline, but rookie Carey Price has repaid Gainey’s confidence. Should Carey falter, the team will turn to Jaroslav Halak. Carey was scintillating in the AHL playoffs last year and will probably be too much for the Bruins to handle.

Boston has veteran Tim Thomas between the pipes. Thomas has earned a chance, but he has to play better than he has in some games against Montreal this year to hold onto the job. Alex Auld is in reserve and he too has played very well at times. Should Boston fall behind in this series coach Claude Julien may very well turn to Auld. Manny Fernandez is on the playoff roster, but he has been out for an extended period of time and the team would have to be desperate to turn to him after such a long layoff.

What to expect: The numbers and talent level of the two clubs portend a Montreal sweep, but Boston has shined all season long when the chips were stacked against them. Montreal would be wise to jump on Boston with a quick start and give the Bruins the idea their losing streak against the Habs is going to continue. These teams do not like each other. Should a game or the series get out of hand a team and/or players might decide to make a physical statement.

Game 1	Boston 1 - Montreal 4
by Tom Schettino - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM	*Montreal Leads Series 1-0*
The Montreal Canadiens continued their historical run against the Boston Bruins with a 4-1 win in front of a raucous full house on Wednesday night. The Canadiens, who have won more games against Boston than any other club has against another in NHL playoff history, scored twice in the first two minutes of the game and never gave Boston a chance. Montreal's Sergei Kostitsyn opened the flood gates just 34 seconds into the contest when he batted the puck past shell-shocked Boston netminder Tim Thomas. Andrei Kostitsyn followed his brother with a goal at the 2:02 mark to effectively knock the Bruins out of the game. Andrei's goal came when Bruins' defensemen Dennis Wideman and Zdeno Chara falled to connect on a pass. The puck rolled to Tomas Plekanec who fired over to the elder Kostitsyn who finished the play with a whip-quick shot. Boston attempted to claw back into the game when Shane Hnidy tipped a Andrew Ference shot past Carey Price. The score allowed the Bruins to stay within a goal through the first twenty minutes of play. The Bruins would not remain in the game for long. With just over five minutes expired in the second period former Bruin Bryan Smolinski backhanded the puck past Thomas after yet another Boston breakdown in their own zone. Price was only tested 18 times in his debut, but he showed a flair for the dramatic when he stopped Marco Sturm on a breakaway. Sturm, who led the Bruins with 27 goals during the season, collected a pass and came in uncontested on Price. The rookie netminder turned away Sturm's bid relatively easy and allowed his club to hold onto their current two-goal advantage. The score would widen to its final destination when Tom Kostopolous scored early in the final period with helpers from Mark Streit and Maxime Lapierre. The win allowed the Canadiens to establish their dominance in this series and opened their winning streak over Boston this season alone to nine games and overall to twelve. Montreal took the play to the Bruins and out shot the visitors by nearly a two-to-one margin (32-18) in stating their case for a sweep.

