NEW YORK, NY – For the eighth time in their 33 lifetime Stanley Cup Playoff series, the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens will face off in a winner-take-all Game 7 tonight at TD Garden in Boston (7 p.m., ET, VERSUS, CBC, RDS). The winner will advance to the Conference Semifinals, joining the Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers and winner of tonight’s Game 7 between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning (8 p.m., ET, NHL Network, TSN, VERSUS joined in progress) among the Eastern Conference contenders for the 2011 Stanley Cup.
No clubs in major pro sports have met in as many Game 7s as the Bruins and Canadiens. Other longtime “Original Six” rivals, the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs, have squared off six times in a Game 7, as have the NBA’s Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers.
The Canadiens have won five of the previous seven Game 7s with Boston, most recently a 5-0 victory at Montreal on April 21, 2008. Overall the Canadiens have won their past four Game 7s since 2004, while the Bruins have dropped their past four over the same span.
Both clubs feature plenty of veteran experience, as eight players will enter the game with five or more career Game 7 appearances: Montreal’s Scott Gomez and Boston’s Mark Recchi (eight each), Montreal’s Roman Hamrlik and Boston’s Andrew Ference (six each), plus Montreal’s Hal Gill and Brian Gionta and Boston’s Zdeno Chara and Tomas Kaberle (five each).
Behind the bench, Montreal head coach Jacques Martin will be making his seventh Game 7 appearance (2-4), Boston’s Claude Julien his fifth (1-3).
The Bruins-Canadiens series will be the ninth in NHL history to feature Games 6 and 7 played on consecutive days. Home teams and road teams have split the eight previous games (4-4), as have teams winning/losing Game 6 (4-4).
Combined with tonight’s series-deciding game between the Penguins and Lightning and the last night’s Philadelphia-Buffalo and Vancouver-Chicago showdowns, the four Game 7s in the 2011 Conference Quarter-Finals are the most in 16 years. In 1995, there also were four: Pittsburgh defeated Washington, San Jose defeated Calgary, Vancouver defeated St. Louis and Chicago defeated Toronto. The record for Game 7s in the first round is six, set in 1992.
Career Game 7 Player and Goaltender Statistics: Boston vs. Montreal
Boston GP W-L G A Pts.
Patrice Bergeron 3 0-3 0 0 0
Johnny Boychuk 1 0-1 0 1 1
Zdeno Chara 5 0-5 0 2 2
Andrew Ference 6 2-4 1 0 1
Shane Hnidy 3 0-3 0 0 0
Tomas Kaberle 5 3-2 0 2 2
David Krejci 2 0-2 0 1 1
Milan Lucic 3 0-3 3 0 3
Daniel Paille 1 0-1 0 0 0
Mark Recchi 8 4-4 2 4 6
Michael Ryder 3 1-2 1 1 2
Dennis Seidenberg 3 2-1 0 3 3
Shawn Thornton 3 0-3 0 0 0
Boston Goaltenders
GP Mins W-L GAA SO Sv%
Tuukka Rask 1 59 0-1 4.08 0 .852
Tim Thomas 2 139 0-2 3.46 0 .889
Tuukka Rask
Date Score Dec. Shots
5/14/10 PHI 4 at BOS 3 Loss 27
Tim Thomas
Date Score Dec. Shots
5/14/09 CAR 3 at BOS 2 (OT) Loss 37
4/21/08 BOS 0 at MTL 5 Loss 35
Boston Head Coach
Claude Julien (1-3)
Date Score Dec.
5/14/10 PHI 4 at BOS 3 Loss
5/14/09 CAR 3 at BOS 2 (OT) Loss
4/21/08 BOS 0 at MTL 5 Loss
4/19/04 MTL 2 at BOS 0 Win
Montreal GP W-L G A Pts.
