BOSTON, Mass – Nearly to a man the Boston Bruins have claimed last season’s collapse against the Philadelphia Flyers was completely a non-issue. After Nathan Horton’s winning goal in double overtime that gave the Boston Bruins a three games to two lead in their series against the Montreal Canadiens we are about to find out.
Game five of this series was a classic goaltender’s dual as the clubs cobbled together serious scoring threats time after time only to come away denied. The great saves around the crease weren’t limited to the goaltenders. Michael Ryder used his glove to stop a clear scoring chance early in the contest and Michael Cammalleri’s shot at an open net was foiled when Zdeno Chara’s leg blocked the potential game-winning goal.
Despite the loss Montreal netminder Carey Price was phenomenal on his end of the ice too. Price lengthened the contest by stoning David Krejci on a clear breakaway during overtime and stopped 49 shots over the course of the evening.
But the story of the game was the play of Tim Thomas who stoutly defended the Boston cage leading a home team to victory for the first time in this series. The save of the game, and perhaps the entire postseason, came during double overtime when Montreal journeyed on a two-on-one. Travis Moen brought the puck up ice and fed the puck to Brian Gionta who whipped the potential game-winning shot on goal. However, Gionta was denied as Thomas flashed across the crease to get his left pad on the puck and the game would continue.
Horton completed the contest by potting a rebound of Andrew Ference’s shot. Ference wristed the puck on Price and the rebound came to Horton. Using his body as a shield Horton kept Montreal defenseman Roman Hamrlik from taking the puck away while he deposited the puck into the empty side of the goal.
The game was silent for the first two periods until Bruins pepper-pot winger Brad Marchand scored early in the third period. Marchand’s goal was similar to Horton’s as he collected a rebound from a Patrice Bergeron shot and tucked it into the same corner as Horton later would.
Montreal’s goal was the effort of hard physical work and was completed by a Jeff Halpern shot. A pair of Montreal forwards blasted a pair of Bruins defenders into the boards and the puck leaked onto Halpern’s waiting stick. The veteran forward patiently waited for Thomas to commit, and then ripped the puck into an empty corner.
Now we will find out if Boston can finish what they started. They are sure to face a pressure-cooker in Montreal on Tuesday night. One item of concern is the Bruins play when they hold a lead. From this observer’s eyes it appeared they attempted to sit on the lead as they did against Philadelphia in game seven of last year’s historical collapse. By effectively cutting the ice in half and rarely venturing out on offense they place a lot of pressure on their defense and goaltender, Like last season the plan did not work and the defense did not hold up. It seems the lesson should be learned, but one wonders.
That being said thanks to their goaltender, and a couple of his friends, the Bruins will soon find out if their demons are gone and can move past an opponent in an elimination game. Contact Tom.Schettino@prohockeynews.com
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