Game 2	Boston 2 - Montreal 3 (OT)
by Tom Schettino - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM	*Montreal Leads Series 2-0*
There was no question which team was dominant in game one of this series on Thursday night as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Boston Bruins in each and every facet of the game. The word for Saturday night was not dominant but all the same the Bruins were the better of the two clubs in the second game of the series. Boston coach Claude Julien believed his club could raise its effort level and physicality and placed physical players Andrew Alberts and Vladimir Sobotka in the lineup in place of Phil Kessel and Dennis Wideman. The move immediately paid off for the Bruins as they out-hit, out-shot and out-hustled the home team throughout the first period. The only thing they could not do was out-score the Canadiens. Despite the distinct difference in quality of play Montreal took the lead after twenty minutes thanks to a screaming slap shot by defender Roman Hamrlik with just over two minutes remaining in the frame. It appeared Montreal would win the game going away after they opened the lead to 2-0 but the Bruins would fight back to tie the game and send it to overtime. With the squads skating four-on-four early in the second period Alex Kovalev went in a circle around the Bruins net fending off a check from Mark Stuart. Kovalev’s ability to hold the puck left time for Patrice Brisebois to lose his check and the Montreal defender got off a strong shot on goal. Boston goaltender Tim Thomas was able to make the save on that shot, but the rebound came out to Sergei Kostitsyn and he swept the puck into the Boston goal. The score would stand until early in the third period when Boston’s Peter Schaefer scored the type of goal Boston must in order to defeat Montreal goaltender Carey Price. Bruins center Petteri Nokelainen moved the puck into the Montreal zone and got a good shot off on Price who made the save but was unable to corral the rebound which Schaefer promptly batted home. Kovalev figured in the scoring of the next goal but in a negative manner. With the Canadiens already shorthanded Kovalev received an outlet pass and broke in alone on Thomas. Kovalev appeared to miss the net and Boston defender Aaron Ward covered up Kovalev on the follow through of the play. As Ward and Kovalev separated the Montreal forward delivered a wicked slash to the back of Ward’s leg and was penalized for the action which put Boston on a five-on-three advantage. Thanks to Marc Savard the Bruins capitalized on the situation just 14 seconds later. Savard faked a shot from the point and instead of shooting snapped a pass to Marco Sturm on the side of the net. Sturm in turn located David Krejci alone on the other side of the net and sent the puck to the rookie for a tap-in wrister and the game was even. The two clubs battled it out for the last half of the period until Boston forward Shawn Thornton made a mistake and hit Montreal’s Tom Kostopoulos in the face with his stick. Thornton drew blood and was assessed a double minor. The Canadiens were all over the Bruins and Thomas during the regulation portion of the penalty and nearly won the game as Brisebois’ slapper hit the post as time expired. Boston killed off the first portion of Thornton’s penalty and the team was seconds away from knocking off the second part when Jeremy Reich was assessed a marginal tripping call when Andrei Markov’s skate grazed Reich’s outstretched stick. Reich was incensed with the call and had a right to be especially since the referees did not call Markov for an obvious high-stick against Reich a few seconds earlier. In the end the weight of penalties would kill the Bruins. Starting at the 14:17 mark of the third period when Glen Metropolit was whistled for tripping the Bruins played shorthanded for 6:59 of the game’s final 8:14 of play. Seconds after Thomas robbed Kovalev on a game-winning bid the Canadiens captain roofed a slap shot from the circle to the right of Thomas for the clincher. Nearly lost in the shuffle was the play of Price who stopped 37 shots, many of which were workmanlike as the Bruins made a concerted effort to fire pucks on him. Thomas also had a good game in defeat, he faced fewer shots than Price did, but many of the shots Montreal did take were well-placed and dangerous. Notes The Bruins said Wideman did not play due to an injury suffered in game one. That may be true but they did not spare Kessel’s feelings as he was announced as a healthy scratch. The scratch will be one more bullet of ammunition for Kessel’s detractors who believe he is unwilling and unable to pay the price in the trenches. Julien was upset about the non-call on Reich after the game stating in effect Reich skated through the call and did not embellish the high-stick he incurred. Boston is highly-sensitive to Montreal’s “tactic” of making infractions seem worse than they are dating back to the day ex-Habs forward Mike Ribeiro appeared to be within an inch of death as he drew a penalty the last time the two teams played in the playoffs. To make matters worse Ribeiro laughed on the way to the bench after the call was made and the paramedics had performed "life-saving" methods on him to get him back on his feet. There was more of the same in Game Two as Montreal often went down easier than reality and the law of physics would dictate. Tomas Plekanic obviously has soccer experience where diving and embellishing is part of the sport. In one instance all that was needed was an outline of his body on the ice for the homicide detectives to study when Plekanic made it appear he had just been murdered as a result of a soft cross-check in the back. Montreal’s winning streak has now reached thirteen games which ranks amongst the highest in league history. The Bruins organization will learn a lot about their players tonight in game three as the two clubs turn it around and play the next evening after an emotional game. Boston’s mentally strong players will treat game two as a glass half full, the others will sulk at the loss and allow it to affect Sunday’s outing. This type of win supports Montreal’s contention they are Stanley Cup favorites. They did not play their best game, yet they played well when they had to and came out of it with a win. Teams that win the Cup don’t often dominate for all 16 wins, but they do capitalize when they need to just enough to win on a night they were not the best team. I would hope someone in the league office would dictate the refs dust off their rule book and call a dive or two before a player is nominated for an Academy Award. There are two ways to go here. The refs can start calling dives or we can expect every team to start rolling around on the ice and flopping over whenever contact is made. I personally prefer the former to the latter.

