Eastern conference quarterfinal: Canadiens – Bruins Game 3 preview
Montreal leads the series 2-0
MONTREAL, QC.– I was listening to Montreal sports radio last weekend. In their playoff preview, discussion turned to the play of Tomas Plekanec. The hosts wondered if this would FINALLY be the year that Plekanec showed up for the playoffs, contending that he has been a bust in the post-season.
Reading the stat sheet after two games against Boston, Plekanec has no points, a plus-1 rating and has taken six shots. Fair to say that the radio guys are probably not impressed. So how is it that coach Jacques Martin maintains that Plekanec is playing his best hockey of the season?
Maybe we should ask Boston forward David Krejci. You’ll remember Krejci as the player who guaranteed a Bruins win in Game 2.
“Obviously, we want to win. We have to win. And we will win. We don’t want to go Montreal with a 2-0 [deficit]. That would be tough. But I’m very confident in our team.” — David Krejci
When making his prediction, Krejci forgot that he would be facing Plekanec on almost every shift. During the regular season, Boston scored the most 5-on-5 goals in the NHL this season, and Krejci played a major role. In the playoffs, Krejci has no points, is a minus-2 and has two shots on goal — just to further the point I’ll add that Krejci’s linemates, Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic have been blanked on the scoresheet and each are minus-2 in the series.
The numbers for Krejci and Co. won’t be a surprise for those of us who look past the basic statistics for Plekanec as we recall just how effective he was at shutting down Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby last year at this time. The fact is that Plekanec elevates his game in the post-season and is having a superb series. Jacques Martin’s system relies heavily on him.
Reviewing Boston media sources, it would seem that Claude Julien’s system is Zdeno Chara. Chara was out with “severe” dehydration (remember the discussion of the Pacioretty diagnosis?) on Saturday giving our friends to the south a convenient excuse for all that ailes the Bruins. Chara is expected to return to the lineup in Game 3.
Habs fans feel little sympathy for a Boston team that entered the playoffs with a mostly healthy roster.
Precious little was mentioned about the impact of Andrei Kostitsyn, third in goals for the Canadiens during the regular season and the leader in hits, being out of the lineup. His replacement, Yannick Weber, was an unlikely star with a goal, three shots and a physical contribution. Kostitsyn is a game-time decision for Game 3.
Should Kostitsyn return, coach Martin would be wise to leave Weber in the lineup and send Benoit Pouliot and his eight minutes of ineffective icetime to the press box. Weber would add the team’s hardest shot to the point of the second wave of the power-play.
To win two more games against Boston, the Habs will need better production with the man-advantage. For a team who has trouble scoring 5-on-5, the power-play was key against the Bruins during the regular season humming along at a 32 per cent success rate. In the first two games of the playoffs, it is 14.3 per cent.
The Habs have benefitted from Tim Thomas showing his true colours as a rebound machine. His defense has been beaten to the loose pucks by speedy Canadiens forwards. Thomas’s save percentage in the playoffs is .891 which places him 14 of 18 goaltenders in the playoffs.
Carey Price leads the NHL with an other-worldly .985 save percentage after the first two games. Clearly Price has been the best player on the ice but will need the help of his teammates. Montreal must continue to control the middle of the ice and block shots (46 already) if they intend to stifle Bruins snipers.
Boston hasn’t won in Montreal in over a year and will come out strong doing everything possible to score first. They know that the Canadiens only win one-third of their games when trailing first. It’s important for the Habs to withstand the pressure further frustrating the Bruins, and employing the stretch pass to exploit the Bruins defense for a quick strike.
The Canadiens must continue to be disciplined and play between the whistles. Each team has taken seven minor penalties so far in the series. It’s a huge improvement for the Habs who were short-handed 327 times in the regular season, the most in the League.
While Game 3 is being billed as a must-win for the Bruins, Montreal should be viewing it similarly. The Habs do not want to hand back a game that they worked so hard to secure in Boston. It’s crucial to give the Bruins nothing to rally around.
Game-time is 7:30pm from the Bell Centre.