Bruins vs. Canadiens First Round Playoff Preview
The Black and Gold are back in the plaoyffs and we die-hard fans can at least be happy with that. PitchMaster is a little busy today, so I'm going to preview the upcoming best of seven series versus the top seeded Montreal Canadiens, our historic rival. Unfortunately, the Bruins are a paltry 0-7-1 against Montreal this season and are winless against their bitter rivals in their last 11 meetings. So, this is going to be an uphill battle to say the least, but with this group on the B's, they will fight the entire way. The Bruins' turnaround this season can really be placed on the shoulders of one man: their coach, Claude Julien. It is an embarrassment that more writers outside of Boston have not mentioned Claude for the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year as he turned a team that had the seventh worst record in the entire league last season into a playoff contender this season. As reported earlier this week by Manny Ortez, the Bruins got a huge boost when they learned Patrice Bergeron may be able to go in this series; we'll keep you updated if and when we learn that Bergy will make a playoff appearance. Now, let's delve into a preview of the opening round (hopefully the first of several for the B's).
Schedule:
Game 1 April 10 @ Montreal; Game 2 April 12 @ Montreal; Game 3 April 13 @ Boston; Game 4 April 15 @ Boston; Game 5 April 17 @ Montreal; Game 6 April 19 @ Boston; Game 7 April 21 @ Montreal
(All games are at 7 PM, except Games 6 and 7, which are not yet determined)
Even Strength:
Montreal is a better team than us; they are faster and they are deeper; it's a fact. They have seven players who broke the 50 point plateau compared to the Bruins' three. Alexei Kovalev is their big threat; in eight games against Boston this season, he has a line of 7-4-11 and is a +9. While those numbers are impressive, the only thing they mean in this playoff series is that Zdeno Chara is going to be on the ice every time Kovalev is. Offensively, we are in shambles right now and it really all depends on Marc Savard's health. If Savy plays and is effective, the B's could challenge them. With Savard hurt, David Krejci is the offensive leader of the team; he sets up the offense and his teammates look to him for big plays, which, to the rook's credit, he's been making pretty consistently. For the Canadiens, Andrei markov is everything you want defensively and offensively in a number one defenseman and even though Krejci is the offensive leader right now, Markov will probably play against Savard and make the rookie Krejci prove he can beat the rest of the Montreal defense. The biggest X-factor here is whether or not either team gets production out of its injured center men: Patrice Bergeron and Marc Savard for the Bruins, Sakue Koivu for the Canadiens.
Special Teams:
Special teams will be very important in this series. The Canadiens had a power play success rate of 24.2% and a penalty kill that came in at 82.5%, while the Bruins were successful 17.6% of the time on the PP and their PK got got the job done 78.6% of the time. Neither of those numbers the Candiens put up is good new for the Bruins, but if there is one weak link in Montreal's armor, it is in regards to the PK. We could expose them when we are on the power play, but this can only happen if we stay out of the penalty box and draw penalties.
Goaltending:
Carey Price vs. Tim Thomas, the battle of the polar opposites. The only thing they have in common is that this will be the first playoff game that either one starts in their respective careers. Price is a 20 year old kid with superstar written all over him. He is calm, cool and collected in net; combine that with his killer reflexes and the Bruins are going to have to really pressure him to score. Thomas, on the other hand, is basically a 34 year old career minor leaguer (at least until he got his shot with the B's) and is very active in net. He has really impressed me this season, and we all know he is going to compete in every minute of every game.
Biggest Question for Each Team:
Montreal: Is Saku Koivu actually healthy? This is huge for them and not only on the scoreboard... we all know Koivu's story and how he is the leader of this team. If he isn't healthy and plays like Joe Thornton did in the 2002 playoffs against (how ironic) Montreal, the B's have a shot. If he is healthy, let's just hope we don't embarrass ourselves.
Boston: Where do I start? Is it with the 11 guys making playoff debuts? Is it with our relative lack of scoring? Nope, I will again focus on health: Is Patrice Bergeron healthy? If he is, I think that the even strengh side of things balances out a little better, even though Montreal will still have an edge. With Bergy in the lineup, Montreal will have to focus on another proven scorer, which could only be a good thing for the Bruins.