Game 3	Montreal 1 - Boston 2 (OT)
by Tom Schettino - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM	*Montreal Leads Series 2-1*
*Boston, MA* - Marc Savard scored his first career playoff goal during a delayed penalty call with just over nine minutes expired in overtime to give the Boston Bruins a life-saving win. The goal allowed the Bruins to break a long thirteen-game losing streak against the Canadiens and allowed them to crawl within a game of Montreal in this series. It was an amazing night of firsts for the Bruins who won their first game, held their first lead against Montreal, Tim Thomas registered his first NHL playoff win in goal and both scorers registered their first NHL playoff scores. The goal would not have been scored without the assistance of Dennis Wideman who threw a perfect backhand pass to set up the game-winner by Savard. Prior to the second game of the series Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien decided to scratch Wideman and Phil Kessel in an attempt to play a more physical game. After the game it was announced Wideman was not a healthy scratch after all and had suffered a “lower torso injury” during game one. Prior to game three of the series the Bruins stated Wideman’s availability would be a game time decision. When all was said and done it turned out the decision to play Wideman would be a game-winning one. For the second night in a row the Bruins outplayed Montreal, but not by the wide margin they had enjoyed in game two. This game was nearly evenly played and if Montreal had won the game it would not have been as much as an upset as it had when the Habs won on Saturday night. Boston’s follies against the Canadiens this year have been well chronicled. The Boston entry not only failed to win any of the ten matchups preceding this game, they had failed to even hold a lead in at any point during those games. That all changed in the first period when Milan Lucic fired a wrist shot across the seam to beat Montreal netminder Carey Price. The scoring sequence began when Mark Stuart flipped the puck deep into the Canadiens zone. Marc Savard picked up the loose puck and found Lucic in the slot and the rookie quickly adjusted his angle of his shot for maximum effect. More than twenty minutes of game time went by before Tom Kostopoulos drew his club even. Kostopoulos reaped the efforts of Steve Begin to score the goal. The speedy Begin used a hard check to force Wideman to turn over the puck to Kostopoulos who managed to score as he was forced to the ice. Thomas and Price traded save for save from that point forward. Price made several good saves while Thomas was tested repeatedly by the Habs before the game was finally ended by Savard. The winning goal came courtesy of a delayed penalty call against the Canadiens. Boston’s Peter Schaefer carried the puck into the Montreal zone. Smolinski was coming behind the play and slashed Schaefer to draw the call. Schaefer slowed the play down, scanned the ice surface and found Wideman breaking into the open. Wideman then drew Price and many of the Montreal defenders to his side of the ice before throwing the puck across the ice to the streaking Savard for the game-winner.

Game 4	Montreal 1 - Boston 0
by Tom Schettino - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM	*Montreal Leads Series 3-1*
Boston, MA - Patrice Brisebois scored a power play goal late in the second period and Carey Price stopped all of Boston's 27 shots as Montreal put a stranglehold on the series with a 1-0 win. Boston netminder Tim Thomas never had a chance on the Brisebois goal as the puck was shot through a maze of traffic with 42 seconds left in the middle frame. Thomas played well but had to take the loss despite making 27 stops of his own. A tripping call to Andrew Ference led to the power play goal. Montreal's Andrei Kostitsyn set up the scoring play as he circled around the net and threw the puck into traffic. The puck glanced off one of the Bruins' skate, deflected to the top of the circle and waited for Brisebois to step into it with a blazing slap shot which eluded Thomas for the game-winner. With the win Montreal took a 3-1 lead in the series much to the delight of their legions of fans in the arena, some of whom made the trip down from Montreal for the pair of games. While the game did highlight the play of Price it also reinforced the fact the Bruins are lacking in offense. Some of the offensive deficiencies can be attributed in injuries to Patrice Bergeron and Chuck Kobasew, but coaching strategy (Vladimir Sobotka in the lineup vice Phil Kessel), a 1-4 checking system and the lack of a go-to goal scorer or two are in the mix too. Meanwhile Montreal is playing with the jam they were suspected of not having. Most people predicted the Habs would outgun the Bruins, but Montreal has adapted to the hard-hitting defensive ways of the series. Montreal seemed happy to go hit-for-hit with the Bruins and leaned on Price while having the patience to wait for their opportunities to come to them.

