Rumors

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Bruins.com - Just two days after the Boston Bruins played their final game of the 2007-2008 season, the locker room was being cleaned out, and things were wrapping up in the Hub of Hockey. There may have been a bit of sadness in the air as the final press conferences and locker room interviews took place, but there were certainly no regrets on this "Breakup Day." “When we started the season…one of the things I said to our players was one of the things I [wanted] to dominate the season [was] that we play hard every night,” said Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli. “We did that through the course of the year and then throughout the playoffs.” Both Chiarelli and head coach Claude Julien, who sat beside the GM as they both addressed the media one last time, had a positive attitude as they looked back at the many months they’d spent in the TD Banknorth Garden and on the road. “I think guys really responded through a couple of periods of adversity,” Chiarelli said, “[and] I think it’s critical, crucial, to the development of our team to have the [playoff] series that we had.”

For Bruin's Bergeron, it's wait till next year

PatriotLedger.com - Nobody was more disappointed to see the Boston Bruins’ season end in the first playoff round than Patrice Bergeron. If they’d reached Round 2, Boston’s injured center might have been able to start his season over. “I was very optimistic,” said Bergeron, who didn’t play after Philadelphia defenseman Keith Jones’ blind-side check into the boards on Oct. 27 left Bergeron with a Grade 3 (most severe) concussion. “That’s what makes this even harder for me.” Back on skates for two months and practicing with contact for the last two weeks, Bergeron was several times denied medical clearance to play in the best-of-seven first-round series against Montreal. He’s pretty sure he’d have received the OK for the conference semifinals – but not positive. “I was pushing for the second round,” he said. “(Doctors) said ‘Let’s wait for the second round, and see what happens,’ but maybe it was to keep me smiling a little bit.”

Bruin's hope to build on success

Canada.com - The Boston Bruins are hoping to use their surprise playoff appearance as a springboard to future success. The Bruins pushed the Eastern Conference champion Montreal Canadiens to seven games, but were eliminated Monday with a 5-0 loss in the Eastern Conference quarter-final. "They did battle right to the end," head coach Claude Julien told the Boston Globe. "Whether it was done properly or not, you never question these guys' effort, because they gave everything they had. Everything. That's been the identity of this hockey club -- the character, resiliency, and everything else. "I know that nothing I could tell them after the game would matter. But maybe in a few days from now, maybe in a week or so, they'll realize what they accomplished.

Bruins' Kessel, Thomas join Team USA

SportingNews.com - Boston Bruins forward Phil Kessel and goaltender Tim Thomas have been added to Team USA's roster for the 2008 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship. Kessel joins the team for the third time. Thomas will make his sixth appearance with Team USA. Kessel represented the United States in international competition on six previous occasions and is USA Hockey's National Team Development Program's all-time leading scorer with 104 goals and 180 points. He earned the gold and silver medals with the U.S. National Under-18 Team at the IIHF World Under-18 Championships in 2005 and 2004, respectively. Kessel is also a two-time member of both the U.S. National Junior Team (2005-06) and U.S. Men's National Team (2006-07). Thomas played in the world championships in 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2005).

Chara faces decision on surgery

Boston.com - In the games leading up to Boston's 2-1 win over Washington March 8, Zdeno Chara's left shoulder had absorbed some bumps and bruises. But in the second period against the Capitals, when Chara swung and missed on a one-timer, the captain felt pain deep within the shoulder, which hasn't been right since. "I felt my AC joint was a little loose and sore," Chara said. "But when I missed that one-time shot, it really felt like there was damage in the shoulder. Ever since then, I was playing with it. It didn't pop out, but it was a weird feeling. Just really sharp pain inside the shoulder." General manager Peter Chiarelli said yesterday he believes Chara will require surgery. Chara said he hopes to avoid it. "That's my first priority," Chara said. "Nobody wants to have surgery. But I also have to be smart. There's a fine line. You can avoid it, but running into the same problem next year, I don't want to do that. We're going to have to make a decision and see what's in there."

Decision to be made on Free Agents

Boston Herald.com - With the end of every season comes change and, no matter how happy management is with the way the team performed in 2007-08, the Bruins will be no different. The B’s have four unrestricted free agents in defensemen Aaron Ward and Bobby Allen, center Glen Metropolit and goalie Alex Auld. Of the four, Ward and Metropolit have the best chance of returning after serving key roles. General manager Peter Chiarelli has had preliminary chats with the players and was appreciative of their contributions. “I’d love to come back,” Ward said. “Going into the playoffs, I was already sure I loved it here in Boston, but that really cemented it, the last week-and-a-half playing with these guys, going through the experience of being here at the Garden and being put in the situation where you felt like you’re a real big part of the community.”

GM: Don't expect drastic changes

Boston Herald.com - Looking back at a very successful season and forward to what could be a fairly uneventful offseason, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli yesterday sounded like a guy who doesn’t feel a great deal of change is necessary - though he was a bit vague on the details. “We’re not going to do anything drastic,” Chiarelli said. “That doesn’t mean we won’t add somebody.” But Chiarelli is understandably pleased with the team he has, which defied expectations all season and was even better during the exciting seven-game playoff series against Montreal. Twice during the 45 minutes in which he and coach Claude Julien spoke to the media, the GM expressed the belief his team was at least as good as the Canadiens and maybe better.

B's work just the beginning

Boston Herald.com - One thing that can be said about the Bruins’ surprising level of success in 2007-08 is that it came easily. With all the positive words being thrown their way now after a terrifically entertaining playoff series with Montreal, Bruins coach Claude Julien hopes his players remember that fact as they scatter for the summer. “The biggest message for me at the end of the meetings with the players so far is don’t expect this to happen automatically again next year. We really have to start from scratch” Julien said at yesterday’s breakup day at TD Banknorth Garden. “We’ve got an opportunity to move forward here if we understand the challenge that’s ahead of us. . . . We’ve got to get better, because if we don’t, we may be in for a surprise here.”

Finally, there is hope for Bruins fans

NashuaTelegraph.com - Sure, it's another first-round playoff loss, but for once you get the feeling the Boston Bruins aren't in ruins. Why? Young talent as a base. A defensive corps that didn't play like dead men skating. Plenty of netminders to choose from. A general manager who seems to have a plan. A coach who is happy to be part of that plan. Some tradition in the front office that was once part of a plan that worked. The Bruins may have regained part of their fan base in the last two weeks with a good playoff showing against Montreal. In the past, there would be the "same old, same old" reaction to a seventh-game loss to the Canadiens. But the fact that no one expected the Bruins to take it that far, and that many didn't think they would make the playoffs at all, is cause for a new reaction. One of hope. We'll hear more of what that Bruins' plan is today when general manager Peter Chiarelli, coach Claude Julien and the players meet with the media at the now basketball-controlled TD Banknorth Garden. No doubt they will choose those words still hearing the echoes of the fandom from Game 6 that rocked the Garden on Saturday night.

Bruins hope to build on early playoff exit

Rockymountainnews.com - Claude Julien returned the Bruins to respectability. His next task: getting them past the first round of the playoffs. Boston came close, forcing the top- seeded Canadiens to a seventh game before losing 5-0 in front of a raucous Montreal crowd Monday night. That might provide little consolation to members of a franchise that hasn't won the Stanley Cup since 1972. But in his first year as coach, Julien built a solid defensive team that exceeded expectations despite a lack of offense. "We're upset we lost, but we've got something to build on," said Marc Savard, the team's leading scorer. Boston has made the playoffs in only four of eight seasons and hasn't won a series since beating Carolina in the first round in 1999. BURKE UNSURE ABOUT FUTURE: Ducks general manager Brian Burke stopped short of confirming he will still be on the job when training camp opens in September. "I don't know," he said.

