The Canadiens also contributed mightily to their own downfall, getting messy in their end on the game's final sequence. To wit: Ex-Bruin Bryan Smolinski smacked Peter Schaefer with a slash that led to Thomas bolting the crease on a delayed penalty, Marc Savard jumping on the ice, and Schaefer combining on a pass play with Dennis Wideman that left the crafty Savard with enough open net to haul in a beluga whale.
Shot, score, and bid adieu to the mind-numbing streak of 10 wins the Canadiens accumulated against the Bruins this season, including a pair in Games 1 and 2 of this series.
Good goaltending. Timely scoring. Sound familiar? The Bruins chiseled their way back into the playoffs this season, after a four-year drought, wrapping those two elements around a sound, teamwide defensive game plan.
Can they keep doing it? Of course, because they've been playing that way since the start of October. Can they beat the top-seeded Habs? That's not as easy to predict, but yes, they can, in large part because of the blossoming talent of rookie behemoth Milan Lucic, who is now the club's No. 1 left winger and the single most compelling "watch" in the lineup.
"He's been their best player by a long shot," Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau noted after the Habs skated yesterday at the Garden. "He's played really well. I like the way he plays. He's physical, he's got good speed, he gets involved. Nothing dirty. I really enjoy watching him."
Lifelong Bruins fans might be somewhat skeptical of a Montreal coach heaping praise on a Boston player. That's not to say this Bruins-Canadiens relationship is built on mistrust. But it is to say that, around here, that CH logo fosters a certain, oh, je ne sais quoi . . . paralyzing fear?