Game 5	Montreal 1 - Boston 5
by Tom Schettino - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM	*Montreal Leads Series 3-2*
*Boston, MA* - Boston used a four-goal final period to defeat Montreal and in the process staved off elimination. The Bruins five-goal outburst in game five equaled their previous output from the entire series. The Bruins, who had never defeated the Canadiens in a game five when they were trailing the series three games to one, broke that streak in style. Initially it appeared Montreal would have an easy night of it as they took a 1-0 lead and held it for the rest of the first period and a good portion of the second. Bruins-killer Alex Kovalev provided what would turn out to be Montreal’s only goal when his highlight play backhander avoided Boston goaltender Tim Thomas midway through the first. Despite the fact they were facing elimination the Bruins offense struggled and only had 12 shots on goal as the game reached its midpoint. Boston pulled even on a Phil Kessel power play goal with Roman Hamrlik in the penalty box for holding. Kessel, who had been a healthy scratch for the past three games, picked up the first playoff goal of his career when he corralled a rebound of his own shot and buried it behind Montreal’s Carey Price. The young Montreal goaltender had been spectacular in the series to that point but something happened to him on the way to the Hall of Fame. Perhaps a sign of what was to come came when Price made an outstanding save after a miscue of his own doing. With time expiring in the second period Boston’s David Krejci threatened to break in alone on Price. The puck got on edge and rolled to Price who poke-checked it forward. The puck hit Krejci, bounded back towards Price and struck the right post, before sitting in the crease. Just a split second before Milan Lucic could sweep the puck into the open net Price spun and cleared the puck with his stick. Price’s second misadventure would not turn out as well as his first did. With just over three minutes expired in the third period Price grabbed a puck behind his goal. The netminder whirled and attempted to drop the puck for his defenseman, but Petteri Nokelainen intercepted the failed transfer and Glen Metropolit rammed the game-winner home with his first goal since February 5th. It was all downhill for the Price and the Canadiens from there as Boston scored in a bunch. The Bruins next goal came when Zdeno Chara blistered a shot from the top of the circle on a power play. Boston’s special teams kicked in another goal when Marco Strum picked a corner against Price while shorthanded and finally Vladimir Sobotka scored from a sharp angle past a disinterested Price to complete the scoring. On the other end of the ice the less-ballyhooed Thomas made stop after stop and wound up the evening with 31 saves and a precious win for his efforts. The two teams will return to Boston for game six on Saturday night. Game Notes Injury and a coach’s decision affected the lineups for both clubs in this game. Aaron Ward took a leg-on-leg check from Tomas Plekanec late in game four and was forced to sit out this game. Andrew Alberts was inserted in the lineup due to Ward’s injury and coach Claude Julien pulled Kessel out from the press box and removed Jeremy Reich from the lineup. Montreal coach Guy Charbonneau chose Michael Ryder to replace Mark Streit who suffered a hip injury in game four. Apparently I wasn’t the only one miffed by the Canadiens diving in the earlier part of the series as the referees called two diving penalties, one to each team, during the course of the game. Hopefully that will limit future flopping in this round. I do not usually comment on the Three Stars of the Game (frankly because I do not care), but Montreal’s media really misfired this evening when they gave the third star to Kovalev. He did score a wonderful goal, but that was Montreal’s only one and Kovalev took a penalty early in the third period when the two teams were still tied. I would think Boston defenseman Andrew Ference, who logged more ice time than Kovalev did and picked up three assists would have been a better choice.

Game 6	Montreal 4 - Boston 5
by Tom Schettino - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM	*Series Tied 3-3*
*Providence, RI* - Conventional wisdom said youth and lack of playoff experience was supposed to be a negative which would hurt the Boston Bruins in their series against the heavily-favored Montreal Canadiens. That was before the young Bruins began pushing back against Montreal after failing behind three games to one in their best-of-seven series. Youth was served in Game 6 as Boston enjoyed four goals from players who are 20-years of age or younger on their way to a 5-4 victory. The resilient Bruins rallied back to tie the score three times in a game in which they stared elimination in the face. Montreal took the lead each time they scored their first three goals only to see the Bruins tie up the score each time. Boston finally went ahead when Phil Kessel bagged his second goal of the game late in the third period. However, Montreal were the ones to come back that time when Chris Higgins scored an easy goal just 11 seconds after Kessel had cashed in. Higgins opened the game’s scoring on a four-on-four situation on a hard-working play with the assistance of a misplay by Boston’s Dennis Wideman. Higgins followed the puck to the net and pushed it behind Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas as Montreal took a lead going into the second period. Kessel scored the first of his two goals to start the scoring in the second period when he picked up a loose puck at center ice and turned Montreal defender Francois Bouillon inside out before rifling the puck past Montreal’s Carey Price. A Boston failure to cover Tomas Plekanec coming out of the penalty box lead to a breakaway goal which once again gave Montreal the lead at the end of a period. The Bruins had outscored the Canadiens by a large margin in the third period during this series and would do so again in this contest. Vladimir Sobotka started the train rolling when he and Peter Schaefer just stayed onsides on a break-in. Schaefer got the stick through a Montreal defender and Sobotka scored his second in two games when he rolled the puck through Price’s legs. Bouillon made up for his play against Kessel when his shot deflected off a pair of Bruins and past Thomas to give Montreal a lead for the third and final time. For a team which struggled to score at times during the season the next eight minutes of play would be glorious for the Bruins as they outscored Montreal 3-1 down the homestretch. Milan Lucic started the ball rolling with a tip-in of Zdeno Chara’s shot. Lucic’s goal was followed by Kessel’s second as he converted a cross-crease setup by Marco Sturm. Finally following Higgins’ second of the game, a tap in score from just outside the crease, Sturm victimized Price on a fine individual play. With just two and a half minutes left in regulation Sturm blasted Montreal’s Roman Hamrlik off the puck and fired the puck on goal. Price made the initial stop but gave up a bad rebound. Sturm picked up the rebound, walked around two defenders and waited patiently until Price made his move. Once Price was defenseless Sturm fired the puck into the open net to complete the game’s latest and last comeback for Boston. Game Notes Montreal wasted a chance for inspiration as Saku Koivu and Bouillon returned to play for the first time in the series. Koivu came back from a foot injury and played well setting up both of Higgins' goal with physical play and skill. As chronicled previously Bouillon returned and had an up-and-down effort. Michael Ryder and Guillaume Latendresse were removed from the lineup to facilitate the pair’s return. Aaron Ward returned for Boston in favor of Andrew Alberts and played a tough, physical game for the Bruins. Montreal was called twice for diving in this game to make it four times in the last two games. Apparently the message is not getting through, or Montreal believes they are still gaining an advantage from the tactic. Perhaps it is time to increase the penalty for doing so. A misconduct penalty to the offender in addition to the minor penalty might help out--or the officials could stop sending the Boston player in to the box at the same time and let the Canadiens, for once, pay for the tactics. David Krejci and his two assists would be easy to overlook, but that would be a mistake. Krejci was used in all situations by Boston and led all Bruins forwards in ice time with just over 20 minutes. Kessel was named the star of the game for his goals, but more importantly coach Claude Julien has enough trust in him to place him on the ice to help protect a one goal lead in the final minute of the game. Teams fight for home ice all season long and Montreal will use the advantage on Monday night. All the home ice in the world will not matter if the club coughs up large amounts of goals in the third period. Montreal has given up eight goals in the third period in the last two games alone.

