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Bonjour, New York: Habs beat B’s, advance to Eastern Conference finals

Briere

Montreal gave the Bruins trouble all season long -- so if any team was going to knock Boston down, it’s fitting it was the Canadiens.

The Habs bested Boston on Wednesday at TD Garden, winning Game 7 of their second-round series 3-1 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in four years.

Despite a 17-point gap in the standings between the Bruins and Canadiens, Montreal proved it was Boston’s bogey team all year long -- going 3-1-0 in the regular season -- and did it again in the postseason, thanks in large part to the play of Carey Price.

Price was the deciding factor in the two most crucial games of the series -- six and seven -- by stopping 55 of 56 shots over that stretch. He also carried a shutout streak which lasted 104 minutes and is now a perfect 5-0 in elimination games this year (three for Canada at the Olympics, two for the Habs this postseason).

Price wasn’t the only one that came up big over the last two contests, though.

On Wednesday night, Montreal opened the scoring early -- for the second straight game -- when Dale Weise scored goal No. 2 of the series at the 2:18 mark. It was the second straight game the Habs scored within the opening three minutes; in Game 6, Lars Eller scored just 2:11 in for what proved to be the game-winner.

Then, in the second period, Max Pacioretty stamped his mark on the game by scoring his second goal in two contests for what ended up being the deciding tally. The good vibes from Pacioretty’s goal were short-lived, however, as he took a bad holding the stick penalty on Dougie Hamilton a short while later, which the Bruins converted for their first and only goal of the game when Jarome Iginla scored on the ensuing power play.

The teams would trade chances in the third before Johnny Boychuk took a late interference penalty and Daniel Briere capitalized, flipping a puck of Zdeno Chara’s skate to give the Habs a two-goal cushion.

For Boston, the loss will sting and the club will likely look back on this series as one filled with missed opportunities. Twice the B’s had chances to eliminate Montreal -- including a Game 7 at home -- but instead, they fell short and ended up with a playoff run of just 12 games.

For Montreal, tonight’s win was a gusty effort and a signature victory for head coach Michel Therrien, who was participating in his first Game 7 as a bench boss. The win also erases some of the disappointment from last year’s playoffs, when the Canadiens entered as the East’s No. 2 seed but were upset by Ottawa in the opening round.