Montreal Canadiens vs Boston Bruins Game 5 Preview
The series is tied 2-2
MONTREAL, QC.– Hands up if you know what will happen tonight. Anyone care to bet their house on the game tonight? Not bloody likely!
The understatement of the playoff is that the Boston – Montreal series has been unpredictable.
Remember when the Bruins were going to mop the floor with small Canadiens forwards in the TD Garden? How about the unparalleled playoff atmosphere of the Bell Centre being as good as a seventh, eighth and ninth man for the Habs? Is anyone still quoting the statistic that the Bruins are 2-1000 when down 2-0 in a series?
Some were shocked when the Canadiens lifted off from Logan International after taking the first two games in the series. Expectations adjust quickly with Habs fans salivating over a possible sweep — but that was not to be. Despite the torch being passed from failing hands, the Canadiens dropped the ball at home.
Even the validity of ‘score first or else‘ axiom was challenged in Game 4. While we expected tuna on toast, we got chicken salad, on rye, untoasted.
So what can we expect for Game 5? Take note of the first thing that crosses your mind, and then think the opposite. You’ll likely be close.
If you’re like me though, you have some questions after the first four games. Here’s ten to start. What are yours?
►1. Which Brian Gionta and Scott Gomez will show up tonight? The pair who demonstrated what playoff experience can bring to the table in the first two games were on the ice for all four goals in Game 4.
►2. Does Jacques Martin believe his own rhetoric? After Thursday’s game, Martin said, “I don’t think it was a matter of sitting back, we didn’t sit back. It’s more the opposite. We made a couple of plays that weren’t very smart and gave them some momentum.”
When the Canadiens took a 3-1 lead midway through the second period, they had a 29-12 shot advantage. Although Montreal “didn’t sit back” the Bruins then outshot the Habs 22-7 in the remainder of regulation time. How does that happen with the Canadiens supposedly doing the opposite of sitting back?
►3. How does a team coached by a so-called defensive mastermind get shredded like Swiss cheese at home in the final 30 minutes of Game 4? And why does the Canadiens young, defensively-responsible, puck-moving rearguard with a cannon for a shot from Switzerland continue to sit? Jaroslav Spacek and Brent Sopel were atrocious in their own end in Game 4 — both are minus-3 in the series.
►4. Speaking of defenseman, how does P.K. Subban look so good on Boston ice and exhibit selfish play that costs his team at home? Subban’s decision to change in overtime creating a 3-on-1 for the Bruins was inexcusable.
►5. Why is the Montreal media so infatuated with Tim Thomas? Switch the two goalies and the series is already over with Boston taking all four games yet columnists continue to drool over the Bruins goaltender. Carey Price stood on his head on Thursday but could have used just a little help from his mates.
The Canadiens appeared to be dominating in the first period on Thursday night outshooting the Bruins 15-8 — yet scoring chances were only 5-3 for Montreal. It’s something that we have known all season long: the Habs give up good scoring chances while most of their shots are taken from the perimeter.
Price has been much better in this series than Thomas because he is facing a higher caliber of shooters. Despite Thomas being a rebound machine, Canadiens wingers like Darche, Moen and Pyatt don’t have the hands nor have positioned themselves to take advantage.
►6. Will special teams become more important in the final two or three games of the series? Boston is the only team in the playoffs who have not yet scored a goal with the man advantage — credit goes to the Montreal penalty-killers. But the Canadiens rely more on their power-play to generate than the Bruins and have only scored twice for a 14.3 per cent sucess rate (substantially down from 32.1 per cent vs Boston in the regular season.)
►7. Which team has taken the fewest minor penalties in the playoffs? The answer: your Montreal Canadiens. This is a stark turnaround from the regular season where the Habs took the most minors of any of the 30 teams. Discipline will be a key again tonight.
►9. Who do you believe less? — Zdeno Chara who said that he had no idea that Max Pacioretty was on the ice on March 8 or Andrew Ference who said “my glove got caught up” as the reason for giving Bell Centre fans the finger as part of his goal celebration.
►10. Momentum, schmomentum! According to Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher, “Series are never about momentum. They’re about desperation.” So who will be more desperate in Game 5, Montreal or Boston?
Roster notes
Expect the same line-up for the Canadiens with Alexandre Picard, Paul Mara, Yannick Weber and Benoit Pouliot being healthy scratches.
Game time is 7:00 p.m.
(photo by Getty)