HabsWorld.net --
13 was enough for the Bruins afterall. 9:25 into the fourth period last night Marc Savard scored his first career playoff goal lifting the Bruins to a 2-1 victory, their first over the Habs since December of last season.
The goal came on a delayed penalty to Bryan Smolinski who had slashed Peter Schaefer in attempt to slow down a Bruins rush that had caught the Canadiens on a bad line change. Schaefer eventually got the puck to Denis Wideman, who missed game 2 due to injury, slipped a beautiful back hand pass to Savard who was left with en empty net to shoot at.
On top of picking up the win, the Bruins succeeded at slaying another dragon, that of having a lead and scoring the 1st goal in a game against the Canadiens something they had not accomplished in 11 games.
Early in the first Bruins rookie Milan Lucic received a pass in the slot from Marc Savard who had beaten Josh Gorges to the puck. Lucic pulled the puck back and launched a rocket over the blocker of Carey Price. Lucic surely thanked Canadiens defenseman Mark Streit for providing the screen and making no attempt to stop his shot.
At 4:26 of the second period the Canadiens were able to equalize with the help of their energy line. Steve Begin and Smolinski worked hard behind the net to get the puck to Tom Kostopoulos. Kostopoulos’ first shot was stopped, but he managed to slide the puck passed a sprawling Tim Thomas while being tackled on the lip of the crease.
Montreal still leads the series 2-1 with game four coming Tuesday night in Boston.
Notes: Mike Komisarek was the game leader with 8 hits as he appeared back in form for the first time since returning from his hip injury. Phil Kessel was a healthy scratch for the second straight game. Montreal has not made 1 line up change in the first three games but expect that to change for game 4.
Three Stars
1. Marc Savard – 1 goal and 1 assist, not to mention he was given the hardest worker hat by head coach Claude Julien after the game.
2. Milan Lucic – 1 goal and 6 hits he was one of the best Bruins forwards.
3. Tim Thomas – Thomas had many big saves to keep the Bruins alive, especially late in regulation and early in overtime.
Fun Facts
1. The Canadiens are 12-0 lifetime against the Bruins when holding a 2-1 series lead.
2. When Lucic scored it was the first lead the Bruins had against Montreal in 614 minutes of play.
3. Tom Kostopoulos has scored a point in each of his first 3 career playoff games.
