It was a war of words before the puck ever dropped on the ice to begin the series between two of the original six teams.
And then, it was a war on the ice, as two of the top teams in the NHL during the regular season battled every single night that they met in this series - a series that went the distance, all the way to Game 7 in Boston.
Canadiens coach Michel Therrien warned that the Bruins were trying to play mind games, and confidently said that his Canadiens would not buy into it. He did not respect what he claimed to be Bruins coach Claude Julien's attempt to curry favor from the referees, either. Simply put, the Montreal Canadiens would not be intimidated, nor distracted.
But that just seemed to be words and hype, at least at first, right? No one actually expected the Canadiens to pull off such a huge upset.
Yet, it was clear early on that Montreal was indeed going to be a much tougher opponent than most expected.
Montreal managed to pull off a shocker in double overtime in Game 1, scoring the game winning goal in the second overtime to score a 4-3 victory, and take a 1-0 series lead.
Boston restored order with a 5-3 win in Game 2, but when the series shifted to Montreal, the Canadiens were able to retaliate with a two-goal victory themselves, 4-2, for a 2-1 series lead. And suddenly, Boston was on the brink of being down 3-1, and that had the hockey world buzzing!
However, there is a reason that the Bruins have been one of the most accomplished teams in hockey the last four or so seasons. In a very tough, defensive battle, the Bruins outlasted the Canadiens in what had been a scoreless tie, when they managed to get a quick goal in overtime to nod the series up again at 2-2, with the series shifting back to Boston.
And once in Boston, the Bruins took care of business, scoring a 4-2 victory and taking a 3-2 lead, pushing Montreal to the edge of elimination. Most people thought this was going according to script, and people were penciling in the Bruins for the Eastern Conference Finals.
Facing a do or die situation, the Canadiens absolutely had to respond in Game 6. And they did, in a big, big way!
The Canadiens dominated Game 6, 4-0, frustrating the Bruins at every turn, who began to lose their cool and composure towards the end of the third period. Montreal had scored a decisive victory, and they had now forced the decisive Game 7, earlier tonight.
It actually reminded me of another series, and another Game 6, in which a team that was up 3-2 in the series lost a decisive Game 6, and in such a convincing way that it seemed to discourage them for Game 7, despite having home ice advantage. I am talking about another series that these Bruins were in, although they were the team that handed the other team - another President's Trophy winner - the convincing Game 6 defeat, averting elimination for themselves. Those Bruins then went to Vancouver in the 2011 Cup finals and soundly defeated the Canucks to hoist the Cup.
But surely, the Bruins themselves were not going to see history repeat itself, with themselves playing the discouraged home team in Game 7, right?
Well, as it turns out, the Canadiens really brought the heat in this winner takes all Game 7 tonight.
Montreal took an early lead just 2:13 into the game when Dale Weise was able to get the first one into the net on the night, with an assist from Prust and Briere, and Montreal had a 1-0 lead.
Midway through the second, the Canadiens scored again when Max Pacioretty was able to get another one past Boston goalie Tuukka Rask, and suddenly Montreal had a 2-0 lead.
Again, though, these Boston Bruins were tough, and responded like the champions that they are. They were not going to go away that easily. With time running out in the second period, and the Canadiens hoping to go into the intermission with a comfortable, two-goal lead, Boston's Jarome Iginla was finally able to get the puck past Montreal's goalie Corey Price - the only goal that Boston was able to get past him since Game 5.
The crowd erupted, and the Canadiens tried to shrug off the disappointment, heading to the tunnel and the locker room still up, but in a much tighter game than they surely would have wanted.
Yet, still, they managed to hold their own out their, preventing another goal throughout the third period, with Boston furiously trying to capitalize on their chances.
Most of the third period was over, and there was just under three minutes to play, when the Canadiens were able to effectively ice the game while on the power play, as Daniel Briere, with the assist by Gallagher and Beaulieu, got another goal past Rusk to effectively clinch the game, and the series.
Of course, Boston tried to rally, to get another goal, to make a game of it, to put the pressure back on Montreal, so close to finishing the series. But the Canadiens held them off, and it was Montreal, not Boston, that was able to celebrate their victorious team's hockey brilliance on this night.
Boston had absolutely dominated the regular season, and with the extensive playoff experience in their roster (Stanley Cup champions in 2011, and finalists last year), most people figured that they would more or less easily move through the East and again find themselves in the Stanley Cup Finals, for what would have been the third time in four seasons.
But that was all for naught tonight, as the Bruins were eliminated far earlier than anyone on their roster, or among their wide fan base, could have expected.
The war of words did not end there, however. Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins warned Montreal's Dale Weise, "I'm going to fucking kill you next year!"
Well, that will make this rivalry interesting, probably for years to come.
But while Lucic and the rest of the Bruins will be packing things up for an earlier than expected offseason, the Montreal Canadiens will begin to prepare for their next series, against another original six team, the New York Rangers, for the right to play in the Stanley Cup Finals!
Here is the article on the war of words earlier in this series:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/bruins-canadiens-resume-second-round-221726686--nhl.html
And here is another article on Lucic's threat to Weise during the handshake:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/milan-lucic-to-dale-weise-during-handshakes---i-m-going-to--expletive--kill-you-next-year-041130720.html
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