Ryan Lambert
BOSTON — For the Bruins, any loss to Montreal is big at this point.
Not just because of the storied rivalry between the clubs, and not just because Boston is embroiled in a heated battle to preserve its current playoff position (one point ahead of the eighth and final spot, currently occupied by idle Philadelphia), but because they haven't beaten Les Habitants, who have the best record in the East, in the last 10 tries. That includes the six previous games this year (and by a combined score of 32-12).
"(We're) frustrated," said Bruins netminder Tim Thomas. "I've seen this in the minors where one team dominates the other all year long, but I don't know if I've ever seen it at the NHL level."
The team, though, didn't feel last night's 4-2 loss was especially disappointing.
"I think right from the start of the game we were doing a better job of slowing them down as we were trying to clog it up and creating turnovers and going back at them," said Bruins defenseman Dennis Wideman. "As the game went on, we had a couple breakdowns in our own zone. Against a team like that, with the scoring power they have, a couple breakdowns means a couple goals."
The problem, too, is that the Bruins, who've tallied three goals just once in the last 10 games, simply aren't scoring. As a result, they're also not winning, going 2-5-3 in that stretch.
"I can't put the puck in the net for the players, you know?" said coach Claude Julien. "I think we've shown in the past that we are capable of scoring. Somewhere in that dressing room, there's somebody who's got some goals in them and it's time we step out and start scoring some goals if we want to win some hockey games."
However, teams don't often win games when guys like Alex Kovalev, who scored a pair of highlight-reel goals in the second period and added an assist in the third, is given the space he was allowed by the Bruins defense last night.
His first came at 8:19 of the second, when he beat Zdeno Chara one-on-one with a beautiful spin-o-rama and backhanded it past Thomas (26 saves) to open the scoring. Then he potted the runner-up Goal of the Week — second only to himself — by splitting Chara and Wideman and poking it through Thomas' five-hole to double the lead 5:02 later.
Every time he touched the puck in the offensive zone after that, the whole arena began to buzz.
"He's a very good player," said Wideman, who was on the ice for both Kovalev goals. "He's having a great year for himself and as a committee, as a five-man group, whoever's going against him has to know that he's out there and that he can make plays that you might not think he's going to make.
"When you think you've got him, he makes that play and you still have to be ready for him. You can't relax for a second when he's out there. If you do, he makes a play like he did on the second goal."
Michael Ryder's score at 6:47 of the third to ice the game was indicative of not only the Bruins' recent woes against Montreal, but the night itself. Yet another critical defensive lapse allowed Saku Koivu to get a nice pass across the crease and find Ryder open on the backdoor.
The Bruins tried to approach this as a playoff game, given the desperation of their current state of affairs. Just two points above missing the playoffs (for the third straight year), before a sell-out midweek crowd of 17,565 against a rival that Boston outplayed, outshot, and outchanced in the first 30 minutes of the game, and this was the effort?
Against Montreal's dynamic offense, they were often hapless and helpless.
Unhappily for the Bruins, they get one day off before returning to the Bell Centre in Montreal for the series finale on Saturday, where they are 0 for their last 11 and haven't won since late in the 2003-04 season.
Still, they remain optimistic.
"It's ifs, ands, and buts, but the truth is they've beat us seven times," said Marc Savard. "That's the story there. We've got a chance Saturday to at least get one against them."
Bruins notebook
Bruins honor Murray's milestone
Before the game, the Bruins honored veteran Glen Murray, who played in his 1,000th NHL game on Mar. 16 in Washington.
Murray was honored by teammates Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron, GM Peter Chiarelli and NHL official Kevin Collins, and awarded the Silver Stick.
Murray, the Bruins' first overall pick in 1991, has played more than half of his games (561) in Boston, with stops in Pittsburgh and L.A. He began his career on Jan. 28, 1992 against the Quebec Nordiques.
Murray is the ninth player to reach the milestone in Black and Gold, joining John Bucyk, Jean Ratelle, Wayne Cashman, Rick Middleton, Gordie Roberts, Ray Bourque, Dave Ellett and Don Sweeney. He is also the 11th player to reach the 1,000-game mark this season.
Bienvenue à Boston
The TD Banknorth Garden sell-out crowd of 17,565 was pretty much a 50-50 split between fans wearing black and gold and those sporting the bleu, blanc et rouge of Les Habitants.
Both groups were vocal all night, as one would expect, but the Montreal fans were louder and more persistent. When the Bruins took the ice for warm-ups, they were nearly booed out of the building by the large number of early-arriving Canadiens fans.
"It's good," said Tim Thomas of the crowd. "Montreal has a big following anywhere they go. Our fans were trying to keep up with them. It makes for a loud atmosphere."
Chara's return fails to impress
Chara, who missed five games due to an upper body injury, returned to the Boston lineup.
The Bruins captain played 24:50 and registered four shots, but was positively torched on both of Alex Kovalev's second-period goals and was on the ice for Andrei Kostitsyn's and finished the game minus-2.
Coach Claude Julien summed up Big Z's play with two letters: "OK."