Prediction:
Montreal in 6 - I hate myself for even typing that, but actually writing for Boston Sports Buzz and trying to be objective and respected, I have to keep my predictions somewhat realistic. There is a chance that we could steal this series, but we need a lot of things to fall our way, starting with winning one of the first two games in Montreal; otherwise, let's hope someone talented falls in the draft. If my prediction is right and we get knocked out in the first round, keep in mind that our future is bright, Bruins fans... and in the end, they did give us a pretty good season. Also, we'd like to congratulate every one of the Bruins making their playoff debuts tomorrow, especially Marc Savard and Tim Thomas, who have played to the ages of 30 and 34 respectively without having yet appeared in a postseason game. Good luck, guys.
You A Bad Mang is a senior writer for Boston Sports Buzz.
Schedule:
Game 1 April 10 @ Montreal; Game 2 April 12 @ Montreal; Game 3 April 13 @ Boston; Game 4 April 15 @ Boston; Game 5 April 17 @ Montreal; Game 6 April 19 @ Boston; Game 7 April 21 @ Montreal
(All games are at 7 PM, except Games 6 and 7, which are not yet determined)
Even Strength:
Montreal is a better team than us; they are faster and they are deeper; it's a fact. They have seven players who broke the 50 point plateau compared to the Bruins' three. Alexei Kovalev is their big threat; in eight games against Boston this season, he has a line of 7-4-11 and is a +9. While those numbers are impressive, the only thing they mean in this playoff series is that Zdeno Chara is going to be on the ice every time Kovalev is. Offensively, we are in shambles right now and it really all depends on Marc Savard's health. If Savy plays and is effective, the B's could challenge them. With Savard hurt, David Krejci is the offensive leader of the team; he sets up the offense and his teammates look to him for big plays, which, to the rook's credit, he's been making pretty consistently. For the Canadiens, Andrei markov is everything you want defensively and offensively in a number one defenseman and even though Krejci is the offensive leader right now, Markov will probably play against Savard and make the rookie Krejci prove he can beat the rest of the Montreal defense. The biggest X-factor here is whether or not either team gets production out of its injured center men: Patrice Bergeron and Marc Savard for the Bruins, Sakue Koivu for the Canadiens.
Special Teams:
Special teams will be very important in this series. The Canadiens had a power play success rate of 24.2% and a penalty kill that came in at 82.5%, while the Bruins were successful 17.6% of the time on the PP and their PK got got the job done 78.6% of the time. Neither of those numbers the Candiens put up is good new for the Bruins, but if there is one weak link in Montreal's armor, it is in regards to the PK. We could expose them when we are on the power play, but this can only happen if we stay out of the penalty box and draw penalties.
Goaltending:
Carey Price vs. Tim Thomas, the battle of the polar opposites. The only thing they have in common is that this will be the first playoff game that either one starts in their respective careers. Price is a 20 year old kid with superstar written all over him. He is calm, cool and collected in net; combine that with his killer reflexes and the Bruins are going to have to really pressure him to score. Thomas, on the other hand, is basically a 34 year old career minor leaguer (at least until he got his shot with the B's) and is very active in net. He has really impressed me this season, and we all know he is going to compete in every minute of every game.
Biggest Question for Each Team:
Montreal: Is Saku Koivu actually healthy? This is huge for them and not only on the scoreboard... we all know Koivu's story and how he is the leader of this team. If he isn't healthy and plays like Joe Thornton did in the 2002 playoffs against (how ironic) Montreal, the B's have a shot. If he is healthy, let's just hope we don't embarrass ourselves.
Boston: Where do I start? Is it with the 11 guys making playoff debuts? Is it with our relative lack of scoring? Nope, I will again focus on health: Is Patrice Bergeron healthy? If he is, I think that the even strengh side of things balances out a little better, even though Montreal will still have an edge. With Bergy in the lineup, Montreal will have to focus on another proven scorer, which could only be a good thing for the Bruins.
Prediction:
Montreal in 6 - I hate myself for even typing that, but actually writing for Boston Sports Buzz and trying to be objective and respected, I have to keep my predictions somewhat realistic. There is a chance that we could steal this series, but we need a lot of things to fall our way, starting with winning one of the first two games in Montreal; otherwise, let's hope someone talented falls in the draft. If my prediction is right and we get knocked out in the first round, keep in mind that our future is bright, Bruins fans... and in the end, they did give us a pretty good season. Also, we'd like to congratulate every one of the Bruins making their playoff debuts tomorrow, especially Marc Savard and Tim Thomas, who have played to the ages of 30 and 34 respectively without having yet appeared in a postseason game. Good luck, guys.
You A Bad Mang is a senior writer for Boston Sports Buzz.
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