GAME SUMMARY: BRUINS 5 – CANADIENS 4 (OT FINAL)
Normally, I would write the game summary and show you the different highlights of tonight’s contest. Instead, I’m going to write about the tale of two games within one.
It started out exactly the way all Canadiens’ fans had hoped for. The Habs dominated every aspect of the game offensively, something we don’t see too often. They maintained possession of the puck, made tape-to-tape passes and out-shot the Boston Bruins at a 2:1 clip. At the 7:47 mark of the second period, the score was 3-1 Canadiens and the shot clock was 28-15.
Then came a timeout by Bruins coach Claude Julien, and that is when the first game finished and the second began. As opposed to their normal dump-and-chase mentality, the Bruins decided to cycle the puck high in the offensive zone, and drive the net hard. And it was extremely successful. The Canadiens weren’t prepared for such a drastic change of strategy, and had trouble responding to it. By the time the second period was done, the score was 3-3 and the shot totals were 30 – 22.
While the Canadiens took advantage of am early third period power play to regain a one goal lead, their five on five play continued to struggle. On multiple occasions, the Bruins brought the game to the Habs, and kept our boys hemmed into the defensive zone. Once again, at 13:42, Chris Kelly tied the game again. The Bruins almost shot themselves in the foot late, with Dennis Seidenberg taking a late interference penalty. However, with the Canadiens in complete disarray, their power play had no zip, and we were headed to the first overtime in this series.
In the extra frame, the Bruins once again caught the Canadiens with their pants down, when, at 1:59, Michael Ryder scored the game winning goal from the lip of the crease, after the Habs had lost complete control of themselves on the backcheck.
After such an amazing start, the complete meltdown of the Canadiens left the Bell Centre faithful, as well as Habs’ fans all over watching on TV, with a bitter pill to swallow.
GAME POINTS
- Jaroslav Spacek was abysmal on defense in this one. While both he and his partner, Brent Sopel, finished at -2 for the night, it was primarily because of his ineptitude that Sopel suffered statistically.
- After scoring second Bruins’ goal, Andrew Ference felt it necessary to celebrate by giving the Bell Centre crowd the middle finger salute. If James Wisniewski got two games for his lewd gesture towards the Rangers’ Sean Avery, Ference should, at bare minimum, get them same.