Bruins on rise despite playoff fall

CapeCodTimes.com - The Boston Bruins still haven't won a playoff series in nine years. There is no denying that fact. But there's also no denying that for the first time since the last century they caused fans to sit up and take notice during their enthralling seven-game clash against the Montreal Canadiens. Once again, people cared about hockey. I heard fans on Sunday at the Celtics game rhapsodizing over the Bruins performance from the night before. One fan said that when his wife asked him what he was going to do on Saturday night and he told her, "I'm going to sit right here and watch the Bruins," she exclaimed, "Watch the Bruins! I've never heard you say that!" That's what they accomplished with their dazzling comeback from a 3-1 deficit to push the series to the limit. They reminded fans what they've been missing. In the middle of their daily obsession with the Red Sox and with the revival of the Celtics, the Bruins brought them back to a time when hockey mattered. If you were at the TD Banknorth Garden for Game 6 you immediately understood that apathy is a direct result of mediocrity. The Bruins have been ignored for the past decade because they haven't been competitive. As the rowdy atmosphere in the Garden clearly proved, hockey fans were clamoring for a team to get excited about. The noise on Saturday night made the Celtics' crowd the following evening sound like a funeral. And trust me, the Celtics' crowd was also into the proceedings. What a concept: Give the people something more substantial than marketing gimmicks ("It's called Bruin ...") and they'll respond. For the first time in years, you could offer friends Bruins' tickets last week without insulting them.

Bruin's Chara Norris finalist

Boston.com - Around this time last year, when the 2006-07 Bruins were saying their goodbyes, reflecting on a shoddy season and looking ahead to the following campaign, all parties - Zdeno Chara, general manager Peter Chiarelli, and then-coach Dave Lewis - pledged that the captain would be a different player in 2007-08. They were correct. Chara, who struggled in the first season of a five-year contract, rebounded in 2007-08 under new coach Claude Julien, playing like his old surly self. Yesterday, a day after his season came to an end, Chara was recognized for his performance when he was named one of the three Norris Trophy finalists. Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom and Calgary's Dion Phaneuf were the other finalists. The winner will be announced June 12. According to Chiarelli, a former Senators assistant GM, Chara played better this season than he ever did in Ottawa, playing shutdown defense while enjoying his best offensive season.

Bruin's consolation prize - a vastly improved outlook

Boston.com - As expected of a team that had been eliminated from the playoffs, there were frowns and hushed voices in the Bruins' dressing room at the Bell Centre following Monday night's 5-0 Game 7 loss to the Canadiens. But there were also some smiles and heads held high. For the first time in what seems like a generation, there is hope. "We've come a long way since the start of the year, where we weren't even on the map, according to a lot of people," said coach Claude Julien. "You hope that your organization and your team has taken some positive strides, and go from there." Before the start of the season, most observers didn't see the Bruins as a playoff team. And that was before Manny Fernandez, projected to be the No. 1 goalie, revealed that his left knee hadn't been right since the Bruins acquired him from Minnesota July 1. That was before the Bruins lost Patrice Bergeron, their best all-around forward, for the season after only 10 games. That was before depth defenseman Andrew Alberts suffered head and neck injuries that limited him to 35 regular-season games. And that was before they lost Chuck Kobasew, their second-leading goal scorer, to a fractured left tibia for the stretch run and the playoffs.

B's enter off-season full of hope

Boston Herald.com - Even as their season ended Monday night in Montreal, the Bruins had three things going for them that they have lacked for many years: an identity; a plan; and a future. There always has been a future, of course, and hopes for the following season. But this year, for the first time in a long while, Bruins fans have a team they can embrace and legitimate expectations that the pieces are in place for this team to be significantly better next year. In stark contrast to the past policy of ownership and/or management - giving up on young players, blowing up rosters, reshuffling the team year after year - the Bruins now have a solid core in place and this year added several key young players who had enormous impacts.

Bruin's lose in finale

Bruins.com - After a hard fight all through their Stanley Cup quarterfinal series against the Montreal Canadiens, the Boston Bruins 2007-2008 playoff run came to a close with a 5-0 loss in the seventh game of the series Monday night at the Bell Centre. “I think there’s a lot of positive to build on, but when you get to this stage you get a little greedy,” said head coach Claude Julien. “I think we all believed that we could get to the next round of the playoffs, and I think our expectations were there, and they were high.” After coming back from a 3-1 deficit in their Stanley Cup quarterfinal series against the Montreal Canadiens and tying the series by winning the last two games, the Boston Bruins headed to the Bell Centre Monday night for a seventh, series-deciding game. The Habs took an early 1-0 lead when Mike Komisarek scored the first goal of the game at 3:31.

Nothing different

Boston.com - The Bruins, winners of their last two elimination games, aren't planning to change their approach heading into tonight's do-or-die match. "This is going to be our third game with our backs against the wall," Claude Julien said. "I don't see why tonight should be different. The last two games, we've played to allow ourselves to live another day. And tonight's the same thing. We play tonight in order to live another day. That shouldn't change." * Julien said the Bruins will not think about the fact that it's Game 7. "You don't allow it to sink in," Julien said of the moment's gravity. "We're coming out here in a building that's going to be packed, and we're going to play our game. The fans were really into it in Game 5 when they thought they could end the series. They were as pumped as I've seen them. And it didn't bother our hockey club. We'll make sure the same approach is there tonight." * Tonight will be Glen Murray's sixth career Game 7, most of any Bruin. "It's exciting. No question about it," Murray said. "The series comes down to one game. Both teams are going to give it their all." * Murray hasn't scored a single point in the series. "Hopefully one goes in off my head tonight," said Murray. "I'll take 10 stitches for anything like that. Just have to go to the net and keep shooting hard."

Despite elimination, Bruins excited for future as youth creates excitement

NHL.com - Milan Lucic, much like his Boston Bruins, made a statement in these playoffs. Though the disappointment of losing Game 7 to the Montreal Canadiens was still fresh in his mind, Lucic was able to find the silver lining in a season where the Bruins overcame more challenges than perhaps any team in the NHL. "I'm proud of what we've accomplished this season," said Lucic, 19, who emerged as a future star with his rugged play in the series. "No one gave us a chance from the start of the season and even the start of this series. I think we've proved a lot of people wrong, and it was a good feeling proving a lot of people wrong. We can build a lot on what we did this year to carry into next year." The Bruins lost arguably their best player Patrice Bergeron to a concussion Oct. 27, which was the start of a nightmare year where head coach Claude Julien had to patch together a lineup as his team lost 364 man games to injury. But in the long run, Julien said, that may prove beneficial for his young club. "I'm really happy with the way our young guys have come along, and that was because some of our injuries allowed some of them to grow quicker," he said. "We're a lot further ahead today than we were at the beginning of the year, or that we expected to be at this time when we looked at our hockey club." Though the Bruins have many reasons for optimism, it was a little more difficult for them to focus on that seeing as they were so close to advancing to the second round. Captain Zdeno Chara said the pressure of a Game 7 had no impact on his team, because the Bruins have been playing on the edge for the better part of two months.

Canadiens 5, Bruins 0

FoxSports.com - Carey Price put a couple of tough losses behind him to save the Montreal Canadiens' playoff run and dash the Boston Bruins' hopes of an improbable comeback. Price got his second shutout and Andrei Kostitsyn scored twice to lead Montreal to a 5-0 win over Boston on Monday night in the deciding game of their first-round playoff series. The 20-year-old rookie stopped 25 shots overall, including 11 shots in the opening period. Price had allowed 10 goals overall in a pair of Canadiens losses after he got his first playoff shutout in a 1-0 win in Game 4. "It was a rough couple of games and we knew it just wasn't going our way," Price said. "I knew it was going to turn around eventually, and tonight it did." Mike Komisarek opened the scoring 3:31 in amid one of the first of countless roars from the raucous Bell Centre crowd over the course of the evening. The Canadiens took control of the game in the second, outshooting the Bruins 17-6 while building a three-goal lead on a superb goal by Mark Streit midway through the period and Kostitsyn's second goal of the series at 15:13. Kostitsyn punctuated the win with his second of the game, a power-play goal with 2:02 remaining in the third. Sergei Kostitsyn scored with 7.3 seconds remaining. Top-seeded Montreal will face Philadelphia in the second round, if the Flyers win their Eastern Conference quarterfinal against Washington. Otherwise, the Canadiens will face the New York Rangers. Tim Thomas stopped 30 shots for Boston, which fell short in its bid to overcome both 2-0 and 3-1 series deficits for the first time in team history.

