The Bruins and Canadiens played a Game 7 Wednesday night for the ninth time. And for the sixth time, the Canadiens advanced.
Montreal, the more storied of the two franchises but the underdog in the Eastern Conference semifinals, beat Boston 3-1 and is moving on to the Eastern Conference finals to take on the New York Rangers, another Original Six franchise.
Here’s how the Canadiens did it:
Danny Briere Put in the Dagger
The Bell Centre explodes in #Montreal with Briere's goal. #Game7 pic.twitter.com/Y0BPVjY7ro
— Shnarped Hockey (@shnarped) May 15, 2014
With Montreal a man up after a Johnny Boychuk penalty, Danny Briere beat Tuuka Task for his second playoff goal with 2:53 left in the game, putting Montreal on the cusp of advancing and sending a chill through the sellout crowd.
The Bruins then went on the power play just as they were pulling Tuuka Rask with 2:01 left, but couldn’t take advantage.
Carey Price Was Awesome
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Price made 29 saves on Boston’s 30 shots on goal, continuing a series in which he carried the Habs for stretches.
The Montreal goalie gave up one goal combined over the last two games of the series — both Montreal victories — and gave up one goal or fewer in three of the series’ seven games.
He put himself in pretty good company among Montreal goalies:
Carey Price becomes only the 3rd #Canadiens goaltender to ever win a 7th game in Boston joining Jose Theodore & someone named Ken Dryden.
— Priyanta Emrith (@HabsInHighHeels) May 15, 2014
The Bruins Had Plenty of Chances, but no Goals in the 3rd
Iginla will think about that one if this doesn't end well for the Bruins; hits post with Price down and out.
— Scott Burnside (@ESPN_Burnside) May 15, 2014
Jarome Iginla had a partially open net just under 5 minutes into the third period but hit the post, highlighting a host of Bruins chances that came up empty.
Boston is outshooting Montreal 6-2 in the third period and 28-16, but the Habs are 10 minutes away from the Eastern Conference finals.
The Bruins Got on the Board in the 2nd
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Jarome Iginline deflected a shot past Carey Price with 2:02 left in the second period with 2 seconds left on a Bruins power play, and what had been a dead TD Garden crowd suddenly got into it.
Watch the goal here:
Wednesday’s game was the third time this series the Bruins have faced a 2-goal deficit at home. Both previous times they rallied to tie the game. Montreal won 4-3 in double overtime in Game 1, but Boston scored four unanswered goals (including an empty-netter) to win Game 2 5-3 after trailing 3-1 in the third period.
Wednesday, though, 2-1 was as close as the Bruins got.
Max Pacioretty Made Boston Pay for Failing to Clear the Puck
The Bruins had two chances to clear the puck from their own zone but failed, and with 9:38 left in the second period, Max Pacioretty took advantage, firing a shot past Tuuka Rask to put Montreal up 2-0. Watch the goal in the video above.
GOAL: The @CanadiensMTL take a 2-0 lead over @NHLBruins on a big Max Pacioretty one-timer. #BecauseItsTheCup http://t.co/oKWjmkoYPr
— NHL (@NHL) May 15, 2014
The Canadiens Struck First
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Dale Weis took a pass from Danny Breire and beat Tuukka Rask just two minutes in to put Montreal up 1-0. Not exactly the kind of start the home crowd was looking for.
Bruins did not own space in front of their own goal, one of Brick's keys to the game.
— Jack Edwards (@RealJackEdwards) May 14, 2014
There's no excuse for the Bruins to lose this series. None. They're clearly a better team than the Canadiens.
— Mike Anderson (@m_anderson2015) May 14, 2014
The Habs had a chance to add to their lead with a power play after Brad Marchand was called for interference, but Montreal couldn’t capitalize. The same thing happened later in the period when Zdeno Chara got called for holding — the Boston captain’s second penalty of the game.
Neither team scored during a 4-on-4 stretch after Chara and Max Pacioretty, the Habs’ captain, got called for matching minors for holding.