Different Season, Same Result

The Bruins rolled into the Bell Centre last night for the first time since their season ended there last year, looking to start off the season series against the Canadiens on a positive note. The B's had a lot going against them last night: Montreal had yet to lose in regulation, it was their home opener so the "Ole!" chants were going to be extra loud, and it marked the beginning of the Habs "Centennial Season" celebration, complete with old Canadiens legends coming back out onto the ice.

As I said in the previous post, if the Bruins could weather the storm early, they'd be in good shape. Well, they did that, and were actually able to control the flow of the game for a bit in the first period, giving the Montreal crowd little to cheer about.

Shawn Thornton welcomed Georges Laraque to the Northeast Division in this early-first period bout:



Tough to say who won this one. Thornton scored an early takedown when he caught BGL off balance, but allowed him to get up and continue the fight. BGL got some good "clubs" off of the back of Thornton's head, but neither really landed any good shots. I'd have to say that this one goes in the books as a draw, or maybe the tiniest of edges to Laraque, simply because he landed more punches.

After the usual hijinks were out of the way, it was back to the regular game. The Bruins had done a good job staying out of trouble and away from the penalty box, a place one never wants to find himself against Montreal. However, Dennis Wideman finally lost his cool, getting called for cross-checking one of the Kostitsyn sisters after a mild dust-up. Sister Kostitsyn actually leglocked Wideman and tripped him before Wideman hit him back, but the ref, as is usually the case, only saw the retaliation.

16 seconds after Wideman went into the box, Alex Kovalev scored a power-play goal to give the Habs the lead, bring the building to life, and put the Bruins behind the eight ball early. However, that wasn't big enough of a hole for the B's who gave up another goal to Saku Koivu a little over a minute later, then decided "What the hell, we're already down two, may as well get lazy on the power play", and gave up a shorthanded goal to Maxim Lapierre. Ouch. 3 goals in a little over 3 minutes. Lights out, right?

Well, seemingly, yes. But this Bruins group showed no signs of fear or intimidation at the hands of Montreal, despite the playoff exit and last season's numerous embarassments. Instead, the Bruins came out charging in the second, again controlling the play, and finally got one on the board when David Krecji beat Carey Price with a slap shot moments after a Bruins power play expired.

The B's would keep up the pressure into the third, when Marc Savard fired one past Price to bring the Bruins within a goal. After that, the B's pressed on, desperate to tie the game. With just under a minute left, Tim Thomas began to head to the bench for an extra attacker. The puck was fired into the Montreal zone, intended as a dump-in to try and get possession of the puck, and Price went around behind his net to try to stop the puck. However, the puck took a funny bounce off of the boards and ended up squirting right out into the crease of an empty net. A streaking Savard seized the opportunity and banged the puck into the net, tying the game with 48 seconds left.

The Bruins trailed gave up three goals in three minutes, on the road against the Canadiens, and then came back to tie the game with seconds to go. This is the kind of performance that builds teams, and shows that this team will not be a pushover, no matter what obstacle it's facing. It wouldn't have been surprising, or even hard to fault the B's had they disappeared after those horrendous three minutes in the first period, but they fought back and tied the game, standing up to Montreal and giving hope to fans as well.

As overtime came to a close without any real scoring chances from either team, save for a breakaway with moments left by Kovalev that may not have even counted even if Thomas didn't save it, it was time for a shootout. Phil Kessel shot first for the B's, and had Price beat but the puck didn't lay flat for him and he lost the handle, the puck sliding harmlessly into Price's pads. Thomas then stopped Andrei Markov, and Patrice Bergeron, who did the same "5-hole" move he does everytime he's in a shootout, was stopped by Price. Alex Tanguay, an offseason acquisition by the Habs, beat Thomas with a wicked wrister, leaving the game on the stick of the third Boston shooter, none other than...Michael Ryder.

The former Hab was jeered all night by his former fans, and could have really shut them up by tying the shootout. However, it was not meant to be last night, as Price slammed the door on Ryder and gave the Habs the win.

Despite ultimately coming up short, the fact that the B's got a point out of a game they trailed 3-0 before the game was 10 minutes old is encouraging. The Canadiens are, by all "expert" accounts, the class of the Eastern Conference, and the Bruins showed that not only can they play with them, but they can control the play as well. Sure, the B's didn't get the win, and still haven't beaten the Habs in a regular season game in over a season. But a point is a point, and the B's can take note of the fact that if not for those three wretched minutes in the first, they may have left Montreal with a 3-0 victory.