Inside Hockey: Gritty play helps Habs eliminate Bruins

FoxSports.com - Why the Canadiens won: The Habs found their stride with their backs against the wall. After a dismal Game 5 and an unsuccessful Game 6, Montreal blew Boston out of the water in the final game of the series. They dominated in front of the net and in the corners, winning virtually every physical battle on the night. Montreal also clogged the shooting lanes, not allowing the Bruins to really get off any quality chances. The Habs were more physical and eliminated a lot of the hard work for their goaltender Carey Price. Why the Bruins lost: Boston fell flat after an impressive bounce comeback from 3-1 down in the best-of-seven series. The Bruins' main offensive protagonists were invisible for much of the game. Phil Kessel returned to mediocrity, Marco Sturm's efforts went for naught, and Marc Savard's offensive talents weren't enough to lift the Bruins to victory. Boston limited itself to long drive attempts from the point and never really established itself in front of Montreal's Price. They played the first 30 minutes of hockey pretty strongly, but the last 30 minutes can't even be classified as mediocre hockey. Key play of the game: Mark Streit's second-period goal deflated the Bruins, who never recovered. Maxim Lapierre took the puck into the zone and lured the Bruins' defense to the left side of the ice before hitting Streit, the trailer. He made Zdeno Chara look foolish in his flailing attempt to disrupt the chance and beat Tim Thomas for a crippling goal that effectively ended Boston's playoff run.

Police cars torched following Canadiens' win

Projo.com - At least three police cars were set on fire in downtown Montreal on Monday night after the Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of their playoff series. Cable news channel LCN caught images of the destructive celebration from a camera in a helicopter. People could be seen smashing a police car before it was set ablaze. Montreal police spokeswoman Annie Lemieux confirmed in a statement on the department's voicemail that at least three police cars had been set on fire a few blocks away from the Bell Centre, where the Canadiens beat the Bruins 5-0. "Many arrests have been made," Lemieux said. "Fortunately, no one seems to have been seriously injured so far."

To number 8, it was a great ride

Boston Herald.com - Based on body language alone, the happiest and most excited person in the Garden when Marco Sturm scored the winning goal in Saturday’s Game 6 was Bruins vice president Cam Neely. Television cameras aimed at the executive box caught Neely just about doing a somersault as he jumped for joy after the goal. “It’s a little different being up there than down on the ice, you know?” Neely said with a laugh yesterday. “On the ice, you can respond a little differently as far as your emotions go. “I was just so happy. It was so great to see the reaction from our crowd, from start to finish. As we all know, Boston is such a great hockey city, and they’ve really been waiting for something to get excited about. That game proved it.”

Chara feels sting but praises effort

Boston.com - Zdeno Chara, the Bruins' larger-than-life defenseman, sat patiently in his stall in the visitors' locker room at the Bell Centre, his feet bare and his skates already whisked away by the equipment managers, and he considered the end of his season. The 6-foot-9-inch captain of the Bruins, so outsized and so stern that he pounds through 12 pairs of stiff-walled skates a season, allowed himself to soften a bit around the edges as he paid homage to the difficult and exciting season that had ended moments before in a 5-0 loss to the Canadiens, allowing Montreal to win the best-of-seven first-round series, four games to three. "In the end, you feel so empty," said Chara. "We really thought we were going to the next round. We believed we were going to get it done." The Bruins, who battled back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the series against the top-seeded Canadiens, couldn't rally this time. First Montreal took a 1-0 lead at 3:31 of the first period, Michael Komisarek scoring on a shot from the left point that deflected off Bruin Petteri Nokelainen's stick. Unlucky.

Chara faces surgery

Boston Herald.com - Well, it looks like Harry Sinden was partially right when he recently said Zdeno Chara was playing through a rib injury. He was just a little south of the mark. After the B’s 5-0 Game 7 loss to the Canadiens last night, Chara confirmed that his shoulder was still bothering him, and he might need corrective surgery in the offseason. “I don’t know for sure, but it looks like it,” said Chara. Still, the captain didn’t try to use it as an excuse.

First muzzled, then mauled

Boston.com - Yesterday morning, 35-year-old Glen Murray, the oldest Bruin, pondered appearing in his sixth career Game 7, most of any member of the 2007-08 club. more stories like this "It's exciting. No question about it," Murray said before the game. "The series comes down to one game. Both teams are going to give it their all." Murray didn't even make it to the second period. Late in the first period, during Boston's second power play, Murray shot a puck wide of the net. After he released his shot, Murray was smoked by defenseman Roman Hamrlik, whose hit drove the winger into the end boards. Murray got up slowly and finished the period, but his night was finished with what coach Claude Julien thought were either cracked or bruised ribs. Murray skated a total of five shifts for 4:16 of ice time.

Nothing to show for B's effort

Boston Herald.com - The Bruins threw the fear of God into the heavily favored Montreal Canadiens and their zealous followers in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. That knowledge proved to be the B’s lone reward. In the seventh game of what had been a classic series, the Bruins wasted a great effort in the first period last night with their inability to score. Meanwhile, the Canadiens scored on a deflected goal in the first period, added two more in the decisive second and piled on with a couple of garbage-time goals to win, 5-0, at the Bell Centre and advance to the conference semifinals. Montreal goalie Carey Price, so shaky in the previous two games, returned to form with an excellent - not to mention clutch - performance as he stopped all 25 shots the Bruins tossed his way.

No more doubting Tim Thomas as a No. 1

Boston Herald.com - The Canadiens would be advancing in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Bruins would be going back to the drawing board. This was understood after the second period last night at the festive, raucous Bell Centre, with the Habs already owning a three-goal lead and the mob already warming up for the inevitable “Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, hey-hey-hey, goodbye” bit. So when the Canadiens scored their fourth goal, and then a fifth goal with just seconds remaining, it was all just hockey’s version of garbage time. The final score was 5-0, but it could have been 10-0. It was a beating, plain and simple, and nobody can argue otherwise.

Only supporting cast in loss, but give players props

Boston.com - The Bruins were props. Their assigned role in this production last night was to play the part of the overwhelmed opposition. They were not to interfere with the plot line, which called for Montreal to reassert the superiority of a No. 1 seed against a No. 8. And your Bruins followed the script magnificently, right down to allowing a cherry-on-the-sundae goal with eight seconds remaining in a 5-0 celebration of Canadiens hockey. The Bruins threatened to mess with the plot in the first period, when they had the preponderance of the legitimate scoring chances. But neither Marc Savard nor Phil Kessel nor Glen Murray - who missed an open-net opportunity you know he would have buried three years ago - could convert. They came out of the first period trailing, 1-0, and that was it. There were 40 minutes to go, but the season was over.

Bruins get bottled up by Hab's in game 7

Boston.com - As the 2007-08 Bruins filed out of the visitors' dressing room at the Bell Centre for one final time last night, they emerged with clean cheeks and chins, their battered faces clipped clear of the traditional whiskers that playoff competitors grow. more stories like this The Bruins' captivating, hard-hitting, longer-than-expected season had come to an end. To a man, they noted how proud they were of each other. They were a bruised and underestimated bunch that went toe-to-toe with the top-seeded Canadiens, a run-and-gun, teeming-with-skill club that had claimed 10 consecutive meetings (eight in the regular season, two in the playoffs). But for as high as the Bruins held their heads, the sting of a 5-0 loss in Game 7 before 21,273 frenzied fans hurt more than a one-timer to the teeth. "I don't think anybody in this locker room thought we'd be done tonight," said Tim Thomas (30 saves on 35 shots). "The belief was there. It was on my part. It was on everybody's part that we would keep this thing going."

