Faceoff Factor

Canadiens v Bruins Game 4 Preview

Andrew Chiappazzi | National Hockey League

Apr 15, 01:43 AM | Hype this story!

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Canadiens (1) vs. Bruins (8) Game 4
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Series Score: Canadiens 2 – Bruins 1
Game Time: 7:00 EST
Location: TD Banknorth Garden (BOSTON)
Television: RDS, CBC

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Preview
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The Julien trap and Marc Savard finally showed up for Boston. Apparently, those two components to Boston’s season forgot to make the trip to Montreal, as the Habs came out on a 2-0 streak at home. Now that the series is back in Boston, the trapping and Savard-led Bruins are back in the series, able to convert an overtime game into a win and get the series deficit down to 2-1.

Savard scored the game winner in overtime, assisted on the other goal, and watched his ice time increase from about 13 minutes in the first two games to 20 minutes in Game 3. Dennis Wideman shook off his injuries to team with Zdeno Chara to play nearly half of the game – amazing stamina – and shut down the vaunted Montreal offense.

Les Habitants couldn’t get on the power play and the trap suffocated them on 5 on 5. Kovalev has disappeared – again – and without Koivu, the Habs are suddenly relying on Tom Kostopolous to score goals for them. The 4th liner had his 2nd goal of the season while Michael Ryder, Tomas Plekanec and the Kostitsyn borthers did little to control the game offensively.

What to expect in Game 4? More of the same from Boston. Montreal will be trying to put themselves in a situation to clinch at home in Game 5, so the Bruins will do everything they can to lock down on the offense again. The viewer shots Tim Thomas faces, the better. The B’s got the shot total down to a manageable 28 while attempting 31 on rookie Carey Price. It doesn’t appear Montreal was expecting much of a contest, so with things swinging back in favor of Boston, there could be much more intrigue to come in this series.
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Injuries
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Boston: Bobby Allen (back spasms, day-to-day); Patrice Bergeron (concussion, day-to-day)
Montreal: Francis Bouillon (ankle, day-to-day); Saku Koivu (broken foot, out)