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The collars of the Montreal Canadiens have tightened enough that if they lose a third game in a row Monday, the tautness will feel more like a noose.
The Canadiens, seemingly in control of their NHL Eastern Conference quarter-final against the Boston Bruins six days ago, when they claimed the fourth game for a 3-1 series lead, now find themselves at the end of their rope in a seventh and deciding game at home.
“We kind of had the series and it has slipped away,” Montreal captain Saku Koivu said yesterday as his team stayed off the ice, but gathered in the club's fitness area at the Bell Centre for a workout.
“It's a different situation now,” Koviu added. “We had a game in our back pocket to lose. Now, both teams are facing elimination. We'll be ready. We have to be.”
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- Boston Bruins
- Montreal Canadiens
- Patrice Bergeron
- Patrice Brisebois
- Roman Hamrlik
- Saku Koivu
- Andrei Kostitsyn
- Andrei Markov
- Tomas Plekanec
Koivu reported that he and his teammates are relaxed, focused and confident. But after their past two dismal outings, in which they surrendered 10 goals after giving up only five in the first four games of the series, how confident can this bunch be?
“When we took the lead in the series 2-0, maybe we were too confident,” defenceman Patrice Brisebois said.
The current Canadiens don't want to become the first team in the club's storied history to lose a series when up 3-1. So far, the teams before them were 26-0 when in that situation. At the other end of the rink, the Bruins are trying to become the first team in their history to win a series when down 3-1, after 20 unsuccessful attempts.
“We love these games as players, and as coaches,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “That's why we play 82 games in the regular season.”
There were plenty of four-letter words being shouted in the Montreal dressing room after the Canadiens lost a wild 5-4 game to the Bruins in Boston on Saturday, a game in which the Bruins tied the score three times and then scored two go-ahead goals in the final 4 minutes 15 seconds.
After the game, Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau didn't call out his top line of Alex Kovalev, Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn by name.
But he did send a message when he said: “Our best players have to be our best players. We just didn't react the right way. We had veteran guys on the ice every time and we didn't react well.”
The Kovalev line was on the ice for the Bruins' final three goals on Saturday. Veteran blueliners Roman Hamrlik and Andrei Markov also didn't distinguish themselves in the late going.
Kovalev, one of 11 Canadiens who have experienced a seventh game, will be counted on to bounce back tonight. He's 5-0 in seventh games and is one of several players who was with the Canadiens in 2004 when they won three in a row against the Bruins to take the series in a seventh game. Julien was the coach of that Montreal team and now he is trying to pull off the same feat with his new club.
“I've been pleasantly surprised with these guys all season long,” Julien said. “They just keep going.”
Carbonneau hopes the character he believes his team has will reappear tonight.
“I have to [believe in the character],” he said. “We went through a lot of challenges all year. We weren't supposed to make the playoffs and we finished first.
“Every time when we've needed to this season, we've found another level. We have to find another level [tonight].”
A seventh and deciding game in the Stanley Cup playoffs doesn't need any extra intrigue. But there is a possibility that Patrice Bergeron could suit up for the Bruins after almost six months on the sidelines recovering from a Grade 3 concussion.
Bergeron did not receive medical clearance to play in the sixth game on Saturday, but was holding out hope that doctors would allow him to play tonight.
If the medical clearance does come, Julien said he would allow Bergeron to play.
“He really looks good,” Julien said. “Maybe he hasn't played in real game situations, so there might be some little issues here and there, but the quality of player he is, there's no way you can keep a guy like that out. I wouldn't even consider it.”
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