B's open eyes despite series loss

Boston Herald.com - The conclusion kind of stunk, but that doesn’t diminish in the slightest the magnificent season the overachieving Bruins produced - a year few NHL observers believed possible. The Bruins’ rags-to-riches “Rocky” story came to a disappointing and anticlimactic end last night with the Canadiens’ 5-0 victory at the Bell Centre in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series. It was disappointing, because there were legitimate hopes this team might manage to finish off an upset for the ages, one of the biggest in years of Stanley Cup play. And anticlimactic because the B’s, their failure to finish again spoiling a great effort, were so soundly beaten in Game 7.

P-Bruins One Win Away From Round Two

MVN.com - On Monday night in Montreal, the Boston Bruins will be looking to take care of business and turn a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 series win against the Montreal Canadiens. The Providence Bruins will also be on the ice Monday with some of their own business to take care of. The Baby B’s currently hold a 3-0 series lead over the Manchester Monarchs with a chance at a sweep on Monday at the Verizon Wireless Arena. Saturday night, the P-Bruins took that 3-0 series lead with a 3-2 overtime win in Manchester. The first period started with a bit of a scare as the Monarchs had two goals waved off. First, Petr Kanko fired a shot that hit off of the crossbar. The red light went on, but after a discussion between the referee and goal judge, it was determined to be no goal. Later in the frame, Manchester did put the puck in the net, but the goal was once again waved. This time, it was because of goaltender interference by Kevin Westgarth. Providence wasn’t able to score on the penalty to Westgarth, but they were able to get on the board just four seconds after the penalty expired. Matt Hendricks sent a pass through a pair of Monarchs to TJ Trevelyan in the right slot. Trevelyan got the puck on his backhand and slid a shot past Jonathan Bernier stick side. Despite trailing 13-11 in shots, the score remained 1-0 visitors after one.

(8) Boston Bruins (3-3) At (1) Montreal Canadiens (3-3), 7 P.m.

Sports Network.com - Email This Story Print This Story The first Game 7 of the 2008 playoffs will take place tonight in Montreal, as the top-seeded Canadiens host the Boston Bruins at the Bell Centre for the deciding game of this Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. The Canadiens are trying to avoid blowing a three games to one lead in a playoff series for the first time in the franchise's storied history. Montreal is 26-0 all-time in series when holding a 3-1 advantage, but has so far failed twice to close out this set against Boston. The eighth-seeded Bruins, meanwhile, are 0-20 in series when trailing three games to one and this is the first time the club has ever forced a Game 7 when down 3-1. Boston trailed, 2-1, after two periods in Game 6, but outscored the Habs, 4-2, in the final 20 minutes to notch a 5-4 victory at TD Banknorth Garden. Phil Kessel had two goals in the comeback as the Bruins again used a big third period to help them stay alive in this series. In Game 5 on Thursday, Boston scored four goals in the third to win 5-1, and stave off elimination. After playing in Game 1, Kessel was a healthy scratch in three straight games, but has rebounded to score three goals in Games 5 and 6. Marco Sturm, Milan Lucic, and Vladimir Sobotka all tallied for the Bruins, while Tim Thomas stopped 31-of-35 shots in the win. Christopher Higgins finished with two goals for top-seeded Montreal, which won all eight regular-season meetings with Boston. Tomas Plekanec and Francis Bouillon also scored, while captain Saku Koivu -- who had missed the Canadiens' past nine games -- recorded two assists. Carey Price made 31 saves in defeat and the 20-year-old rookie is now 3-3 with a 2.43 goals against average and .914 save percentage in the series. Price has surrendered four goals in each of the last two third-periods against Boston. The Canadiens lost Game 6 despite having Koivu, the team captain, on the ice for the first time in the playoffs. Koivu, who recorded two assists in just over 15 minutes of ice time, had been out since fracturing a bone in his left foot on March 28. Montreal holds a sizeable advantage in terms of all-time playoff meetings with Boston. The Canadiens have taken 23 of the 30 postseason series between these old rivals and has also won the last two, beating the Bruins in the conference quarters in 2002 and 2004. The Habs were 22-13-6 at the Bell Centre during the regular season, while Boston had a 20-13-8 record as the visiting club. Copyright 2008 Courtesy of The Sports Network. NHL Headlines Bruins, Canadiens Meet For Game 7 In Montreal Montreal Canadiens The first Game 7 of the 2008 playoffs will take place tonight in Montreal, as the top-seeded Canadiens host the Boston Bruins at the Bell Centre for the deciding game of this Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. Caps Try To Stay Alive In Philadelphia (8) Boston Bruins (3-3) At (1) Montreal Canadiens (3-3), 7 P.m. Dallas Sends Defending Champs Home Early Kiprusoff Blanks Sharks As Flames Force Game 7 Email This Story Print This Story

Win or go home for Canadiens, Bruins

cbc.ca - History is not on the Boston Bruins' side, but this year's team has defied the odds time and again to reach Game 7 against the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference quarter-final on Monday night (7 p.m. ET, CBC, CBCSports.ca). Just six days ago, the Canadiens seemed a certain bet to advance to the second round of the playoffs. Carey Price had recorded his first NHL shutout and was playing with a swagger that had Montreal supporters harkening back to the years of Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy. Boston has proven resilient, though, scoring five times in each of the last two games to put some doubt in Montreal's best-laid plans.

Boston Bruins' Phil Kessel steps up his game

Twincities.com - It was embarrassing. Phil Kessel was one of only three Boston Bruins to play all 82 regular-season games. He potted 19 goals with 18 assists for 37 points. He led the league with five deciding shootout goals. He even notched his first career hat trick. Then the playoffs started and he was benched for Games 2, 3 and 4 against Montreal. Kessel, a former University of Minnesota star, managed an assist in the 4-1 beatdown in Game 1, but it was pretty clear he disappointed his boss. Next thing he knew, he was watching the playoffs from the press box, dressed in civilian clothes with the other healthy scratches. "Obviously, I was mad," the young center/wing admitted before Saturday's Game 6. "It was a tough situation." Yikes. Kessel fesses up and says he was mad. Kessel is every teenage boy you've ever known — reluctant to pacify the grown-ups when they pester him at dinner with, "How was your day, son?" When he does speak, he slips into cliché-riddled bits. Here was Kessel before Saturday's potential season-ending game: "Obviously it's a big game, so we gotta go out there and play hard." They did. And Kessel played as hard as anybody, scoring two goals in Boston's pulsating 5-4 victory. "The last two games, he's been unbelievable," coach Claude Julien said. "If he wants to keep proving me wrong, I can take it."

Game 7 tonight: Bruins’ shot at history in Montreal

Projo.com - The Boston Bruins left for Montreal yesterday hoping to make franchise history by completing a comeback from a 3-1 deficit to the Canadiens. The Bruins are 0-20 in playoff series they have trailed, 3-1, and this is the first time they have forced a Game Seven in that situation. Boston, which hasn’t won a playoff series since 1999, has never come back from a 2-0 deficit, either.

Bruins come back, whip fans into a frenzy for game 7

Boston Herald.com - It’s been 36 years since the Boston Bruins last gorged on champagne from the Stanley Cup, so can we bear to think their championship hibernation may be over? Down two games to none and given up for dead, the Bruins in the past week have tied the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at 3-3 to force tonight’s “B” all and end all Game 7 against arch-enemies the Canadiens in Montreal. “I have confidence in them that they can win,” John Gregory said yesterday outside the TD Banknorth Garden. “They’ve got a lot to live up to, between the Red Sox, the Patriots and the Celtics.”

B's rally with solid effort

Boston Herald.com - The key word, then and now, is “earned.” When the Bruins trailed the Montreal Canadiens three games to one early last week, B’s coach Claude Julien said if his team looked at the big picture, the monumental challenge of three consecutive games against a team of Montreal’s caliber just would seem too daunting. Never in their history have the Bruins come back from a 3-1 series deficit and won. The key, obviously, was just to approach the challenge one game at a time.