Game 7	Boston 0 - Montreal 5
by Tom Schettino - PROHOCKEYNEWS.COM	*Montreal Wins Series 4-3*
*Montreal* - There are times a hard-working club with less talent will defeat a more talented team which does not work as hard. However when the more talented club outworks the less talented club the results are usually ugly. That was the case Monday night in Montreal where the Canadiens added to their litany of success against the Boston Bruins. Montreal took control of the game in the second period and never looked back. A fortunate deflection early in the first period set the tone of the contest and started the Canadiens on their way to victory. Mike Komisarek accepted a pass from Alex Kovalev and sent a slap shot on goal, the shot deflected off of Bruins forward Petteri Nokelainen’s stick and changed direction enough to fool Boston netminder Tim Thomas. After a first period in which the Bruins outplayed the Canadiens the two clubs battled back and forth in the second frame. Montreal opened the game up when Mark Streit cut into the middle of the slot alone on Thomas and slipped the puck past the Bruins netminder. Andrei Kostitsyn sealed the game and the series when he directed the puck past Thomas late in the middle period. Meanwhile Carey Price was playing very well for Montreal after giving up ten goals over the past two games. Price made every key stop when he needed to and played a compact, close to the vest game instead of travelling from his net at each and every opportunity. When the final buzzer sounded Price had registered 25 saves and had his second shutout of the series. The Kostitsyn brothers scored goals within 1:54 of each other to end the series they way they had started. In Game 1 the brothers had scored 1:28 apart from each other to set the Canadiens on the way to victory. In essence the Canadiens sandwiched a pair of dominant games around five games they were outworked and outplayed. The result of this series was what the hockey world suspected, but no one thought Boston would give the first-seeded Canadiens a battle and even fewer believed a Game 7 would be necessary in this series. As the first seed the Canadiens will now play the lowest remaining seed in the Eastern Conference in the next round. If Washington wins at home over Philadelphia tomorrow night the Canadiens will face the New York Rangers. Should the Flyers claim the series they will play against Montreal in the next round.

POWER PLAY	1ST - 24.2
PENALTY KILL	15TH - 82.5
*FORWARDS*
ALEXEI KOVALEV	35-49-84 (+18)
TOMAS PLEKANEC	29-40-69 (+15)
SAKU KOIVU	16-40-56 (-4)
*DEFENSEMEN*
MARK STREIT	13-49-62 (-6)
ANDREI MARKOV	16-42-58 (+1)
ROMAN HAMRLIK	5-21-26 (+7)
*GOALTENDERS*
CAREY PRICE	24-12-3 (3 SO) 2.56 GA .920 PCT

JAROSLAV HALAK	2-1-1 (1 SO) 2.11 GA .934 PCT