The Montreal Canadiens have lost only one game this season to the Boston Bruins and are up 3-1 in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal, and the Habs are -240 money line betting favorites (over/under: 5) on WagerWeb.com to finish the series on Thursday night.
Yet this series is actually a lot closer than it appears. After the blowout of Game 1, the B's have battled the Canadiens for every inch of ice in the last three games and, with a little bit of luck, they could be the ones up 3-1 in the series.
The Bruins have held the Habs' top-ranked power play to two goals in 20 opportunities, but those two goals have been crucial. Alex Kovalev scored in overtime to win Game 2 and Patrice Brisebois had the winner Tuesday night after defenseman Andrew Ference was called for tripping Kovalev with 1:48 left in the second.
"We just have to stick with it," center Marc Savard said. "Price is playing well and it's going to take a lot more than what we gave."
Savard is referring to Canadiens goalie Carey Price, who has been the difference in the series.
At 20, Price is the youngest player on the Canadiens roster. On Tuesday, he made 27 saves to post his first Stanley Cup playoff shutout. Price became the first Habs rookie to earn a shutout in the playoffs since Patrick Roy did it in the 1986 Stanley Cup finals.
"I would be just as happy if we won 2-1,' he said. 'The important thing is that we won and I couldn't have asked for a better effort from the players in front of me."He has stopped 54 of the last 55 shots he has faced against Boston and 110 of 115 in the series, a whopping .957 save percentage. On Tuesday, it helped that the Bruins had only six shots in the third period and only one in the final seven minutes.
Price has had to be brilliant because goals have dried up for Montreal. After scoring seven goals total in games 1 and 2, the Canadiens have been held to a goal in each of the last two contests.
The Bruins now need to win three straight games, including two in enemy territory, if they don't want their 2007-08 season to expire. And they haven't won in Montreal this season.
"It's pretty simple," said coach Claude Julien. "We have to go to Montreal and play one game. You've got to think about winning the next game if you want to get back in the series. It's as simple as that. You don't look at the fact that you have to win three, because it's too big a picture."
The six previous times the Habs have held a 3-1 series advantage over Boston, Montreal has eliminated the Bruins the following game on every occasion.
The B's aren't the only ones to have felt the Canadiens' Game 5 wrath, with the Habs boasting a 15-5 mark against the rest of the NHL when holding a 3-1 series edge. To make matters even worse for Boston, it has a 4-16 all-time record in Game 5 when trailing 3-1 in a series.
Betting trends: Under is 7-1-2 in Bruins' last 10 road games. ... Bruins are 2-9 in their last 11 road games. ... Under is 16-5-2 in Bruins' last 23 overall. ... Under is 8-2-1 in Canadiens' last 11 home games ... Canadiens are 21-8 in their last 29 overall. ... Bruins are 6-21-1 in the last 28 meetings in Montreal.... Bruins are 15-37-1 in the last 53 meetings.
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