Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
The Boston Bruins put together about as complete a series as possible while sweeping the Montreal Canadiens. Despite the fact that Montreal was the 8th seed, it's never easy for the B's to play, and beat, the Habs in the playoffs. What they did in the four games was firmly establish themselves as a sure fire threat to take the Stanly Cup.
Montreal is never an easy place to play, and the Bruins showed the pressure wasn't going to affect them. The Canadiens played exceptionally well in the first period of games 3 & 4, but were only able to come out with a tie at best during each game. That in and of itself, helped break the Canadiens as the Bruins dominated the last two periods in both games.
The series itself was a hard fought, chippy and intense series with many great performances by the Bruins. Both teams did a good job of playing physical and finishing their checks. My co-MVP's are goalie Tim Thomas, who finally showed he can win in the postseason, and former Canadien Michael Ryder, who scored 4 goals and 3 assists during the series. The Bruins used good goal tending, a solid defense and an effective offense to beat the Canadiens soundly in all 4 games.
John C, one of our loyal FFS readers, has pointed out several times that the Bruins have won this series thanks in part to their amazing discipline. I totally agree with him. With the exception of Milan Lucic in game 2, the Bruins only took the Canadiens bait after the game was essentially won. In my mind, the real reason the B's swept the Habs has to be their play on special teams. The Bruins didn't allow a power play goal at all during the series as the Canadiens went 0 for 8. On the power play, the Bruins were only 4 for 16, but just happened to go 0 for 6 in game four drastically reducing their percentage.
The next round should be much more of a challenge. For now, Bruins fans need to sit back and wait to see who the next opponent will be. On a side note, the Bruins announced the signing of former Bemidji State goaltender Matt Dalton. Dalton had an great season for the Beavers helping them reach the Frozen Four for the first time in school history.
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