Both teams gain respect

Boston Herald.com - Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference quickly dismisses any suggestion that his team has outworked the Canadiens. “You’d be doing them a grave injustice if you think they haven’t been working hard, because they have been, trust me,” said Ference yesterday at Ristuccia Arena, shortly before the B’s departed for their final trip to Montreal for tonight’s Game 7 of the teams’ Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. “They have a lot of guys who work extremely hard.” Ference understands the question. He knows there could be teams that try to win just with individual talent, while lacking effort. But he is adamant that the Canadiens are not one of those teams.

Problem hard to mask

Boston Herald.com - The Bruins may have figuratively won Saturday’s Game 6 against Montreal by the skin of their teeth. But that phrase applied to goalie Tim Thomas in a much more literal sense. On Tomas Plekanec’s second-period breakaway goal, Thomas went down to the ice in an attempt to make a pad save. Not only did he fail to come up with the stop, but his chin strap broke and he couldn’t get it fully repaired until intermission. “We kept reattaching it and in the last five minutes, it got open,” Thomas said yesterday at Ristuccia Arena. “So the only way I could (keep it on) was to hold the chin cup in my mouth. It was the only way I had any protection. It would fall off, and I’d have nothing there.”

After win, hes not making satisfaction

Boston.com - In the second period of Saturday night's game, it was bad enough that Montreal forward Tomas Plekanec stepped out of the box after serving a tripping penalty, took a pass in stride from penalty killer Steve Begin, and tucked a breakaway goal behind Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. But as Thomas hit the deck facefirst to block Plekanec's shot, he thudded his mask into the ice, breaking his chin strap. After the goal and again during a TV timeout, Thomas went to the bench, hopeful equipment manager Mark Dumas could provide a temporary fix. But when they couldn't repair the strap, Thomas had to play the rest of the period with his chin cup between his teeth to keep it in place, muffling his communication with his defensemen. "Man on you, man on you," a smiling Thomas demonstrated yesterday, sticking his hand between his teeth to mimic his garbled commands. "Time, time."

Game 7: Bruins well prepared

Boston.com - Game 7 of this epic Boston-Montreal showdown is scheduled to kick off tonight at a sure-to-be-crackling Bell Centre. The thing is, the Bruins have been taking on seventh games for the past month. To finish two points ahead of ninth-place Carolina and qualify for the playoffs, the Bruins rattled off points in nine of 10 regular-season matches, the streak culminating in their clinching a postseason spot with a 2-1 win over Ottawa April 4. Then when the Canadiens won three of the first four games in their first-round series, the Bruins had to stare down elimination for the last two matches, emerging with a pair of victories to force tonight's do-or-die contest. The pressure couldn't be greater. Game 7. In Montreal, a city that is the steward of Stanley Cups. Within the walls of a building that will contain 21,273 rabid, towel-waving fans. A guaranteed handshake line at the end of the night.

B's seek winning 7 role

Boston Herald.com - The Bruins, given little chance to even make the postseason, are on the verge of completing the biggest playoff comeback in their 84-year history. The Canadiens, thought to be their Stanley Cup-starved nation’s best hope to win since they did it 15 years ago, are on the precipice of the biggest choke job in their illustrious 99-year history. So, whose skates would you rather be in this morning? The B’s, suddenly the feel-good story of the Boston sports scene, chartered out to Montreal yesterday afternoon for tonight’s Game 7 at the Bell Centre for what could be a defining moment for the struggling franchise.

Bruins resurface on Boston scene

Masslive.com - There are still Boston Bruins fans out there, and they are being joined by that larger population known as former Bruins fans. With last night's startling 5-1 victory at Montreal, the Bruins took their second big step in five days toward making Boston a hockey town again. A series victory, which would rank as one of the biggest upsets in Bruins history, remains unlikely - but possible. An improved, spirited and well-coached team is on the verge of forcing New England to turn away at least momentarily from the Red Sox, Celtics and soon-to-be-drafting Patriots, and pay attention to hockey again.

Metropolit's fluke goal gets Bruins going

Canada.com - After everything the Boston Bruins had attempted, and after everything they threw at Carey Price, it figured a fluke goal would open the floodgates against the Canadiens. And that it would come from Glen Metropolit, an unlikely hero, who had gone 33 games without scoring. Go figure. "The hockey gods owed us one, and we got a good bounce," said Metropolit, who hadn't scored since Feb. 5, and notched a modest 11 goals and 33 points this season. Metropolit's winning goal, at 3:31 of the third period, was the first of four unanswered third-period goals the visitors scored en route to an improbable 5-1 victory at the Bell Centre, keeping the Bruins alive in this quarter-final playoff series. It marked the first time Boston had won when it didn't open the game's scoring. Also, the five goals matched the Bruins' output in the series' four previous games.

Thomas and the defense pulled out stops

Boston.com - With four third-period goals last night, the Bruins turned a 1-1 squirmer into a 5-1 laugher. But with the score tied, the Canadiens had two glittering chances to take the lead and perhaps finish Boston's season. Late in the second period, after Phil Kessel netted a power-play goal, Andrew Alberts tried to hold the blue line when the puck skittered his way. But it got past the defenseman, creating an odd-man rush for forwards Maxim Lapierre and Guillaume Latendresse, who thundered into the Boston zone.

Bruins still breathing

TheStar.com - They had extra police outside the Bell Centre last night, some on motorcycles and some on horseback, anticipating the post-game trouble that morons call celebrating. The expectation, at least of the locals, was that the Boston Bruins would feel good about themselves after putting up a darn good fight against the best team during the regular season in the Eastern Conference, but then do the right thing and roll over to let the Montrealers carry on with the long playoff run many have forecast for them. It didn't turn out that way, of course, not at all.

Standing Pat: Kessel makes most of opportunity

Canada.com - Bruins head coach Claude Julien said he challenged Phil Kessel by putting him back in the lineup for Game 5 of the playoff series Thursday night and the second-year player responded by scoring the Bruins first goal. "That's what I want to see from a player when I put him back in there," said Julien. "I challenged him and he responded." One of Julien's complaints has been Kessel's lack of grit and, while the goal was appreciated, he was probably just as happy to see Kessel get credit for two hits.

Kessel comes to play for Bruins

Foxsports.com - Why the Bruins won: Pressure. First off, hats off to Claude Julien for re-inserting Phil Kessel into the lineup — and to the rest of the team for giving him an extra boost as the youngster sparked the Black and Gold offense. He fought hard in the corners and proved to be substantially more valuable than Jeremy Reich could have been in Game 5. Kessel, a defensive liability during the season, even led the team with five blocked shots in his 12:32 of ice time. Boston didn't get caught up with trying to match Montreal hit for hit. Instead, it kept plugging away on offense, trying to complete the chances it missed in Game 4. The Bruins got under Price's skin and refused to leave.

Bruins survive with four goals in 3rd vs. Habs

FoxSports.com - The Boston Bruins worked hard to get a break and Carey Price gave a big one right to them. Glen Metropolit scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period after Price caused a reckless turnover and Boston went on to beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 Thursday night to avoid elimination in their first-round series. Tim Thomas stopped 31 shots for the Bruins, who now trail the Eastern Conference quarterfinal 3-2. "That's the kind of team we are," Metropolit said. "We're not a flashy bunch of guys." Price gloved a puck at the side of his net and dropped it in front of him, but Petteri Nokelainen got his stick on it before Montreal's Maxim Lapierre and Metropolit batted the puck into an open net 3:31 into the third to put the Bruins up 2-1.

For Sinden, writing on the wall

Boston.com - They talked. That's about all Peter Chiarelli would say. Some 48 hours after Harry Sinden kicked Chiarelli's team down the block and around the corner, Chiarelli and Sinden talked for about a half-hour yesterday by phone, Chiarelli here with his Bruins and Sinden from his home in Florida, where he has spent most of this season. "I had a long talk with Harry today, and I think it's best, for many reasons, that I don't get into specifics," said Chiarelli, standing outside his club's dressing room at Bell Centre, less than an hour before the Bruins beat the Canadiens, 5-1. "He was contrite . . . and I'll leave it at that."

