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Rivalry Breakdown: An In Depth Look At How the B's and Habs Stack Up |
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Alright folks, we’ve covered the recent history, it’s time to fast forward to the here and now and see how these two teams stack up against each other.
GOALTENDING
There is no one more important on the ice during the Stanley Cup playoffs than your starting netminder. With likely Vezina candidate Tim Thomas between the pipes for the Bruins (36 wins, 2.10 GAA, .933 Sv%), going up against Carey Price (23 wins, 2.83 GAA, .905 Sv%), the B’s hold a decided advantage.
Both experienced their first taste of NHL playoff hockey last spring and matched up fairly evenly until the decisive 5-0 win in game seven for the Habs. But after a dominant regular season, the rookie Price proved to be extremely flappable under pressure. With the Bruins’ offense far more potent than it was last season, he may be in a bit of trouble.
Thomas was often knocked for wearing down as the season wore on in years past, but consider this: before the All Star break, the Michigan native had a spectacular 2.09 GAA and .934 Sv% in 29 games. Second half slide? Not on your life! Thomas was just as magnificent, boasting a 2.11 GAA and .932 Sv% in his final 25 starts.
If you’re in search of a disappointing second half, look no further than Montreal’s sophomore ‘tender (or is it tender sophomore?). Price picked up right where he left off last season, going 16-5-5 with a 2.35 GAA and .919 Sv% leading up to the all star game. The results following the festivities in Montreal were nothing shy of disastrous. In 25 appearances, the savior stumbled going 7-11-5, with an underwhelming 3.37 GAA and .891 Sv%. Last year after the break, Price made 21 starts and posted three shutouts. This season he has just one in 49 starts, which came way back on November 11th in a 4-0 win at home over the Sens.
ADVANTAGE: BOSTON
DEFENSEMEN
Led by captain Zdeno Chara, the Bruins blueliners were a major factor in Boston allowing the least goals in the National Hockey League. The B’s allowed just 190 goals, a whopping 50 less than the Canadiens, who yielded 240 tallies (21st in the league) during the regular season.
Boston has a very balanced top 6, with solid puck movers like Matt Hunwick and Dennis Wideman complimenting defensive stalwarts Mark Stuart and Aaron Ward. And of course there’s Chara, as dominant as ever this season on both ends of the ice. With Andrew Ference suffering from an undisclosed injury, Steve Montador or Sheriff Shane Hnidy may be called upon to take his spot.
The Habs are in a world of hurt on the blueline. With Andrei Markov sidelined the Habs will be without their #1 defenseman, a man 2nd on the team with 64 points on the year. Couple that with the loss of Francis Bouillon (since late February) and a dinged up Mathieu Schneider, and the Habs look awfully fragile on D. Schneider has been huge since coming over from Atlanta with 5-12-17 totals in just 23 games for Montreal. Mike Komisarek, Roman Hamrlik and Josh Gorges will have to step it up big time for the Canadiens to have a chance to win this series.
ADVANTAGE: BOSTON
FORWARDS
It is beyond a doubt that with Alexei Kovalev, Saku Koivu and Alex Tanguay up front for the Habs, Montreal possesses three of the most talented players in the game in their corps of forwards. However, the Bruins counter that star power with just as much skill and far more depth.
This season the B’s had seven 20 goal scorers on their roster. Led by Phil Kessel’s 36 (in 70 games), the Bruins can roll three legitimate scoring lines, bound to wreak just as much havoc on the opposition in the playoffs as they did during the regular season. Marc Savard (25-63-88) leads the way up front as the pivot for, as of now, Blake Wheeler (21-24-45) and Kessel (36-24-60).
The Habs had three 20 goal scorers this year, led by Kovalev (26-39-65) and followed closely by Andrei Kostitsyn (23-18-41) and Tomas Plekanec (20-19-39). Undoubtedly the Habs could have had more when you consider injured forward Robert Lang had 18 in just 50 games while Koivu and Tanguay (16 goals apiece) combined to miss 49 regular season games.
