And The Domination Continues...

Sergei Kostitsyn got the series-opening goal on his first NHL playoff shift and shot.

Montreal and Boston renewed acquaintnces last night in game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quaterfinals, but very little changed with regards to the outcome.

The Habs dominated the play from the get go, outshooting, outchancing and outhitting Boston en route to a 4-1 win to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

The win extends Montreal's winning streak over Boston this season to 9 straight games.

Montreal wound up with 32 shots on goal while limiting Boston to just 18.

A hint of things to come came very early as Sergei Kostitsyn scored on his 1st career NHL playoff shot just 34 seconds into the first, sliding a rebound through a fallen Thomas' pads.

With Sergei on the board, older brother Andrei felt that it was an "anything you can do, I can do better" type of event, and he took it upon himself to get on the board as well. Andrei tallied just 1:28 after Sergei's goal, taking a perfect cross-ice feed from linemate Tomas Plekanec and re-directing/shooting through Thomas' pads once again.

''I told (Andrei) before the game that I would score on the first shift,'' a beaming Sergei Kostitsyn said. ''It felt great.

''Andrei scored, I scored. I'm happy for us both. I'm happy to help the team.''

Shane Hnidy would get one back for Boston before the midway mark of the first, deflecting an Andrew Ference slapper past Price.

The second period was highlited by an increase in physical play, which included the hit of the game as Hamrlik wallpapered young Bruins forward Milan Lucic.

Brian Smolinski would eventually add to the Habs lead with his 1st playoff goal as a Hab and 23rd of his career, backhanding home a loose rebound from between the hash-marks by Thomas' glove side.

Tom Kostopoulos capped the scoring in the third, converting a nifty feed from Maxm Lapierre, as the latter sent a one-touch pass from beneathe the goal-line out front for an unmarked and awaiting TK to one-time a wrister once again through Thomas' pads.

Carey Price's biggest test of the evening came with under 2 minutes remaining in the third, as he turned aside a breakaway bid from Bruins forward Marco Sturm. Price made 17 saves in his first playoff game and first win.

Bruins stars Tim Thomas and Marc Savard were also seeing their first career tastes of playoff hockey.

The only multipoint game belonged to checker Tom Kostopoulos, helping on Smolinski's goal and adding the 4-1 goal himself.

Montreal went 0-for-5 ont he powerplay, while Boston was 0-for-3.

Game 2 goes Saturday night in Montreal (and I'll be there!) at 7 pm.

Habs Sweep Away Big Bad Bruins

Saku Koivu was the lone-scorer in the shootout, fooling Thomas in the 3rd round to give Montreal the season-sweep over the B's.

Thanks in large part to the 16 points they earned playing and winning against Boston this season, the Montreal Canadiens are making a serious push to win BOTH the Eastern Conference and the Northeast Division Championships.

The Habs (42-24-10) now own 94 points through 76 games, leading the Penguins by one point for the lead in the Eastern Conference (though the Penguins do have a game in hand). The race for 1st in the East will be tight and difficult until the very end, but the lead for the Northeast Division is a little more secure, as the Habs now own a 5 point lead over the Ottawa Senators, who also have a game in hand. Ottawa blew a 4-2 lead vs. the Maple Leafs last night, who were able to rally late in the second and twice in the third to win 5-4 in regulation.

The Canadiens victory over Boston did not come as easy as the others last night, as it was the first game of the entire series to require overtime - and even that didn't get things solved.

The Habs got on the board early in the first - 2:20 into it to be exact - as Andrei Markov was the recipient of a Phil Kessel give-away in Boston's zone, and he leaned into a heavy slapshot that went through both Milan Lucic's and Tim Thomas' legs for the unassisted tally. It seemed as though the decision to start Thomas - who had 4 wins in 16 career starts vs. Montreal - was backfiring early.

However, the Bruins would tie the game before the period's halfway mark. Marc Savard picked up a Zdeno Chara rebound created by a Carey Price save, wrapped around the net, and outhustled Carey Price to the far post. He wound up using Price's left pad as a deflector the tuck the puck into the open side, knotting the game at 1 apiece. Maybe the Bruins were going to win one after all?

Andrei Kostitsyn had other plans for that.

1:13 after Savard's tying goal, AK 46 was able to give the Canadiens their second lead of the evening burying a Mark Streit rebound passed a sprawling Tim Thomas. The goal came at the end of a Phil Kessel penalty and was registered as an even strength goal.

The Bruins would once again respond, this time courtesy Petteri Nokelainen in the 2nd period.

Nokelainen - a game-time decision by coach Julien to center the 4th line in place of Vladimir Sobotka - wound up paying dividends, perfectly deflecting home a hard pass from Mark Stuart from the near boards. The re-direct was perfect as it beat Price who was moving away laterally on a push-off.

Despite the 2 goals allowed by each 'tender, the goaltending was absolutely stellar, providing us with lots of nervousness and entertainment throughout the remainder of regulation and through overtime.

In the shootout, it was more of the same.

Zdeno Chara tried his luck first. Skating in, Chara cranked up and released a cannon slapshot. Problem was, it was practically dead-on Carey Price. Price was able to almost just stand there to make the save.

Mark Streit was up first for Montreal. Streit came in wide-right, moved in back to center, used a couple of pump-fakes, and tried for the five hole, which was shut-down by Tim Thomas.

