Records…
Bruins-
Overall: 53-19-10
Last 10: 8-2-0
Canadiens-
Overall: 41-30-11
Last 10: 5-3-2

Season Series…
5-1 Bruins

Highlights of Last Meeting…

Previous Playoff Meeting…

2008 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals (4-3 Canadiens)

RLD ‘Playoff Formula’…
Bruins- 70.56
Canadiens- 32.09

RLD ‘Playoff Formula’ Predicts…
Bruins in 4 or 5

Tale of the Tape…

Forwards-
Edge: Bruins… Though small, this unit for the Bruins comes at you from everywhere; the Habs’ lineup isn’t as deep as last year.

Defensemen-
Edge: Bruins… Chara & Wideman gives Boston the upper hand; Montreal losing Markov is a big blow.

Goaltending-
Edge: Bruins… Tim Thomas is the Vezina favorite, while Price still has mental breakdowns in net.

Special Teams-
Edge: Bruins… Boston’s man advantage has 2 great units, and is ranked 4th.

Coaching-
Edge: Bruins… Very slight edge here – Claude Julien’s stability with Boston over the last 2 years is the difference.

Experience-
Edge: Canadiens… Montreal has a lot of veteran experience, especially with Kovalev, Schneider, and Tanguay.

Team X-Factors…

Bruins-

Phil Kessel… Kessel could be the x-factor for the entire playoffs for Boston. He’s their pure goal scorer, and is getting hot once again. He had that funk in January & February in the midst of his battle with mono. But he seems to be over it. Remember, he played in just 4 games in last year’s series against the Habs. He scored 3 goals, and was a big spark for them in games 5 and 7.

Canadiens-

Carey Price… Bob Gainey almost resists putting in Halak, so Price is the man (for now). He showed flashes of brilliance on Saturday vs. Pittsburgh. He’s played better since the coaching change. There’s no way the Habs win this series unless they get solid goaltending from him. Will the Price be right??

Key Injuries…

Bruins-

D Andrew Ference (undisclosed, status for series unknown)
C Patrice Bergeron (foot, expected to return for Game 1)
LW P.J. Axelsson (undisclosed, expected to play in series)
LW Marco Sturm (knee, likely out for playoffs)

Canadiens-

D Andrei Markov (knee, doubtful for series)
LW Sergei Kostitsyn (upper-body, status for playoffs unknown)
D Francis Bouillon (groin, status for series unknown)
C Robert Lang (Achilles, out for first 2 rounds)

Keys to the Series…

Bruins-
1. Stop Montreal’s power play… Boston has a solid penalty kill, but the Habs’ man advantage has the potential to roll right over ‘em. It’s important for the B’s to stay out of the box, and execute on the PK when they have to.
2. Play as the underdog… The eerie thing about this series is the history in ’02 and ’04. The last two times the B’s were the 1 seed in the East, they were beat by the Habs in round 1 in each of those years. I think they need to act like they’re the 8-seed, even though they’re a long way from it.

Canadiens-
1. Secondary scoring… They seem to be a 1-line team at the moment; that’ll be too easy for Chara to stop. So they have to develop another go-to line to put Boston on its heels. The ones who have to step up are Plekanec, A. Kostitsyn, and Higgins.
2. Bully the Bruins… A strategy Montreal may want to take into each game is to bully Boston. Get after their main players, force a penalty here and there, and throw the Bruins off their game.

Why the Bruins will win…

They are just flat out better than Montreal in every facet of the game. Tim Thomas and Zdeno Chara make it hard to push rubber past the goal line. Along with those two, the B’s have good depth on defense. And they have 3 quality lines that can score. If you put all that together, you get the most complete team in hockey.

Why the Canadiens will win…

The fact that this is the NHL’s best rivalry is Montreal’s only shot. Like I said above, this has got an eerie feeling to it… they usually OWN the Bruins in the second season. They’d also win this series with its power play alone. With Schneider 100%, it can do serious damage.

PREDICTION… BRUINS IN 6

[Source: RedLightD.Blogspot.com]

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