Habs Beat Bruins 4-1, And Take A 1-0 Lead In Series

The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Boston Bruins 4-1 tonight, in a game which was hard hitting through-out, the Canadiens now have a 1-0 lead in the series.

The scoring for the Habs went like this, Sergei Kostitsyn, from Patrice Brisebois, then Andrei Kostitsyn, from Tomas Plekanec, the third goal was scored by Brian Smolinski, assisted by Tom Kostopoulos, and Mike Komisarek, and lastly from Tom Kostopoulos, assisted by Maxim Lapierre, and Mark Streit. Carey Price made 17 saves for the win. The lone scorer for the Bruins was Shane Hnidy, from Andrew Ference. Tim Thomas was the reason the Habs only scored 4 goals, he made 28 saves in the loss.

The Habs were relentless for two and a half periods, and actually out hit the Bruins, this was a good start of the series, it was an exciting game from start to finish. The Canadiens scored 34 seconds into the first period, then again at the 2 minute mark. The Habs played a sound game, and made very few errors during the game.

Mike Komisarek played tonight, on regular shifts, but only laying out the body periodically in the second and third periods. Perhaps Komisarek was being a little cautious, and giving his hip a real game test before he starts bulling people over. Komisarek also blocked a few shots, had an assist, and cleared the front of the net on a few occasions.

Francis Bouillon was not ready yet to play, still having problems with his injured foot. Which brings this question, why? Reports a week ago stated that there was no break in his foot, could there be something that was not revealed to the public? Bouillon’s foot either has a deep bruise, torn ligaments, or a sprain. Perhaps the Habs are being extra careful, as they will only put him into the line-up when he heals, or they absolutely need him, which after the first game against the Bruins, it seems as though Bouillon has at least until Sunday to heal, perhaps more if the Habs continue to win.

Saku Koivu did not play as well, the Canadiens are taking the cautious approach, reports out of Montreal state that Koivu will only return to start the second round, unless the Habs really need him before that, he hasn’t started skating yet.

Ryan O’Byrne was a healthy scratch, coach Carbonneau opting instead to go the way of experience by replacing O’Byrne with Patrice Brisebois.

The Canadiens played well, but their are still three more games that the Habs need to win this series, the Habs play on Saturday again at the Bell Centre, and Sunday in Boston.

The Habs were clicking on all cylinders toinght, let’s hope they keep going strong, as the Bruins will no doubt be going as hard , or harder than they were tonight.