Phil Kessel led things off in round 2. Kessel - 5-for-11 in shootouts - went to his favorite shot: a quick release wrister. The shot was well timed and well taken, but not exactly well placed, as it beat Price but rang squarely off the crossbar.

Alex Kovalev was next to try and give Montreal a lead. Moving in, Kovalev faked right, moved in left quickly, and tried sliding the puck under Thomas. Thomas didn't bite for any of it, and was able to stick with Kovy through to the end, getting the pad down and making the save.

Dennis Wideman was a surprise shooter at #3 for the B's...but would wind up giving Price the most trouble. Wideman came in hard, down the center, then slowed his speed to about half, pulled the puck to his backhand and flicked one low right corner. The puck appeared destined for the open portion of the net, but Price's quick reflexes allowed him to stick the right-pad out in a flash and kick aside the puck, setting up Saku Koivu for a potential winning goal.

Koivu - with 21, 273 roaring all around him - came in one-on-one with Thomas. He switched the puck over to the backhand, a move we see all too often before he pulling it back to forehand and beating goalies in shootouts. As he went to backhand, Thomas took notice, and prepared himself for that trademark Koivu deke.

But Koivu played the decoy card just right.

With the puck on his backhand, Koivu held it a little longer than usual, skated in tight with Thomas, and released the backhander high and under the arm of Thomas, who seems a little shocked by Koivu's choice of shot. The puck hit Thomas and squeaked through the arm and body, crossing the goal line and sealing the deal for the Habs in the final round of the shootout.

Habs go 8-0 vs. the Bruins this regular season, and extend their winning streak over Boston to 11 straight games, surpassing the mark of 10 set in the 1944-45 season! History has been made!

Carey Price was stellar once again, totalling 33 saves. Thomas had 29 in the OTL.

The Habs now prepare for a mega-matchup vs. the Ottawa Senators Monday night at the Bell Centre. With a win, Montreal would push it's lead over Ottawa to 7 points in the Northeast Division race; although with a loss, the gap will close to 3, with Ottawa maintaining it's game-in-hand.

Habs Within One Of Season-Series Sweep

Alex Kovalev's 2 goals and 1 assist led Montreal to their 10th straight victory against the Bruins Thursday night in Boston.

Alex Kovalev had 2 highlight-reel goals and a highlight-reel assist as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Bruins for the 4th time in Boston this season by a 4-2 scoreline.

Montreal's victory is their 7th of 7 this season vs. Boston, and their 10th straight against the Bruins, equalling a record for consecutive wins against the Bruins which was set in the 1944-45 season.

With the win, Montreal (41-24-10) re-gained sole possession of top spot in the Eastern Conference, leapfrogging idle New Jersey by one point with a total of 92, although Montreal have played 2 more games than New Jersey at this point in the season with 75 as opposed to 73. The Senators also won their contest tonight, as they came away with a 3-2 win on home ice vs. the lowly St. Louis Blues.

Kovalev has the game's first two goals, and the second was nicer than an already gorgeous first.

Alex Kovalev came in one-on-one with big Zdeno Chara. He executed a spin move (similar to the one was saw Brian Campbell of San Jose execute en route to his backhand goal a couple of weeks ago in SJ) and released a backhander that partly fooled and handcuffed goaltender Tim Thomas, allowing the puck to squeak through the gear and cross the line.

4 minutes and 2 seconds later, Kovy was at it again.

Lugging the puck out of his own zone, Kovalev gathered speed, broke through the neutral zone, entered Boston's zone with AK 46 acting as a possible pass recipient, burst through Chara and Wideman while executing a toe-drag of the puck, stickhandling to his backhand, and sliding the puck (kind of awkwardly, but still) through a sprawling Thomas' legs, much to the delight and euphoria of RDS commentator Pierre Houde. A great goal indeed!

Despite the great goal, Boston had the answer, and that buzzkill came a mere 27 seconds later, as defenseman Mark Stuart converted a blue-line slapper into a goal on a great effort from partner Shane Hnidy to keep the puck in-zone. The shot beat a screened Price 5-hole.

The Habs would put the game out of reach in the third, as Michael Ryder scored his 14th of the season capping a pretty feed from Saku Koivu, and Andrei Kostitsyn notched his 22nd capping a sublime pass from Kovalev, who dropped the puck before wrapping around the net, leaving Thomas completely fooled. AK 46 actually missed the initial chance, but powered through Thomas pads to jar the puck loose and passed the goal line.

The Bruins got one back late to make it 4-2 Montreal on Dennis Wideman's 12th, but that was as close as the B's would come on this night.

Boston has one chance left to attempt avoiding the 8-game season series sweep, and that chance comes Saturday evening in Montreal to cap the home-and-home series.

Carey Price stopped 34 of 36, while Tim Thomas kicked aside 26 of 30.

Mike Komisarek had 4 shifts and logged 2:45 of ice time in the 1st period before leaving the game with what has been described as a lower-body injury. On the play where we assume he was injured, Komisarek was crunched into the boards on two separate occasions by energy-forward Shawn Thornton. Mark Streit converted to defense for the game, and Alex Kovalev saw some added ice-time as he double-shifted often in Mike's absence.