Montreal vs. Boston

Season Series

Montreal went 4-2-0 in the regular season

while Boston lost once in OT and therefore

have a 2-3-1 record. It is important to note 3

of Montreal’s 4 wins occurred before

January 8th

, and since that time Montreal is

1-2-0 lighting the lamp 10 times, but

allowing 16 goals

Offence

Boston 2.98 GPG – 5th

in the league

Montreal 2.60 GPG – 22nd

in the league

Neither team has a game-breaker who can

be counted on to score in the dying seconds

of the game. No, these two teams rely on a

deep line-up where the offence can come

from a variety of sources. Boston’s top

scorer, Milan Lucic had only 30 goals and

62 points, tied with David Krejci.

Montreal’s top offensive threats were Tomas

Plecanec who potted 22 goals while

contributing 57 points on the campaign, and

captain Brian Gionta who scored 29.

While these two look to have similar

offensive abilities, the reason why Boston

was far better in the regular season, was

based on the fact that 10 Bruins recorded

over 40 points compared to only 5 for the

Canadiens. Boston’s team runs far deeper

than Montreal’s, and their scorers were

much more consistent.

Taking a closer look at Boston we can see

they have a far more balanced team with

many weapons at their disposal. Although

guys like Horton, Bergeron and rookie Brad

Marchand won’t will any awards; all three

of them work hard and scored from 21 to 26

goals. Still looking down their roster guys

like Recchi, Chara, Ryder, Kaberle and

newcomer Rich Peverley all scored over 40

points and can be counted on over the

stretch.

While Montreal can boast similar top-end

talent in Gionta, Plekanec and Cammalleri,

it also should be known Cammalleri failed

to score even 20 goals, in fact he scored only

6 less all season than he had in last year’s

playoffs. Also both Gionta and Cammalleri

have gone on horrendous scoring droughts,

including an 11 game drought by

Cammalleri around New Years, and

Gionta’s 8 game drought that ended on the

second last game of the season. Also factor

in that Montreal does not have any depth to

speak of and although Kostistyn and Gomez

may ignite in the playoffs, this is unlikely.

No one else on their roster other than maybe

blueliner James Wisniewski, who had a

career year with 10 goals and 51 points, can

be counted to score with any regularity, so

goals may be hard to come by.

Verdict-Boston, the stats speak for

themselves, and if not I have over 400 words

to clarify.

Defence

Boston 2.30 GAG – 2nd

in the league

Montreal 2.50 GAG – 8th

in the league

Here my job becomes trickier. By defence,

I’m not talking about Thomas vs. Price, that

comes next. What I am talking about is the

defence corps, that helps insulate the

aforementioned goalies.

Both teams were quite good defensively,

largely due to their stellar goalies, but

Thomas’s record setting .938 SV% could

not have been possible without help.

Looking at the Beantown boys, we’ve got

some “big” names (excuse the terrible pun).

Zdeno Chara is one of the league’s best, and

in 2009 he was given the Lidstrom... I mean

Norris trophy for being the best. But Chara

and his league leading +33 are not alone;

Dennis Seidenberg was 8th

in blocked shots

with 174, and Adam McQuaid’s + 30 wasn’t

too shabby. Throw in guys like Tomas

Kaberle, Jonny Boychuk, and Andrew

Ferrance, and you’ve got a fine looking D-

core.

So can the Canadiens match up with the big

bad Bruins? Well maybe. Veteran Roman

Hamrlik recorded 192 blocks, good enough

for 3rd

in the league. Hal Gill wasn’t too far

behind with 151 stingers. The only

difference was the Gill was a -9, the second

worst amongst Montreal’s defensemen.

Wisniewski, although a potent powerplay

quarterback was seemingly team worst -14

on the season, looking like a statistical

liability, a weak point. Actually though since

joined the Habs, Wisniewski has been a +4,

so if anything he’s been all that more

valuable, a strong point per se. Looking for a

true possible liability one must look no

further than the enigmatic PK Subban. The

young blueliner gave away the puck 56

times, good enough for 2nd

worst on the

team, which didn’t help his 4th

worst -8.

However maybe I am being too critical. I

mean the Habs, did finish in 8th

defensively,

and they allowed the 17th

least shot against

per game, which looks great to Boston’s 2nd

most. Although looking at the +/- for

Boston’s defensemen one could say that

obviously are the better defensive team, but

be aware Boston scored 31 more goals, and

only gave up 17 less. The fact Boston scored

more, would inflate each players +/-, giving

it virtually no meaning when comparing

teams.

Verdict- Montreal

Maybe it’s because of Martin but Montreal

made it much easier on its goaltender to stop

the puck. They blocked the 3rd

most shots;

688 of them compared to 524 for the Bruins,

the 8th

least. Do the Habs have issues on the

back-end, of course, and could someone else

say Boston is better, yes they could, but

defence is a unit effort, and Montreal’s unit

is better than Boston’s. They have a rugged

defence core, that let Carey Price look like

the next Halak.

Goaltending

Thomas

57 GP, 35-11-9, 2.00 GAA, .938 SV% 9 SO

Price

72 GP 38-28-6, 2.35 GAA, .923 SV% 8 SO

I’m not going to beat around the bush here.

Thomas had one of the best seasons for a

goalie of all time. His team gave up the 2nd

most shots, and Thomas faced 32.2 shots per

60 minutes of action. In spite of that, he

recorded 9 SO, gave up a measly 2 goals a

game, and stopped nearly 94% of all shots

faced. He also won 35 games playing in

only 57, a great win percentage, and Boston

could only seem to win with him, in net in

spite of stellar play from back-up Tuuka

Rask.

Now, Price did have a career year. Led the

NHL in wins, played in a team record 72

games, his goals against and save percentage

are great and he faced 30.2 shots per games,

which is less than Thomas, but not an easy

night. Still there is no comparison.

Thomas will win the Vezina hands down,

and Price won’t. But why talk only about

this year, let’s bring up the past.

Yes did you know Price hasn’t won a

playoff game since 2008? He’s had 10 tries,

but he’s gone 0-8 with a hefty 4.11 GAA

and an atrocious .870 SV%. In fact the last

game he won was game one of a Eastern

semi finals against Philly, a series in which

he surrendered plenty weak goals.

Compare that to Thomas, who did not play

last year. Thomas has only won one playoff

round, but has played well in his career.

Thomas in 18 games is 10-8 in the post

season with a 2.16 GAA a .926 SV% and 1

SO. Price on the other hand in 19 games

Price is 5-11 with a 3.17 GAA and an .894

SV% but he does have 2 SO, so he has that

over Thomas.

The point is, if you want a debate for this

season, there is none. You want to debate

playoff success, well good luck. There is no

contest here that Thomas, and even if he

falters then Tuuka Rask, can offer better

goaltending in the playoffs than Carey Price.

Verdict – Boston

Final Words

This series should not be a nail-biter, but it

will be fun to watch nonetheless. Montreal,

already has a hard time scoring, so putting

them against Thomas and the Bruins will not

help their cause. Boston should dominate the

diminutive Canadiens with their intimidating

physical play, and then power home some

goals. The Habs will be lucky the crack the

thick armour of Tim Thomas, who has a

pretty good core to back him up. This

shouldn’t be a high scoring series, although

we saw an 8-6 games earlier this year, and a

7-0 rout in the last meeting between these

two clubs. Still the playoffs are more

structured, and Boston should easily be able

to limit the Habs offence

Prediction Bruins in 5