The pressure couldn't be greater. Game 7. In Montreal, a city that is the steward of Stanley Cups. Within the walls of a building that will contain 21,273 rabid, towel-waving fans. A guaranteed handshake line at the end of the night.
For the Canadiens, tonight will be the first time they face a possible season-ender. The Bruins, however, have been fighting to extend their season for quite some time.
"Game 7s are almost like those games that we had [Saturday] night," said Andrew Ference, referring to the 5-4 win at TD Banknorth Garden. "It's pretty emotional. It's pretty wild. When you're down in a series, I guess, our last game was a Game 7 anyway. I don't think it's going to be different than the last couple games. [Saturday] night, we were basically on the verge of elimination. So it's really a very similar type of game."
Montreal swaggered into the series with all the confidence expected of a club that had claimed all eight meetings with the Bruins this season. Their chests ballooned even bigger when they took Games 1 and 2 at the Bell Centre, riding hotshot goalie Carey Price and the stick of world-class talent Alex Kovalev, who netted a seemingly back-snapping overtime goal to give Montreal a 2-0 series lead.
But four games later, Montreal looks like a broken team that's staggering at the wrong time. Price, who blanked the Bruins in Game 4 to make it a 3-1 series, has seen 10 pucks enter his net over the last two matches. Kovalev has vanished, smothered by the tight checking of Zdeno Chara (with help from partners Aaron Ward and Shane Hnidy). The once-potent Montreal power play, the best in the NHL during the regular season, has been successful only twice in 29 occasions, clicking at a measly 6.9 percent, the worst conversion rate of the playoff teams.
At this point, coach Guy Carbonneau is struggling to find some solutions.
