• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Bruins host rival Habs in Game 1 of East quarters

Apr 14, 2011 - 3:22 PM (Sports Network) - A pair of Original Six rivals will get their 33rd playoff series against each other underway tonight, as the third-seeded Boston Bruins welcome the Montreal Canadiens for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at TD Garden.

No two teams have faced off against each other more times in the NHL playoffs than the Bruins and Canadiens. Of course, the storied Montreal franchise holds the upper hand in the all-time series, having won 24 of the 32 playoff series between the old rivals.

However, Boston has claimed five of the last eight series and swept the Habs in four games when the clubs last met in the 2009 Eastern Conference quarters.

Although Boston won the Northeast Division by seven points over Montreal, the sixth-seeded Canadiens did claim this year's season series with four wins in the six encounters.

The Bruins will try to put last year's nightmare postseason exit behind them, beginning with tonight's playoff opener.

Up three games to none against Philadelphia in the second round of last year's postseason, Boston was poised to advance to the Eastern Conference finals before the unthinkable happened as the Flyers won four straight games to become just the third team in NHL history to win a series after falling behind 3-0.

Of course, nobody expects the Bruins to suffer another collapse of that historic nature in these playoffs, but it is important that Boston moves past that meltdown with a good start to this postseason.

The biggest difference between the 2010-11 Bruins and last year's club is that goaltender Tim Thomas in once again healthy and back to his Vezina Trophy- winning form.

After being named the NHL's top goaltender two years ago, Thomas battled hip injuries in 2009-10, causing him to post a 17-18-8 record and lose his starting job to rookie Tuukka Rask. This year, Thomas was 35-11-7 with nine shutouts and a sparkling 2.00 goals-against average. The 38-year-old also set an NHL record with a .938 save percentage, beating former Buffalo netminder Dominik Hasek's mark of .937 from the 1998-99 campaign.

Of course, Thomas has one of the league's most feared defenseman playing in front of him in Zdeno Chara, the 6-foot-9 Slovakian with the hardest slap shot in the world. Chara won the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman in 2009 and he could be a finalist for the award this year after posting 14 goals, 44 points and a plus-33 rating this season.

Big Z always hears boos when he visits Montreal, but the derision could reach an all-time high in this series. Chara managed to make himself even more unpopular in Montreal after he drilled Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty into a stanchion near the benches on March 8. That infamous hit, and the fact that it didn't warrant a suspension for Chara, will add some juice to an already heated rivalry.

The Canadiens will be without Pacioretty for the series, as the winger has not played since suffering a severe concussion and a cracked vertebra on the hit by Chara. Pacioretty had a career-high 14 goals in just 37 games before suffering the injury.

With the presence of Thomas and their star defenseman Chara at the back end, it's easy to look past the Bruins' offense, which finished eighth in the league with 246 goals this season. And that was without the services of the club's top playmaker, Marc Savard, for all but 25 games. Savard, of course, is out for the rest of the season with a potentially career-threatening concussion.

Boston had four players with 20 or more goals this season and seven of the club's forwards had 40 or more points. Milan Lucic led the team with a career- high 30 goals and he was tied for the club lead in points with David Krejci, who paced the club with 49 assists. Patrice Bergeron was third on the team with 57 points and he also could be a finalist for the Selke Trophy as one of the league's top defensive forwards.

Montreal made a surprising run to the Eastern Conference finals as an eighth seed last year. The Canadiens will try to recreate some of that magic this spring, but they'll have to do so without the club's biggest hero from the 2010 postseason, goaltender Jaroslav Halak, who was traded over the summer to the St. Louis Blues, leaving the crease to Carey Price.

Montreal general manager Bob Gainey is now given credit for sticking with Price, but the trade was a scary one for Habs fans at first. After all, Price had a nightmarish 2009-10 season that saw him go 12-30-5 with a 2.77 goals- against average.

However, the 23-year-old Price, who was the fifth overall selection in the 2005 draft, rewarded his club's confidence in him this season, posting a 38-28-6 record while playing in 72 games. Price tied Vancouver's Roberto Luongo for the league lead in wins, while also setting personal bests in GAA (2.35), save percentage (.923) and shutouts (8).

However, Price still has to prove he can get it done in the postseason. In 19 career playoff games, he has a 5-11 record to go with a 3.17 GAA and .894 save percentage.

On defense, the Canadiens are led by P.K. Subban, who was technically a rookie this year despite playing a big role in Montreal's playoff run last spring. Subban had played in just two games at the NHL level before injuries at the blueline forced him into regular playing time last postseason. Instead of floundering, Subban flourished with one goal and seven assists in 14 postseason games. The 21-year-old Subban kept up the good work this season, leading Montreal's blue line in both goals (14) and points (38).

"Last year I got thrown into this same kind of mix and I knew I had things that I needed to improve on," Subban told his team's official website. "If anything, I guess I can always remind myself that I've been here before, because all it takes is an opportunity and given that opportunity you can really make an impact."

But, just like last year, injuries on defense are once again a concern for the Habs. Once considered Montreal's best all-around defenseman, Andrei Markov has barely been able to stay on the ice over the last year, and suffered a season- ending injury to his right knee in November. Fellow blueliner Josh Gorges was possibly Montreal's best shutdown defenseman, but he will also miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury sustained in December.

Yet, offense is the real problem spot for Montreal, as the club finished 24th in the league with 216 goals. The Canadiens had just one player over 50 points this season, as Tomas Plekanec led the club with 57 points on 22 goals and 35 assists. Captain Brian Gionta led the club with 29 goals and had 46 total points while playing in all 82 games.

Andrei Kostitsyn was the only other Montreal skater to reach 20 goals this year, as he notched 20 markers and 25 assists.

Habs centerman Jeff Halpern, who had 11 goals and 15 assists this season, is suffering from a lower body injury and is questionable for Game 1.

Boston, which will also host Game 2 on Saturday, is 22-13-6 as the home club this season. The Canadiens had a 20-19-2 mark as the visiting team.