Murray may be down to his last shot

Boston Herald.com - Glen Murray will play his 624th game for the Bruins tomorrow night at the Garden. And if the team fails to knock off Montreal in Game 6, it could be his last. It’s no secret the veteran right winger had a tough regular season, with just 17 goals in 63 games. And his lack of finishing remains a problem through the first five games of this first-round playoff series. In the B’s 1-0 Game 4 loss at the Garden on Tuesday, Murray had two or three excellent scoring opportunities, with no payoff. In the series as a whole, he is scoreless despite eight shots, including one in last night’s 5-1 Game 5 victory over the Habs. The 35-year-old has one year remaining on his contract, at $4.1 million, and Bruins management will have to decide whether to keep Murray, try to trade him or even buy him out.

Glen Metropoli breaks scoring hex

Boston Herald.com - Wednesday morning in Wilmington, Glen Metropolit was asked about his goal scoring or - more precisely - the lack thereof, and he couldn’t help but laugh. “I think there’s someone with a voodoo doll pricking me,” Metropolit said. Metropolit had gone 33 games without a goal, dating back to Feb. 5. But last night, Metropolit came up with the most timely goal of his career and perhaps the Bruins [team stats]’ season when he scored the eventual game-winner at 3:31 of the third period of a 5-1 Bruins victory in Game 5. The Canadiens lead the best-of-seven series, 3-2. “What a great feeling,” said Metropolit. “I’ve been battling for a while, and to get a big goal for my team like that. You just have to keep sticking with it. I thought eventually it would come and it came at a good time.”

Hungry B's take it back to Boston

Boston.com - In the waning minutes of Game 5, the faintest whisper of "Go, Habs, Go" rattled in the upper reaches of Bell Centre. But there weren't many other voices joining in. Most of the fans had departed. The Bruins, facing elimination last night in enemy territory, busted open a 1-1 game by pouring four third-period goals past the once-unflappable Carey Price, stating, with a 5-1 exclamation point, the following: Come and get some. "We said to each other, 'You know, boys, we have 20 minutes to continue our season,' " said Dennis Wideman. "We went out and played as good we could."

B's alive and kicking

Boston Herald.com - Hold those eulogies, for now at least. The Bruins, left for dead more than once this season, rose up yet again when it was least expected. It was a sun-splashed day here, and you could hear the sing-song “Ole, Ole, Ole” on the streets by lunchtime as the Canadiens fans were primed for a celebration. But before the city could pop the cork, an amazing thing happened. The Bruins, whose offense had reached the anemic stage in Game 4’s shutout loss, scored four third-period goals to earn a stunning 5-1 victory at the Bell Centre.

B's need to trigger more rebounds

Canada.com - Milan Lucic has a simple solution for the Boston Bruins' offensive woes. "We have to get more scoring chances, and I'm not talking about just the first shot, I'm talking about the second shot, the third and, if there is one, the fourth," the 19-year-old rookie forward said. "There has to be desperation to get into those areas." It sounds good, but there's one problem. The Bruins are trailing the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal against the Canadiens because goaltender Carey Price, who is leading all playoff goaltenders with a 1.20 goals-against average and a .957 save percentage, isn't allowing many rebounds. The Canadiens are leading 3-1 and can wrap up the series with a win tonight at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, CJAD Radio-800). Bruins head coach Claude Julien agreed Price hasn't left many rebounds, but said the Bruins have been making that part of his job easy. "He's played well for them, but sometimes it's where you shoot the puck that nullifies rebounds," Julien said. "If you keep shooting at his belly pads, you're not going to get too many rebounds from there." One of the best opportunities during a 1-0 loss to the Canadiens Tuesday night was a Glen Murray shot from the slot. That has been Murray's bread-and-butter tactic, but he hit Price square in the mid-section.

they must think outside the box on power play

Boston.com - The Bruins were down, 1-0, after 40 minutes in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series Tuesday, but were feeling good because they kicked off the third period with a two-minute power play, courtesy of a tripping call on forward Steve Begin on the final play of the second period. With a clean entry, sharp execution, and some shots on goal, the Bruins could have tied the game. But with Begin in the box, the Bruins managed only a single shot on goalie Carey Price, far too few for a team struggling to score. Through four games, the Bruins have scored only once on 17 man-advantage attempts for a 5.9 percent success rate, the worst percentage of the 16 playoff teams.

Punchless offense may lead to a K.O.

Boston.com - As expected, sleep didn't come easily for David Krejci after the Bruins' 1-0 loss to Montreal Tuesday in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series. more stories like this Of the fistful of Grade A scoring chances the Bruins created, Krejci had some of the best. In the second period, after Andrew Ference was called for tripping winger Alex Kovalev - defenseman Patrice Brisebois scored the game's only goal during the power play at 19:18 - Krejci slipped behind the Montreal defense with a chance to put the puck behind goalie Carey Price. Krejci broke in from the left wing, but his close-in forehand bid was snuffed out by Price. With the Bruins shorthanded in the first period, Krejci had an even better scoring opportunity. Marco Sturm, who misfired earlier when Price challenged him for a loose puck and the winger wristed a shot wide of the net, busted into the Montreal zone with Krejci riding shotgun.

Power outage a big problem

Boston Herald.com - In the past three intense and thoroughly enjoyable playoff games between the Bruins and Canadiens, you had the sense in each contest that one mistake - or one goal - would be the difference. And that’s pretty much how they played out. When the competition is as taut as that, you need to have your power play clicking. And the B’s man-advantage definitely is not. The B’s are just 1-for-20 in the series, the only goal coming on a 5-on-3 in Game 2.

Canadiens wary of Bruins' comeback

Canada.com - Overcoming a three-games-to-one deficit in the NHL playoffs might be a rare occurrence, but it has been done. And Steve Bégin had a front-row seat for one of those comebacks. Bégin, the Canadiens' gritty forward, was with Montreal in 2004, when the team overcame a 3-1 deficit against Boston, capturing the series in seven games by winning twice on the road. This season, the Bruins are faced with the same dilemma, trailing the quarterfinal playoff series 3-1 heading into Game 5 tonight at the Bell Centre.

Despite long odds there is reason to hope

Boston Herald.com - In many seasons in recent memory, the Bruins would be effectively dead, awaiting the inevitable formality of the coup de grace to be delivered by their perennial nemeses, the Montreal Canadiens. Over the years in this rivalry, an elimination game in Montreal with the B’s trailing would be a virtual foregone conclusion. Bruins players would speak bravely before the game and spout the standard cliches, expressing optimism that they could still come back “one game at a time.”

B's follow lead of Hab's

Boston Herald.com - So far, the parallels are uncanny. In 2004, when the Claude Julien-coached Montreal Canadiens came back from a 3-1 deficit to upset the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs, the first four games were a near-identical blueprint of the four games in the current series - in which the Bruins trail 3-1 heading into Game 5 tonight at the Bell Centre. In the earlier series, the underdog Habs opened in Boston and appeared no match for the talented Bruins, who pummeled them in a 3-0 victory that wasn’t even as close as the score. The Canadiens then righted themselves in Game 2 before losing a heartbreaker in overtime. Sound familiar?

Thomas not quite gifted enough

Boston.com - No need for a cake or a card to mark his 34th birthday. Bruins goalie Tim Thomas would rather have received nothing from the Canadiens last night. Instead, he was the recipient of a Patrice Brisebois blast that rattled off the pipe behind him, bounced in, and stood as the only goal in a heartbreaking 1-0 loss that gave Montreal a 3-1 series advantage. Unfortunately, it was his mates who couldn't mark his special day with the offense needed to even the series.

