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Bruins need overtime to kill off Canadiens in Game 7, will face more demons in Round 2

Nathan Horton, Adam McQuaid, Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic

Boston Bruins right wing Nathan Horton=, center, smiles as he is surrounded by teammates after scoring the game-winning goal against the Montreal Canadiens during the overtime period in Game 7 of a first-round NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoff series in Boston, Wednesday, April 27, 2011. The Bruins won 4-3 to a win the series. From left are Bruins’ Adam McQuaid, Zdeno Chara, Horton and Milan Lucic. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

AP

Much like the Vancouver Canucks last night, the Boston Bruins didn’t shake off the Montreal Canadiens in the prettiest way possible. This Game 7 match fits this gripping, up-and-down series like a glove. Even though it took three overtime wins and plenty of nervous moments, the B’s will play in the second round thanks to Nathan Horton’s second overtime game-winner of the series.

Although the Bruins got one longer term monkey off their backs by beating their historical rivals, they will face another ghost of their playoff past in the second round against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Boston 4, Montreal 3 (OT); Bruins win series 4-3

Even though Boston won, both teams seemed to thrive in their preexisting roles in elimination games. The Bruins kept shooting themselves in the foot, making mental errors to cough up 2-0 and 3-2 leads. Montreal remained defiant in desperate moments, as they scored timely goals and Carey Price made astounding saves.

Give the Bruins credit, though. They kept their heads down and wouldn’t let some tough breaks sap their energy, ultimately overwhelming their hated opponents at home.

Boston builds, then squanders lead in first and second periods

The Bruins came out humming in Game 7. Defenseman Johnny Boychuk and 43-year-old wonder Mark Recchi made it 2-0 in a two minute span in the first period before Habs coach Jacques Martin wisely calmed his team down with a timeout.

Much like in Game 6, mental errors plagued the Bruins throughout this game. Yannick Weber scored an absolutely brilliant power-play goal to make it 2-1, which is the way the first period would end.

The Bruins’ abysmal power play (0 for 21 in the series) reared its ugly head in the second period, as Tomas Plekanec added injury to the insult by scoring a shorthanded goal. Yup, that means the Bruins’ PP was actually a -1 in this series.

Boston can’t kill off Montreal until OT

To little surprise, the third period was full of drama. One of the carryover stories from this game will be the suspension debate regarding Andrew Ference’s hit on Habs forward Jeff Halpern. Decide for yourself if Ference deserves supplementary discipline for the hit (he didn’t get a penalty in the game, if that matters).

The Chris Kelly-Rich Peverley-Michael Ryder line hasn’t been together very long, but they seem to work incredibly well together. Kelly scored another big goal to give the Bruins a 4-3 lead, but it wouldn’t last.

Say what you want about cocky Canadiens rookie P.K. Subban, he’s clearly a special talent. Subban rifled a one-timer through Thomas for a power-play goal, the Habs’ third special teams tally (two on the PP, one on the PK).

Despite some tense moments, the Bruins were spot-on in overtime for the third time in this series. Once again, it was Horton, who scored his second overtime-winner of the first round to win it for Boston.

The outlook for both teams

The Bruins won, but they face some serious questions. Becoming the first time to win a seven game series without a PP goal isn’t something to be proud about. They also struggled protecting leads, as they coughed up two in this game. They cannot expect to go deep in the playoffs without improving on special teams and they need to avoid taking bad penalties, as well.

One of the areas they don’t need to worry about is the play of Tim Thomas, as their Vezina Trophy candidate made 34 out of 37 saves in Game 7.

While the Habs must feel great sadness about this defeat, they were tough to finish off once again. Price might not have won a series, but he silenced just about anyone who wondered why the team went with him instead of Jaroslav Halak. Montreal’s top line also grossly outplayed Boston’s, although some will forget that after watching those two Horton OT winners.

So both teams had some pluses and minuses to look at, but Boston overcame their historical headache. Will they also avenge their 2010 collapse against the Flyers? We’ll find out in Round 2.