Faceoff Factor

Montreal Canadiens vs Boston Bruins: Series Preview

Andrew Chiappazzi | National Hockey League

Apr 7, 10:43 PM | Hype this story!

______________________________________________________

Canadiens (1) vs. Bruins (8) Conference Quarterfinals Preview
______________________________________________________

It’s no surprise that the Boston Bruins enter the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs with shouts of “Devils!” ringing in their ears. After all, the Bruins’ defense and trap has been designed by the master of the slow-down game, Claude Julien, the chief designed of the vaunted Devils trap for years. Lou Lamoriello booted Julien out of Jersey last year, deeming that the Devils hadn’t progressed enough, so he took over a beleaguered Boston team lacking an identity. He’s turned them into a defensive minded team, but Phil Kessel and company haven’t quite figured out all of the tricks of the trade.

Montreal has no identity crisis. Once Ottawa slipped after the start of the season, Montreal became of the premiere teams in the Eastern Conference. They’ve latched onto the identity of being a consistent team, but they’re marked by one major glaring issue: the lack of a veteran goalie. Thinking they were going to get Marian Hossa and thinking they’d be able to create additional trades, the Canadiens traded veteran goalie Cristobal Huet to Washington. They then watched Hossa go to Pittsburgh and rookie goalie Carey Price was left holding the bag.

Fortunately for Montreal, they’ve dispatched the Bruins all 8 times they’ve faced off this year. The closest was the most recent game, a 3-2 SO win for Montreal at home, but other games have been as wide open as 6-1 and 8-2.

______________________________________________________

Team Numbers
______________________________________________________

Standings
Montreal: 47-25-10; 104 pts; 1st Atlantic; 1st Eastern; 3rd NHL
Calgary: 41-29-12; 94 pts; 3rd Northeast; 8th Eastern; 15th NHL

Records
Montreal: 22-13-6 at home; 25-12-4 on the road; 8-0-0 vs BOS; 8-1-1 in last 10
Boston: 21-16-4 at home; 20-13-8 on the road; 0-0-8 vs MON; 4-2-4 in last 10

Special Teams
Montreal: PP, 24.2% (1st); PK, 82.5% (15th)
Boston: PP, 17.6% (16th); PK, 78.6% (28th)

Scoring
Montreal: 262 GF (1st); 222 GA (12th)
Boston: 212 GF (24th); 222 GA (12th)

______________________________________________________

Player Leaders
______________________________________________________

Goals
Montreal: Kovalev (35); Plekanec (29); Higgins (27)
Boston: Sturm (27); Kobasew (22); Kessel (19)

Assists
Montreal: Kovalev (49); Streit (49); Markov (42)
Boston: Savard (63); Chara (34); Sturm (29)

Points
Montreal: Kovalev (84); Plekanec (69); Streot (62)
Boston: Savard (78); Sturm (56); Chara (51)

Penalty Minutes
Montreal: Kostopolous (113); Komisarek (101); Koivu (93)
Boston: Chara (114); Lucic (89); Stuart (81)

Wins
Montreal: Price (24); Halak (2)
Boston: Thomas (28); Auld (9)

______________________________________________________

Injuries
______________________________________________________

Montreal: Koivu (foot, doubtful); Bouillon (foot, day-to-day); Ryder (leg, day-to-day); Komisarek (hip, questionable)
Boston: Metropolit (foot, day-to-day); Ference (knee, day-to-day); Bergeron (concussion, out for at least Game 1); Savard (back, day-to-day); Fernandez (IR); Allen (IR)

______________________________________________________

Series Schedule
______________________________________________________

Game 1: April 10 at 7:00 in MON; CBC, RDS
Game 2: April 12 at 7:00 in MON; CBC, RDS, Versus
Game 3: April 13 at 7:00 in BOS; CBC, RDS
Game 4: April 15 at 7:00 in BOS; CBC, RDS

Game 5: April 17 at 7:00 in MON (if needed); CBC, RDS
Game 6: April 19 at TBD in BOS (if needed); CBC, RDS
Game 7: April 21 at TBD in MON (if needed); CBC, RDS