Tuesday's Bruins - Playoff Edition...

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BOSTON BRUINS at
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Tuesday, April 23, 2002
Molson Centre; Montreal, Quebec
7:00 pm (ET) - Gametime
UPN-38
Tonight's Game
The Bruins visit the Canadiens tonight in the third game of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference Quarter-Final series with the series tied at one game apiece. The Bruins are making their 60th post-season appearance in their 78-year history, while the Canadiens are making their 78th post-season appearance in their 85-year history. This marks a return to the playoffs for both the Bruins and Canadiens, as the Bruins' prior playoff appearance was in 1999 and the Canadiens' was in 1998.

2002 Eastern Conference Quarter-Final Series - Boston vs. Montreal
Game One: The Bruins dropped the first game of this series with a 5-2 loss to Montreal in Boston on Apr. 18. Joe Thornton and Bill Guerin scored the Boston goals, while Donald Audette (two), Saku Koivu, Doug Gilmour and Gino Odjick netted the Montreal scores. Byron Dafoe took the loss in goal for the Bruins with Jose Theodore recording the win in net for the Canadiens.

Game Two: The Bruins took a 4-0 lead just 11:49 into the first period on goals by Brian Rolston (two), Glen Murray and Bill Guerin, but Montreal scored the next three straight on two Richard Zednik scores and a Patrice Brisebois tally to close the score to 4-3. P. J. Axelsson scored the eventual game-winner to put Boston up by a 5-3 score at the end of the second period, Doug Gilmour answered for Montreal with just under five minutes to play in the third to pull the Canadiens within a 5-4 score but Joe Thornton settled the game with an empty-net tally with 34 seconds remaining in the third. Byron Dafoe earned the win in net for Boston while Jose Theodore took the loss in goal for Montreal.

Lifetime Series
The Bruins and Canadiens have met more times in post-season play than any other two NHL opponents, as they are playing their 29th lifetime series. The Bruins are 7-21 in playoff series vs. the Canadiens as these teams split their first four series, Montreal won the next 18 series between these teams, and the Bruins have won five of the last six series including the last four straight.

These teams have played 141 lifetime playoff games with Montreal holding an 88-53 advantage in those contests. The Bruins are 37-32 in games vs. the Canadiens on home playoff ice with a 194-189 scoring advantage in those 69 games. The Bruins are 16-56 lifetime vs. the Canadiens in playoff games played in Montreal with the Canadiens holding a 251-153 scoring advantage in those 72 contests.

The Bruins finished the regular season with a 3-2-0-0 record vs. Montreal in their season series. The Bruins won a 5-3 game in Boston on Nov. 13, a 5-0 win in Boston on Dec. 20 and a 4-3 overtime victory in Montreal on Jan. 30. The Canadiens won a 3-2 decision in Montreal on Nov. 20 and a 5-3 decision in Montreal on Mar. 6.

Bruins Regular Season
The Bruins finished their regular season with a 43-24-6-9 record, 23-11-2-5 at home and 20-13-4-4 on the road. The Bruins won 40+ games for the 22nd time in their history and the first time since they compiled a 40-31-11 record in 1995-96 and their 43 wins were their highest total since they went 51-26-7 in 1992-93. They won 20 road games for the 15th time in their history and finished with a winning record on the road for the first time since they compiled a 20-14-7 road mark in 1997-98. The Bruins hit the 100-point plateau for the 16th time in their history and the first time since a 109-point season in 1992-93. The Bruins finished first in their Division for the first time since the 1992-93 season when they won the Adams Division title with a 51-26-7 record. It was their 23rd Division title. The Bruins finished first in their Conference for the first time since the 1990-91 season when they took the Prince of Wales Conference crown with a 44-24-12 record and 100 points.

Canadiens Regular Season
The Canadiens finished their regular season with a 36-31-12-3 record, 21-13-6-1 at home and 15-18-6-2 on the road.

Upcoming Series Games
G4 - Thursday, April 25 @ Montreal - 7:00 p.m. - NESN/WBZ Radio
G5 - Saturday, April 27 @ Boston - 1:00 p.m. - ABC/WBZ Radio
G6 - Monday, April 29 @ Montreal - 7:00 p.m. - UPN38/WBZ Radio (If Necessary)
G7 - Tuesday, April 30 @ Boston - 7:00 p.m. - NESN/WBZ Radio
(If Necessary)

Bruins Injuries
Jarno Kultanen: April 1 knee surgery; out indefinitely.
Jeff Norton: Groin strain; out indefinitely.