Mike Cammalleri 2 2-0 1 1 2
Mathieu Darche 1 1-0 0 0 0
Hal Gill 5 4-1 0 1 1
Brian Gionta 5 4-1 2 1 3
Scott Gomez 8 6-2 0 4 4
Josh Gorges 3 3-0 0 0 0
Jeff Halpern 1 0-1 0 1 1
Roman Hamrlik 6 4-2 0 4 4
Andrei Kostitsyn 3 3-0 2 1 3
Paul Mara 1 0-1 0 0 0
Andrei Markov 3 3-0 0 1 1
Travis Moen 2 2-0 1 0 1
Tomas Plekanec 3 3-0 0 2 2
Benoit Pouliot 2 2-0 0 0 0
Tom Pyatt 2 2-0 0 0 0
Brent Sopel 4 2-2 0 2 2
Jaroslav Spacek 2 1-1 0 1 1
P.K. Subban 2 2-0 0 1 1
James Wisniewski 1 0-1 0 0 0
Montreal Goaltenders
GP Mins W-L GAA SO Sv%
Alex Auld 1 60 0-1 2.99 0 .893
Carey Price 1 60 1-0 0.00 1 1.000
Alex Auld
Date Score Dec. Shots
4/19/04 CGY 3 at VAN 2 (OT) Loss 28
Carey Price
Date Score Dec. Shots
4/21/08 BOS 0 at MTL 5 Win 25
Montreal Head Coach
Jacques Martin (2-4)
Date Score Dec.
5/12/10 MTL 5 at PIT 2 Win
4/28/10 MTL 2 at WSH 1 Win
4/20/04 OTT 1 at TOR 4 Loss
5/23/03 N.J. 3 at OTT 2 Loss
5/14/02 OTT 0 at TOR 3 Loss
4/29/97 OTT 2 at BUF 3 (OT) Loss
BOSTON, MONTREAL RECORDS IN GAME 7
Boston Bruins (9-10)
5/14/10, Eastern Conference SF vs. Philadelphia (PHI 4 at BOS 3) 5/14/09, Eastern Conference SF vs. Carolina (CAR 3 at BOS 2, OT) 4/21/08, Eastern Conference QF vs. Montreal (BOS 0 at MTL 5) 4/19/04, Eastern Conference QF vs. Montreal (MTL 2 at BOS 0) 4/29/94, Eastern Conference QF vs. Montreal (MTL 3 at BOS 5) 5/1/92, Adams Division SF vs. Buffalo (BUF 2 at BOS 3) 4/29/91, Adams Division Final vs. Montreal (MTL 1 at BOS 2) 4/17/90, Adams Division Semifinal vs. Hartford (HFD 1 at BOS 3) 5/14/88, Prince of Wales Conference Final vs. New Jersey (N.J. 2 at BOS 6) 4/24/83, Adams Division Final vs. Buffalo (BUF 2 at BOS 3, OT) 4/25/82, Adams Division Final vs. Quebec (QUE 2 at BOS 1) 5/10/79, Semifinal vs. Montreal (BOS 4 at MTL 5, OT) 4/25/76, Quarterfinal vs. Los Angeles (L.A. 0 at BOS 3) 4/18/71, Quarterfinal vs. Montreal (MTL 4 at BOS 2) 4/7/59, Semifinal vs. Toronto (TOR 3 at BOS 2) 4/8/52, Semifinal vs. Montreal (BOS 1 at MTL 3) 4/3/45, Semifinal vs. Detroit (BOS 3 at DET 5) 4/3/41, Semifinal vs. Toronto (TOR 1 at BOS 2) 4/2/39, Semifinal vs. NY Rangers (NYR 1 at BOS 2, 3OT)
Montreal Canadiens (13-8)
5/12/10, Eastern Conference SF vs. Pittsburgh (MTL 5 at PIT 2) 4/28/10, Eastern Conference QF vs. Washington (MTL 2 at WSH 1) 4/21/08, Eastern Conference QF vs. Boston (BOS 0 at MTL 5) 4/19/04, Eastern Conference QF vs. Boston (MTL 2 at BOS 0) 4/29/94, Eastern Conference QF vs. Boston (MTL 3 at BOS 5) 5/1/92, Adams Division SF vs. Hartford (HFD 2 at MTL 3, 2OT) 4/29/91, Adams Division Final vs. Boston (MTL 1 at BOS 2) 5/2/87, Adams Division Final vs. Quebec (QUE 3 at MTL 5) 4/29/86, Adams Division Final vs. Hartford (HFD 1 at MTL 2, OT) 5/2/85, Adams Division Final vs. Quebec (QUE 3 at MTL 2, OT) 4/27/80, Quarterfinal vs. Minnesota (MIN 3 at MTL 2) 5/10/79, Semifinal vs. Boston (BOS 4 at MTL 5, OT) 5/18/71, Final vs. Chicago (MTL 3 at CHI 2) 4/18/71, Quarterfinal vs. Boston (MTL 4 at BOS 2) 5/1/65, Final vs. Chicago (CHI 0 at MTL 4) 4/9/64, Semifinal vs. Toronto (TOR 3 at MTL 1) 4/14/55, Final vs. Detroit (MTL 1 at DET 3) 4/16/54, Final vs. Detroit (MTL 1 at DET 2, OT) 4/7/53, Semifinal vs. Chicago (CHI 1 at MTL 4) 4/8/52, Semifinal vs. Boston (BOS 1 at MTL 3) 4/5/49, Semifinal vs. Detroit (MTL 1 at DET 3)
Career Game 7 Player and Goaltender Statistics: Pittsburgh vs. Tampa Bay
Pittsburgh GP W-L G A Pts.
