Montreal Blanks Boston To Force Game 7
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Perhaps it is only fitting that these two great rivals meet in a seventh and deciding game.
That will be the case for the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens following last night's 4-0 win by the Habs. The dominant effort sets up a winner-take-all scenario tomorrow night at Boston's TD Garden.
After the Bruins put forth their best effort of the series in a convincing 4-2 game five win over the Canadiens in Boston Saturday night, the Canadiens returned the favor by dominating the B's Monday night at the Bell Centre.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTLars Eller beat Tuukka Rask just over two minutes into the first period and Montreal was off and running.
All night long, the Canadiens seemed to be the faster, more energized team save for the opening minutes of the second period.
Boston did a good job of keeping the pressure on Montreal goaltender Carey Price to start the second, but had nothing to show for it. Instead, it would be Montreal that would score twice in the second as Max Pacioretty and Thomas Vanek upped the Canadiens lead to 3-0.
In the third, Claude Julien tried to pull Tuukka Rask with about four minutes to go. But, as Rask was about to hop off the ice and onto the Boston bench, a Bruins turnover allowed Vanek to score his second of the game on an empty net for the 4-0 final.
Now, for the 9th time in the storied history of the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry, there will be a seventh and deciding game. It will take place at 7pm Wednesday night at Boston's TD Garden. The winner advances to the Eastern Conference Finals to meet the winner of tonight's game seven between the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh.
NOTES:
-Montreal goaltender Carey Price was voted the game's #1 star after stopping all 26 shots he faced. It was Price's fourth career postseason shutout. All of them have come at the expense of the Boston Bruins.
-One day after getting fined $2,800 for squirting water in the face of PK Subban, Boston's Shawn Thornton played in his 100th career playoff game.
-There is rampant speculation that, should the Bruins advance tomorrow night, defenseman Dennis Seidenberg may return to the ice. Seidenberg was seen in practice participating in some light contact drills less than 5 months after tearing the ACL and MCL in his right knee.
-The "puck luck" continues to not be there for the Bruins who hit their 10th post or crossbar of the series last night. Louis Eriksson had carey Price beat upstairs but hit the crossbar instead. File it under bad "puck luck" and another missed opportunity for the B's who have not done a great job of finishing around the net in this series.
