Montreal Canadiens pumped up about Game 7 against Boston Bruins on Wednesday – NHL Play-offs Preview
The Montreal Canadiens kept themselves alive in game six on Tuesday and are ready to fly to Boston on Wednesday to face the Bruins in game seven.
The two rivals are pumped up about the idea of facing off against each other, but the Bruins might have the edge in their home-town stadium at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
It is not something new for the two teams to be going head-to-head in game seven. This will be the eighth time they meet up in game seven, but if there is a decision to be made on who has the advantage, than Montreal is the clear choice. The Canadiens have
won five of the previous seven match-ups and are capable of winning tomorrows as well.
Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens’ goalie Carey Price performed exceptionally well for his team in game six previously. Even though they were given multiple power-play opportunities, Price did not let his defence down at any moment which finally kept their hope of advancing
into the second round alive. He blocked 31 shots on Tuesday and maintains an 1.85 goals against average ratio and .942 save percentage.
"There's no doubt Carey was outstanding," Canadiens Coach Jacques Martin said of Price. "He's been good every night and he has given us a chance to win, so I think that is a key part in playoff hockey."
Other than Carey, the Canadiens will need to boost up their offence more than any previous game. They might have got many added man advantages but now the Bruins will make no mistake and will try to stay out of the benches as much as possible.
Their forward Mike Cammalleri has high hopes for game seven. After scoring one of the two goals in their previous match-up, instead of boasting about their win, he remained sober and insisted on gearing up for the tough fight ahead. Keeping a clear head
and focusing on improving their game playing techniques in practise before game seven, should be more than enough for them to take the Eastern Conference series for the sixth time.
Cammalleri along with Brian Gionta are the top performers for Montreal. They boast a post-season record of nine points (three goals and six assists) and 3-1-4 in the last six games respectively.
Boston Bruins
Multiple penalties in each game have proved to be extremely harmful for the Bruins. They gave over 20 minutes of power-play chance throughout game six which eventually brought them to defeat. Other than giving power-plays, they have not been able to capitalise
on any of Montreal’s penalties throughout the whole quarter-final series. Currently they are 0-19 on penalty chances and should plan on how to take advantage of the added man advantage.
They play well when their 5-on-5 with the other team, but begin to lag once a player is sent to the benches.
"It's always the same, you want to use the odd-man advantage to try to score," Boston defenseman Dennis Seidenberg said after their loss. "They did and we didn't. Five-on-five, I think we did great; special teams was the thing that kind of hurt us."
Tim Thomas, the National Hockey Leagues’ leading goalie is facing a tough time in the play-offs. He currently has a record of 2.16 goals against average .927 save percentage of which both are less than the rookie goalie in Montreal. Offensively they are
on track, but they need to hold up their defence and the only way to do that would be to make a few changes in their defensemen who open the match-up.
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