The last time the Bruins won a game in Montreal was December 4th 2006. The last time the Bruins beat Montreal by more than 2 goals was April 7th 2004. That should give you a good idea as to how dominant the Canadiens have been. But that dominance appears to be slipping away.
Alexei Kovalev put the Habs ahead 1-0 in the 1st, thanks to matching interference and diving penalties, which created a 4 on 4. It really could have been just a diving penalty, but the rules are different in Quebec. Maybe the NHL rule book is translated into French in a weird way.
The Bruins came inches away from tying it at the end of the period. Krejci stormed up ice and drove all the way to the net. The puck bounced off goalie Carey Price, off Krejci's body, then off the elbow of the goalposts, bounced around behind the net, and Price swiped it out of the crease before Milan Lucic could tap it in.
The Bruins evened things up 7:45 into the 2nd with only their 2nd power play score of the series. Phil Kessel, who had been scratched from the lineup in games 1 thru 4, returned to the ice and wristed home his own rebound to make it 1-1.
Early in the 3rd period, Carey Price got too cocky with his puck handling. He had the puck in his glove, then dropped it in front of him to set-up a Canadiens rush up the ice. But instead, the puck bounced a little funny, and Glen Metropolit was all over it, gladly accepting Price's early Christmas present.
Carey Price has been great this series, but he's only 20 years old. No 20 year old is immune from getting a little rattled. And after he allowed the Metropolit goal, Price was very, very rattled.
Zdeno Chara got involved in the scoring with a one-timer on the power play. The NHL's fastest shooter loaded up on the blue-line, got a great pass from Dennis Wideman, and the shaken Price was unable to even see the puck, let alone stop it.
The Bruins didn't sit back with a two goal lead. Shorthanded, David Krejci set Marco Sturm free with a great leading pass. Sturm's speed and wrist shot did the rest to make it 4-1 Bruins.
To seal the deal, Vladimir Sobotka scored one of the strangest goals of the series. He was all alone in the Bruins offensive zone, with three Canadiens hovering around him. He was just skating around along the boards. He reached the corner, and fired a surprising 90 degree shot on net. Price was nowhere near ready, and the puck bounced into the net to make it 5-1.
All 5 of the Bruins' goals came from players who had yet to score in this series. The Bruins had scored 5 goals the entire series coming into game 5. They doubled that to 10. Each team has scored 10 goals this series.
Game 6 is Saturday night in Boston.
Source:
ESPN.com
BostonBruins.com
Photo Credits:
Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Ryan Remiorz