Bruins paying the Price

Boston Herald.com - If the Montreal Canadiens go on to eliminate the Bruins from the playoffs, and logic dictates that they certainly should after seizing a 3-1 series lead with last night’s 1-0 victory at the Garden, we will find out over the next few weeks whether young Habs goalie Carey Price is the latest incarnation of Ken Dryden or Patrick Roy. Both of those august figures, of course, opened Hall of Fame careers by backstopping the Canadiens to Stanley Cups as rookies. Montreal GM Bob Gainey hopes for nothing less from Price this spring. Well, six days into his first playoffs, the 20-year-old Price is living up to billing. He and his mates have faced three successive tremendous efforts from the Bruins, three games which by just about any measure - winning one-on-one battles, playing great team defense, taking the body - the B’s probably deserved to win.

Grind of the playoffs doesn't suit Kessel's style

Boston.com - In 82 regular-season games, Phil Kessel potted 19 goals and dished out 18 assists, making him fifth on the Bruins in scoring. But a more telling statistic is 11, which is the number of hits he was credited with. That translates into one every 7.5 games, which just isn't going to get it done in the playoffs. Kessel assisted on Boston's only goal in the 4-1 loss in Game 1 of this series, but coach Claude Julien, believing a heavier prescription of grit was required against the skilled Canadiens, scratched Kessel for Game 2, replacing him with the feisty Vladimir Sobotka.

O’Reilly’s a big fan of Lucic

Boston Herald.com - For recent generations of Bruins fans, no player has more personified the legacy of the team, its dedication to hard work and toughness, than Terry O’Reilly. O’Reilly was on hand for the first home playoff game Sunday for a team of which he has grown very fond this season. His favorite, not surprisingly, has been rookie winger Milan Lucic. “I’ll tell you,” O’Reilly said. “Personally, watching the team this year, I’ve really gravitated to Lucic as a player who I really enjoy watching.”

Bergeron’s comeback already a feel-good story

Boston Herald.com - This is not a story about when Patrice Bergeron will return to the Bruins. No. The real story, the success story, the feel-good story, is that we are talking about him at all. To truly understand what’s going on, one need only recall the press conference the Bruins held in the middle of the season, when Bergeron, still recovering from that awful hit he took in late October, “walked” into a room at TD Banknorth Garden to talk about his injury. We put walk in quotes because the steps he took that day barely met the qualifications for the word. He didn’t so much walk into the room as stagger into it, taking small, unsteady steps. He needed help climbing the two or three steps to the portable dais that had been set up in the room. Click here to find out more! It was made clear the session would be brief - five minutes of questions in English, five minutes of questions in French. We were told he was too weak to do much more. Would he return to the Bruins this season? Who cared? If you were there, and you had a heart, you just hoped the young man would get his health back, that he’d be able to again summon the smile that had once been so much a part of his physical makeup. And that brings us to this week. Bergeron still hasn’t played since he took that hit, which means he’s been a mere spectator in the Bruins’ Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens. He took part in yesterday’s morning skate at the Garden, but was not in uniform for last night’s 1-0 Game 4 loss.

Sinden has seen it before

Boston.com - Harry Sinden, Papa Bear in Winter, watched last night's excruciating 1-0 playoff loss to the Canadiens from the owners' suite on Level Six of the New Garden. "Obviously, Montreal can't be 11 times better than us, but they have been better," said Sinden. "We really do play hard and we're playing with a lot of young players who really aren't quite sure how to play in this league. We're probably not in the elite of the league or anywhere near it, but we've got some good ones." It's been frustrating for give-'em-hell-Harry to watch his team go down, three games to one, in the series. Especially since it's been there for the taking. Sinden thinks the officials have let more stuff go in the playoffs - an advantage for his hard-working, less-skilled team.

Bury chances, or bury yourselves

Boston.com - The Bruins are still alive, be it just barely, in the 2008 playoffs because they adapted on the fly after Game 1. They realized off the hop, upon being rubbed out by three goals, that they didn't have the speed or scoring touch to hang with the Habs. They came back two nights later with a tougher, smarter, grittier approach, and split Games 2 and 3, mostly because of tighter defense and overall determination. Good fix. ID the problem, supply the answer. Now all they have to do is figure out how to score.

These B’s giving an ‘A’ effort

Boston Herald.com - Let’s get this right out of the way: The Bruins still need to win a playoff series to prove to skeptical hockey consumers throughout New England that it’s all right to go out into those cold winter nights and become, well, fans again. Sorry if that sounds harsh. But look at it from this perspective. You just don’t want to be a Bruins sales rep pounding the pavement each day with a whole lot of, “Yes, I know we went out in the first round . . . yes, I know we’ve won only two playoff series over the last 16 seasons. Yes, I know . . .” But with that out of the way, is it OK to stand up and applaud the players who are currently wearing Bruins uniforms? For even if you have this . . . this thing over the way ownership and management have conducted their affairs over most of the last two decades, it is impossible not to be impressed with the way the young, learning-on-the-job Bruins did their jobs last night at the Garden in their 1-0 playoff loss against the Montreal Canadiens.

Habs put Bruin's on edge

Globesports.com - To Montreal Canadiens fans, the pages that have been yanked off calendars since they last celebrated a playoff series win seem to go back further than 48 months — but now their team is in a position to end the dry spell. The Canadiens eked out a 1-0 victory against the Boston Bruins at the TD Banknorth Garden last night and, with the 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven opening-round series, Montreal can eliminate its long-time NHL rival at the Bell Centre tomorrow. The Canadiens, however, know the Bruins will be a difficult foe to put away because the last three games of the series have been decided by a goal. "Our guys really pushed themselves for a better effort [after an overtime loss in the third game on Sunday]. You could feel it on the bench and you didn't want to let down the guy next to you," said Montreal defenceman Mike Komisarek, whose hard-hitting feud with truculent Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic was just one of the many appealing facets to last night's game.

One for the ages

TorontoSun.com - Patrice Brisebois, the official greybeard of the Montreal Canadiens at age 37, peeked through the maze of chatty reporters surrounding him and spotted Carey Price sitting on the far side of the dressing room. As he watched Price, 20, patiently answer numerous questions about his first career post-season shutout, Brisebois was reminded of another Habs goalie who had a knack of coming up big when the spotlight was on. "I don't mean to put extra pressure on Carey, but when I see him play like this I think about Patrick Roy," Brisebois said.

Habs' Price just right in Boston

TheStar.com - The looks on their faces told the entire story. Montreal defenceman Patrice Brisebois was the image of pure elation. Boston goalie Tim Thomas was bewildered. It was Brisebois' second-period slap shot that Thomas never saw – the only goal of the game – that has given the Montreal Canadiens a vice-grip hold on a series that is being decided by the slimmest of margins. "When the puck came to me, I thought, `You know what, if I miss the net, I miss the net, but I'm not going to miss by much,'" Brisebois said. "I hit the net and I scored." A split in two overtime games in a row followed by last night's 1-0 Montreal victory leaves the Habs up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series with a chance to wrap it up tomorrow night at the Bell Centre.

Bruins on verge of elimination

Boston.com - An instant after Montreal defenseman Patrice Brisebois put the hammer down on the game-winning power-play goal last night, P.J. Axelsson, with a two-handed chop, smashed his stick on the crossbar of the Boston net - the ultimate expression of disappointment over the penalty, the score, and what comes next. "We're in for a big challenge," Axelsson acknowledged.

No goals in sight

Boston Herald.com - There were times this season when Bruins followers thought it a miracle if their team made it to the playoffs with the offensive challenges it faced on a nightly basis. Now that lack of scoring ability has them on the brink of elimination. The B’s had a slew of grade-A scoring chances throughout last night’s pivotal Game 4 at TD Banknorth Garden, but came away with nothing on Montreal Canadiens wunderkind goalie Carey Price (27 saves). And when Patrice Brisebois scored with 42 seconds left in the second period on a power play, Price and the rest of the Habs made it stand up for the 1-0 victory.