Bruins Recent Transactions
Apr. 17: Ivan Huml, Jonathan Girard, Zdenek Kutlak, Chris Kelleher, Andrew Raycroft and Andy Hilbert recalled from Providence/AHL on standby for the playoffs.
Apr. 21: Andy Hilbert loaned to Team USA for 2002 World Championships in Sweden.

Canadiens Injuries
Jeff Hackett: Shoulder injury; out indefinitely.

 

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Recent Meetings
Date Home Away Line ATS
4/21/2002 Bos. 6 Mtl. 4 0,-250/5 Bos./O
4/18/2002 Bos. 2 Mtl. 5 0,-230/5 Mtl./O
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3/6/2002 Mtl. 5 Bos. 3 0,110/5 Mtl./O
1/30/2002 Mtl. 3 Bos. 4 0,105/5 Bos./O
12/20/2001 Bos. 5 Mtl. 0 0,-200/5 Bos./P
11/20/2001 Mtl. 3 Bos. 2 0,100/5 Mtl./P
11/13/2001 Bos. 5 Mtl. 3 0,-200/5 Bos./O


Recent Trends
The over is 5-0-2 in the past seven meetings.
Boston is 2-5-1 ATS in their last eight overall.
The Bruins have the best PK at 87.18%.
The Habs are 5-2-1 ATS in their last eight at home.
The under is 4-1-2 in MTL's last seven at home.
The home team is 7-3 ATS in the past 10 meetings.

The Canadiens have been strong at home ATS this year while the Bruins with a better then .500 road record have been very good also.

ATS Records
Boston on road - 20-16-4
Montreal at home - 21-14-6

 

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Dafoe being saved from taking blame

Dafoe being saved from taking blame

Sitting out a practice prior to the Bruins' departure for Montreal was fine with coach Robbie Ftorek, just so long as Byron Dafoe (all 5 feet 11 inches of him) continues to stand tall in goal in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

What's that? Don't agree that Dafoe has resembled the 2.21 goals-against keeper to whom you've grown accustomed against the Canadiens?

Such a feeling is completely understandable, given the empirical evidence. Ftorek, when was asked of his star goaltender's whereabouts yesterday, guessed that Dafoe was ''having breakfast with his wife,'' a surprising bit of speculation considering that Dafoe's statistics indicate the Habs have been having him for lunch: nine goals against (for a robust average of 4.50) and a save percentage of .850, down from his regular-season mark of .907.

The Canadiens, who were outscored by their opponents during the regular season, put in five goals in taking Game 1 last Thursday at the FleetCenter and slipped four past Dafoe in Game 2 Sunday, though Boston held on to win and even the series. Game 3 is at the Molson Centre tonight.

Did Dafoe's off day come during an off series for the 35-game winner? From the standpoint of his teammates along the defensive line, Dafoe has been the same as he was in most of his 64 games in net this season - solid. Unfortunately for him, his teammates have been anything but impenetrable obstacles for Montreal's speedy forwards.

''Byron's the last line of defense, and you have to go through five guys before you can get to him, so even though they scored four goals, I thought he played well,'' defenseman Kyle McLaren said. ''He comes up with big saves when you need them. But you need to be there for him, too, and we haven't.

''We have to support him more. He can see the first puck very well, and he can see through screens very well. It's the tipped shots, pucks laying in the crease, second and third scoring chances where it's tough for any goalie.

''You have two, three guys in front of the net when the puck's coming, and you try to do your best to push the guys out. But if they've got two guys, that means we've got two guys, and that's already four guys in front of him. And he's got to see the puck through that, coming at him at 90 miles an hour. It's tough. I wouldn't want to be him.''

More than one teammate made it clear that the Canadiens' obscene number of goals wasn't just him.

''It's a whole team effort,'' defenseman Sean O'Donnell said. ''If you look at some of the saves Byron's made, he's made some great saves [22 in Game 1, 29 in Game 2].

''They had a couple of goals that have gone off people, where he hasn't had a chance. I don't think Byron's let in a bad goal out of the nine. We've just allowed too many chances.

''I would say, honestly, they could have had four or five more goals.''

If not for several unlucky caroms, the Canadiens may have had several fewer.

