As the Montreal Canadiens prepare to face an
all-too-familiar opponent in the Boston Bruins Thursday night at TD Garden, one
safe assumption fans can make heading into this series is it will be a classic,
as it always is when these two teams clash.
But getting caught up in the rivalry is something the
Canadiens will try to avoid heading into their Round-2 matchup against the
Bruins. There is only one thing on their minds, and that is booking their
ticket to the Eastern Conference Final.
This will be the 34th time the Canadiens and Bruins meet in
the playoffs; a record among North American franchises. It is no secret these
two teams hate each other. However, if the Canadiens are to have any chance of
defeating the “Big Bad Bruins,” they are going to need to stick to the game
plan.
Keys to victory
1. Power play
Boston is a resilient team. Whether up by three or trailing
a game by two goals, the Bruins play the same game style. They are a confident
team, and rightfully so. Their lineup up front is arguably the deepest in the
NHL and their back end finds ways to slow down the game and clog up the neutral
zone, making it difficult for the opponent to penetrate the offensive zone.
And, even if the opponent does manage to penetrate the zone, the Bruins have a
brick wall, also known as Tuukka Rask, to keep the puck out of the net.
Now, these are all intimidating thoughts for Habs fans.
However, the Bruins do have one weakness, and that is discipline.
For some reason or another, Montreal is in Boston’s head.
The Bruins have proven to be a very composed team against most opponents. But
when it comes time to playing their hated rivals, they cannot seem to stay out
of the box. That has proven costly for the Bruins against Montreal in the past
and, if Boston runs into the same problems in this series, the Habs must make
them pay on the power play.
The power play has had its struggles, but it did show signs
of improvement toward the end of the first round against the Tampa Bay
Lightning. If the Canadiens can build off that and continue to improve the
power play, they will give themselves a much-needed boost in this series.
2. Transition game
Another element that is critical for Montreal to be
successful in this series is their speed. The Canadiens must play to their
strengths; that includes avoiding the physical game when possible.
The Habs are a small, fast team. Marc Bergevin has slowly
started to change that identity, but Montreal is still nowhere near matching
the physicality the Bruins can bring. If the Canadiens want any chance of
winning this series, they are going to need to create chances off the rush.
Sustained pressure is ideal, but that will not always be
possible against a defense as good as the Bruins. The Canadiens will have to
count on their ability to move the puck up the ice and use their
transition game to their advantage to score some timely goals.
Some skeptics say the only way to win in the playoffs is to
play physical and the Canadiens cannot possibly win without hitting. This is
simply not true. The key to winning games is playing to your strengths. Just
ask the Chicago Blackhawks.
In Game 5 against the St. Louis Blues, the Blackhawks were
outhit 54-17. Similar to Montreal, Chicago is not a particularly big team, but
dominates the opponent with speed and skill. They used that to their advantage
and it paid off, as they controlled the pace of Game 5 and went on to win a
crucial match in a series that could have gone either way.
Montreal must not get caught up in the physical play. If
they play to their strengths (transition), they will give themselves a chance
to win every night.
3. Goaltending
This is pretty self explanatory.
Carey Price will need to be one of, if not Montreal’s best
player on the ice to have any chance of beating Boston. The Bruins have a
tremendous amount of depth and can run four scoring lines. Price will need to
be on the top of his game and come up with some pretty big saves when the score
is close.
He is up against a very worthy opponent in Tuukka Rask, who
has struggled against the Canadiens in the past. But all that gets thrown out
the window when the puck drops at 19:30 ET Tuesday night.
With that said, the greatest rivalry in all of sports is set
to do battle in just over 24 hours. Just drop the puck already.
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