Craig Adams 5 4-1 1 0 1
Arron Asham 1 1-0 0 0 0
Matt Cooke 7 3-4 2 0 2
Sidney Crosby 3 2-1 2 1 3
Pascal Dupuis 4 3-1 3 1 4
Tyler Kennedy 3 2-1 0 0 0
Alex Kovalev 6 6-0 1 5 6
Chris Kunitz 4 3-1 1 1 2
Kris Letang 3 2-1 1 1 2
Evgeni Malkin 3 2-1 0 3 3
Paul Martin 1 0-1 0 0 0
Zbynek Michalek 1 0-1 0 0 0
Brooks Orpik 3 2-1 0 1 1
Mike Rupp 3 1-2 1 2 3
Jordan Staal 3 2-1 2 0 2
Maxime Talbot 3 2-1 2 0 2
Pittsburgh Goaltenders
GP Mins W-L GAA SO Sv%
Marc-Andre Fleury 3 145 2-1 2.89 0 .879
Brent Johnson 1 31 0-0 1.94 0 .857
Marc-Andre Fleury
Date Score Dec. Shots
5/12/10 MTL 5 at PIT 2 Loss 13
6/12/09 PIT 2 at DET 1 Win 24
5/13/09 PIT 6 at WSH 2 Win 21
Brent Johnson
Date Score Dec. Shots
5/12/10 MTL 5 at PIT 2 — 7
Pittsburgh Head Coach
Dan Bylsma (2-1)
Date Score Dec.
5/12/10 MTL 5 at PIT 2 Loss
6/12/09 PIT 2 at DET 1 Win
5/13/09 PIT 6 at WSH 2 Win
Tampa Bay GP W-L G A Pts.
Marc-Andre Bergeron 2 2-0 1 0 1
Steve Downie 1 1-0 0 0 0
Simon Gagne 4 2-2 2 0 2
Randy Jones 1 1-0 0 0 0
Pavel Kubina 2 2-0 0 0 0
Vincent Lecavalier 2 2-0 0 1 1
Dominic Moore 2 2-0 2 0 2
Mattias Ohlund 4 2-2 1 3 4
Martin St. Louis 2 2-0 0 1 1
Tampa Bay Goaltenders
GP Mins W-L GAA SO Sv%
Dwayne Roloson 1 60 1-0 2.00 0 .923
Dwayne Roloson
Date Score Dec. Shots
5/8/03 MIN 4 at VAN 2 Win 26
Tampa Bay Head Coach
Guy Boucher (—)
PITTSBURGH, TAMPA BAY RECORDS IN GAME 7
Pittsburgh Penguins (7-5)
5/12/10, Eastern Conference SF vs. Montreal (MTL 5 at PIT 2) 6/12/09, Stanley Cup Final vs. Detroit (PIT 2 at DET 1) 5/13/09, Eastern Conference SF vs. Washington (PIT 6 at WSH 2) 5/10/01, Eastern Conference SF vs. Buffalo (PIT 3 at BUF 2, OT) 5/4/99, Eastern Conference QF vs. New Jersey (PIT 4 at N.J. 2) 6/1/96, Eastern Conference Final vs. Florida (FLA 3 at PIT 1) 5/18/95, Eastern Conference QF vs. Washington (WSH 0 at PIT 3) 5/14/93, Patrick Division Final vs. NY Islanders (NYI 4 at PIT 3, OT) 5/1/92, Patrick Division SF vs. Washington (PIT 3 at WSH 1) 4/15/91, Patrick Division SF vs. New Jersey (N.J. 0 at PIT 4) 4/29/89, Patrick Division Final vs. Philadelphia (PHI 4 at PIT 1) 4/26/75, Quarterfinal vs. NY Islanders (NYI 1 at PIT 0)
Tampa Bay Lightning (2-0)
6/7/04, Stanley Cup Final vs. Calgary (CGY 1 at T.B. 2) 5/22/04, Eastern Conference Final vs. Philadelphia (PHI 1 at T.B. 2)
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