There was Donald Audette's score in the first period of Game 1 that appeared to deflect off Bruin Nick Boynton's skate. There was Richard Zednik's second goal in Game 2, which O'Donnell said went off the Bruin's shinpad. And there was Patrice Brisebois's goal in the second period of Game 2, on a shot that McLaren unknowingly redirected past Dafoe.

So, you see, numbers can lie. Or, at least, mislead. While no one is making excuses for Dafoe (nine is nine is nine), the Bruins simply are saying he is not completely to blame for the uncharacteristically high GAA.

''You take some chances when you're down in the third period, which we did in the first game, and they got a couple that probably wouldn't usually go in when you're playing the normal way you play,'' Ftorek said. ''But he's had a real good series, as far as he kept us in the first game early on and made some big saves in the last one.''

 

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Getting back a step forward

Getting back a step forward

Bruins' defense making progress

MONTREAL - The Bruins gave up five goals to the Montreal Canadiens last Thursday in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. Afterward, there was plenty of hand-wringing about Boston's defensive play, which was chaotic and harried. Breakdowns in all three zones - in good part because of Montreal's excellent execution - cost the Bruins the game.

In Game 2 Sunday, the Bruins surrendered only one fewer goal, but they were much more satisfied with their play. They came much closer to following their game plan, which they all but abandoned in the opener.

Are there still improvements to be made? Absolutely. But the Bruins figure it's a start. Ironically, as much as they wanted home ice for the playoffs, now that they're headed to the Molson Centre, they believe the psychology of playing away from the FleetCenter will actually help them defensively.

''I think we'll be a lot sounder in our own end, going into Montreal,'' said goaltender Byron Dafoe, who was outstanding in the first two contests. ''It's kind of the nature of the game when you play on the road: It's not as aggressive and more contained. I think that's what you might expect to see out of us. We've played well in the building and well on the road. It's baby steps, and [Game 2] was a good step in the right direction.''

If there was one glaring liability in the opener, it was the defensive play of the forwards. Not only were they deficient on faceoffs, but they were virtually no help to the defensemen in their own zone. In Game 2, the forwards were almost too much of a help to their blue line brethren.

''Sometimes you get away from your objective and you give up more than you want to give up,'' said defenseman Kyle McLaren. ''We clogged it up, but they're a really good passing team and they're a speedy team, and you know they're going to come at you time and time again, and once in a while they're going to get through. I thought our forwards did a really good job of coming back and helping us out, maybe even too much.''

As far as the defensemen go, McLaren said he felt the reason they were better was that they didn't try to do as much as they had in Game 1.

''I think we simplified it a lot,'' he said. ''We didn't worry about getting up in the play a lot. We stood up a little better and we got the puck to our forwards. We have great forwards in here. We let them do most of the work.

''We'd like to not give [Montreal] as many chances. That's one thing that can scare us: We've played two games and given up almost 10 goals. That's not like this team. I give a lot of credit to their forwards, but as a team, we have to play stronger defensively. We know it's going to be tough playing up there. We have to build on the momentum we got.''

Veteran defenseman Sean O'Donnell said the Bruins have improved their defensive play but there are many more adjustments to be made.

''We're still giving up too many odd-man rushes, and I don't mean two-on-ones or three-on-twos, I mean four-on-threes,'' he said. ''They're a really smart offensive team. Their defensemen jump up really well. I think we played a lot better in the game, but we still didn't play 60 good minutes. We still made a couple of mental mistakes.''

The Bruins jumped out to a 4-0 lead only 11:49 into the game but they wound up having to fight tooth and nail to win.

''When you get a four-goal lead, that basically should be game over,'' said O'Donnell. ''You want to keep forechecking, but you don't maybe have that same reckless abandon that you do when it's a tie game or you're up by one. You want to pull back a little bit, but we pulled back too much. We just kind of sat back, but the next thing you knew it was 4-2.

''You want to keep pressure; you just want to eliminate any gambling. Those 50-50 plays you want to take out of the equation. They're going to score goals, but you want to make them make three or four nice plays to score a goal, not sit back and let them have our zone and then we're running around.''

Viewing Montreal as merely a No. 8 seed, McLaren said, is misleading, given that the team only now has all of its weapons, for the first time all year.

''We need five guys working together defensively to stop their five-man unit because they're constantly on the go and they cover for each other very well,'' said McLaren. ''They crisscross very well in the zone, and they've shown it the last couple of games that they could've been up there if they'd [been healthy] the whole season.''