But the real advantage Boston has is secondary scoring. Take a look at the top scoring, healthy forwards beyond the line of Tanguay-Koivu-Kovalev that expect to play:
1. Andrei Kostitsyn: 74gp, 23-18-41
2. Tomas Plekanec: 80gp, 20-19-39
3. Maxim Lapierre: 79gp, 15-13-28
4. Guillaume Latendresse: 56gp, 14-12-26
5. Chris Higgins: 57gp, 12-11-23
6. Tom Kostopoulos: 8-14-22
And now look at Boston’s top scorers, among forwards, beyond the top line of Wheeler-Savard-Kessel:
1. David Krejci: 82gp, 22-51-73
2. Mark Recchi: 80gp, 23-38-61
3. Michael Ryder: 74gp, 27-26-53
4. Chuck Kobasew: 68gp, 21-21-42
5. Milan Lucic: 72gp, 17-25-42
6. Patrice Bergeron: 64gp, 8-31-39
ADVANTAGE: BOSTON
STATISTIC BASED COMPARISONS
POWERPLAY
Boston: 23.6% (4th)
Montreal: 19.2% (13th)
ADVANTAGE: BOSTON
PENALTY KILL
Boston: 82.4% (12th)
Montreal: 82.4% (11th)
ADVANTAGE: PUSH
5-ON-5 GOALS FOR/AGAINST RATIO
Boston: 1.42 (1st)
Montreal 0.96 (17th)
ADVANTAGEL BOSTON
DISCIPLINE
Boston: 353 minor penalties committed
Montreal: 437 minor penalties committed
ADVANTAGE: BOSTON
MAKING COMEBACKS
Boston: .118 W% when trailing after 2 periods
Montreal: .212 W% when trailing after 2 periods
ADVANTAGE: MONTREAL
HOLDING LEADS
Boston: .884 W% when leading after 2 periods
Montreal: .853 W% when leading after 2 periods
ADVANTAGE: BOSTON
TRAILING FIRST
Boston: .543 W% when allowing the first goal
Montreal: .318 W% when allowing the first goal
ADVANTAGE: BOSTON
PLAYOFF HISTORY
Can’t write a whole blog without giving the Habs a little credit…..
PRE-1967 EXPANSION RECORD AGAINST OPPONENT
Boston: 1-7
Montreal: 7-1
ADVANTAGE: MONTREAL
POST-1967 EXPANSION RECORD AGAINST OPPONENT
Boston: 6-17
Montreal: 17-6
ADVANTAGE: MONTREAL
PLAYOFF RECORD AT HOME AGAINST OPPONENT
Boston: 41-36 (.532)
Montreal: 63-19 (.768)
ADVANTAGE: MONTREAL
PLAYOFF RECORD ON ROAD AGAINST OPPONENT
Boston: 19-63 (a really low percentage…ok, .232)
Montreal: 36-41 (.468)
ADVANTAGE: MONTREAL
RECORD IN ANY PLAYOFF SERIES THEY HAVE LED 2-0
Boston: 19-6 (.760)
Montreal: 49-4 (.925)
Good to know that in almost a quarter of the playoff series the Bruins have led 2-0, they’ve gone on to lose 4 out of the next 5 games. Awful.
ADVANTAGE: MONTREAL
So there you have it. Montreal certainly has history on their side. But, what does history have anything to do with hockey games being played in April of 2009?
Maurice Richard isn’t walking through that door. Neither is Ken Dryden. The same goes for Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Pierre Mondou, Toe Blake, Jacques Plante, Patrick Roy, Mats Naslund or any other Habs legend that has haunted the Bruins and their fans for nearly a century of hockey.
History means squat. The Bruins have a clear-cut edge over the Habs they’ve never enjoyed in seasons past. There was always a weakness in the B’s arsenal: no depth, poor goaltending, and slow-footed d-men come to mind. And you’ve gotta give the Canadiens full credit, they exploited the Black and Gold’s flaws time and time again, swooping in like vultures and feasting on the B’s shortcomings.
But that was the past. The Bruins have better goaltending, greater depth, smarter coaching, stingier defense and a more explosive offense than any hometown hockey team I can recall rooting for in my 23 years on earth. The Habs are surely talented and boast quite a duo of dynamic playoff performers in Koivu and Kovalev. But the fact of the matter is, they have absolutely no business winning this series. When you lay out all the numbers from this past season, the Bruins are deservedly heavily favored.
And while that hasn’t mattered much to any Habs’ lineup in their previous 31 postseason battles, I don’t think any amount of crossed fingers, lucky rabbits feet or visits from ghosts of series past will be enough to derail this determined band of Bruins.
As you may have expected these last two blogs have been extremely tedious, and I thank you all, on both sides of this rivalry, for your appreciation and kind words. I'll be heading to practice tomorrow morning in Wilmington and will have an update for you all by mid-afternoon.
JC
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