Neely remains a force with Bruins

Canada.com - It wasn't one of the cinematic epics of our time and yet, 14 years following its release, Dumb and Dumber has a devoted cult following. And, to this day, Cam Neely, one of the greatest power forwards in National Hockey League history, gets recognized and referred to by the character he portrayed in the comedy film starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. "Oh, yeah," said Peter Chiarelli, the Boston Bruins' general manager, adding confirmation. "We'll walk around and people shout 'Sea Bass,' and I laugh. It was a hilarious movie and scene. I still think he's getting royalty cheques from it." Sea Bass, played by Neely near the end of his distinguished career, was a tough guy; apparently a trucker and expert fisherman. He gets struck accidentally by a salt-shaker thrown by Daniels's character in a roadside diner. He threatens Daniels, but settles instead for expectorating on his hamburger, speaking five lines during the scene.

Bear Essentials: Gotta 'B'-lieve

Bruins.com - To paraphrase Field of Dreams, it's funny how one game can change the world. The Boston Bruins OT win on Sunday certainly changed my world (meaning this wonderful town of ours and this building) overnight. No doubt about it, Bruins fever has hit the Hub. On Monday, there was Black & Gold everywhere, most noticably on WEEI where Marc Savard was a special guest and where the hosts consistently talked hockey for most of the day. Much of the credit goes to Messer's Lucic and Savard and their goals in the B's OT win, but a lion's share of the praise should also go to the Bruins fans in the TD Banknorth Garden. Those True Believers, most of whom wore their Black & Gold, realized that there was an inordinate number of Blue, White and Red jersey wearing fans in their midst, and they provided the home team with more noise than I have ever personally heard here in the building. The din even reached Fenway Park and when Savard's goal was shown on the giant video screen, Boston fans gave a standing ovation to the Black & Gold during the Red Sox vs. Yankees game . Yes, on Sunday, Boston's seventh man was the third star right next to Luch and Savvy and B's head coach Claude Julien was very pleased with his extra player. "It was great, especially when you looked around at the beginning and saw a lot of Montreal fans, they tried to take it over," said Coach. "Our fans stood tall and wouldn’t let them. It was nice to see, obviously we let them know that this was our building, not theirs.

Canadiens, Bruins catch up after splitting OT playoff games

Bruins.com - After playing overtime games in different cities on consecutive nights, the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens were glad to get a day off Monday. The Bruins returned home Sunday and got a 2-1 win in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series when Marc Savard scored 9:25 into overtime. Boston pulled to 2-1 in the series as well. "If you're 30, you feel like you're 60 the next day," Savard said Monday. "You just have to get your rest. We're doing the right things around here, getting lots of fluids and be as ready as can be for the next one." The Bruins' win came a day after Alex Kovalev scored 2 1/2 minutes into overtime to give the Canadiens a sweep of the first two games at home. "Both teams have played hard," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "I don't think there's a team that has an edge when it comes to that. We've played the same kind of minutes. Physically, I think our team is still in pretty good shape."

Bruins killing time almost seemlessly

Boston.com - Last Thursday, when the Bruins had little to be happy about after a 4-1 series-opening loss against the Canadiens, some players took solace in the six occasions they snuffed the rolling Montreal power play, including a two-minute five-on-three situation. more stories like this In hindsight, the Game 1 performance on the penalty kill might have given the Bruins the juice they needed. The Bruins, who punched their way back into the series with a 2-1 overtime win Sunday at TD Banknorth Garden, have killed all but one of Montreal's 18 power-play opportunities. Montreal's only man-advantage goal came in overtime Saturday at the Bell Centre, when a shot by winger Alex Kovalev skimmed off the stick of Zdeno Chara and hopped over the shoulder of Tim Thomas, giving the Canadiens a 3-2 victory. "I just think we're doing a better job of executing it," said coach Claude Julien. "But at the same time, when you play a series of seven games, you obviously adjust to a team with more specifics than playing in the regular season, when you're playing a different team every night or two nights. We've had an opportunity to maybe adjust a little better."

B's put victory in past

Boston Herald.com - When the Bruins were nearly run out of the Bell Centre by the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 last Thursday, their response was simple: That game’s over. Time to move on. When they lost a heartbreaker on a controversial penalty call in overtime in Game 2 on Saturday, it was the same message. And now that they’ve finally enjoyed a little success, which came in dramatic fashion with Marc Savard’s overtime game-winner on Sunday, the mantra continues to be chanted.

All systems a go for Bruin's

Boston Herald.com - The system of on-ice X’s and O’s that first-year Bruins coach Claude Julien installed this season has been talked about ad nauseum since training camp. Yet systems are not always easy to understand when watching from the seats or pressbox because there are ebbs and flows in their execution during games. Sometimes, one team is able to impose its system on the game, and it functions flawlessly. Other times, the opponent asserts its system and Team A’s game plan falls apart entirely. For the Bruins, the system worked remarkably well - and with really amazing consistency - for much of Sunday night’s 2-1 overtime win in Game 3 of the team’s first-round playoff series against Montreal.

Lucic becomming mr. popular

TorontoSun.com - No one wanted to be Milan Lucic's roommate. The engaging Boston Bruins rookie had just broken his large nose, causing the volume of his snoring spells at night to practically crumble the plaster in his hotel rooms. "Yeah, that really happened," the Vancouver native said, adding that he understood why his teammates didn't want to bunk with him during that brief period of the regular season. It may have been the only time all season that Milan Lucic was unpopular with anyone in this town. Still just 19, Lucic is developing a cult following in Boston, working his way to becoming a sporting icon in one of North America's top sports towns. "Honestly, I think he already is," Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli admitted Sunday, just minutes after his team had posted a dramatic 2-1 overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens at the TD Banknorth Garden.

Lucic gives Bruin's big bump

Boston.com - If we didn't have a series before - and it was looking doubtful as recently as Sunday afternoon - we have one now. The Bruins and Canadiens will meet again tonight, in Game 4 of their best-of-seven playoff round, and the math tells us the Habs have a 2-1 series lead. Much like the math at the gas pump these days, the numbers look grossly inflationary. Now, before everyone gets carried away, the Bruins don't have their archrivals on the run. They squeezed out a 2-1 win over Les Glorieux Sunday night, in overtime, first and foremost because goalie Tim Thomas got better as the game got longer, withstanding an overtime barrage during which the Habs hammered him with six shots. The Canadiens also contributed mightily to their own downfall, getting messy in their end on the game's final sequence. To wit: Ex-Bruin Bryan Smolinski smacked Peter Schaefer with a slash that led to Thomas bolting the crease on a delayed penalty, Marc Savard jumping on the ice, and Schaefer combining on a pass play with Dennis Wideman that left the crafty Savard with enough open net to haul in a beluga whale.

Bergeron, Koivu playing the waiting game

TorontoSun.com - Patrice Bergeron seems unlikely to return to the Boston Bruins lineup in the coming days, while Saku Koivu's status remains up in the air. Bergeron, who has missed almost the entire season with post-concussion syndrome, has yet to receive the green light from medical experts to take part in game action. The Bruins' gifted young forward saw his neurologist Sunday and said he will pay another visit to him next week. "I'm still waiting for the okay from the doctors," Bergeron said after practice yesterday. "I went to see them and they wanted me to have some more practices before getting back out there. It's the doctors' decision right now." Bergeron welcomes any physical contact he receives during on-ice workouts. "That's what I need," Bergeron said. "If I want to get back there, I need hits like that to see how I feel. "I'd like to be out there and help the guys," he added. "But right now I've got to listen to the doctors and do what's best for me."

Bergeron won't return soon

Boston.com - During a sparsely attended practice yesterday at Ristuccia Arena, Andrew Alberts lined up Patrice Bergeron and delivered a pop to the center, a hit that resembled some of the blasts thrown during the first three games of the opening-round Bruins-Canadiens series. more stories like this Bergeron, however, will most likely not take such hits from the Canadiens, as it's unlikely he'll return