Bruins 2, Canadiens 1 (2OT)

How's your heart? Mine's still recovering from Saturday night's shenanigans. It took 89 minutes to determine a winner, but you can't say the Bruins didn't earn it.

Tim Thomas and Carey Price had two of the best goaltending performances of the playoffs. Price is the only Canadien that I respect. He and Thomas combined for 94 saves on 97 shots, which translates to a .969 save percentage. Thomas made his biggest save in the 2nd overtime period.

The three aspects of Thomas' game that combine to make him great are his balance, vision, and quickness. This save exemplifies all three of these qualities coming together to result in magnificence. His balance allows him to cut down the angle against Moen without committing to the shot. His center of gravity remains in his mid-section, which allows him to react to Moen's pass. Thomas actually does a better job reading the play than Ference. He starts moving to play Gionta before Gionta moves his stick to play the puck. Thomas' quickness allows him to get to the spot in time to not only block the shot, but to safely steer it to the corner.

But that play might not have been the save of the game.

This might have been Michael Ryder's best defensive game in a Bruins uniform, and not just for that play.

In order to succeed in the playoffs, a team needs to improve, from game to game, and series to series. The Bruins have done that in this series. They've stopped giving the puck away in dangerous areas. They're winning battles. They're getting bodies in front of Price. Ryder's actually playing. Horton is muscling people around. Chara is fully hydrated and once again a physical force. And Brad Marchand no longer looks like a rookie.

Marchand's goal was a prime example of Boston's physicality triumphing. The B's aren't going to get more big hits than Montreal. The Habs use their speed to inflict big hits, and to avoid them. But on Marchand's goal, the Bruins repeatedly won inside position, and it ultimately resulted in a goal. That's where the Bruins' strength can defeat the Canadiens' speed.

Things aren't perfect yet. It's hard to discuss faults and flaws after thrilling back-to-back OT victories. But there's plenty of room for improvement. The power play continues to struggle, which is fine because the PK is clicking beautifully. The Bruins have stopped turning pucks over on their defensive blue-line, but they need to take better care of it between the offensive blue-line and that Stanley Cup Playoff logo.

Then there's Kaberle. His lack of strength directly lead to Montreal's 3rd period goal. The Habs had been pressuring the B's for 10 minutes, but Kaberle's inability to push a puck to a safe area allowed Montreal to score. Kelly and Peverley have contributed so much more than Kaberle has.

I was glad that Horton and the first line scored the game-winning goal. But Lucic needs to show up. He's still floating around, hoping for some good luck. I wouldn't be shocked if he's injured because he looks like he did in last year's postseason, hardly skating at all. He needs to simplify his game, stop worrying about drifting into scoring positions, and play physical. The goals will find him if he just stays true to himself.

And Krejci needs to stop dangling and deking. Just shoot the friggin' puck. You're not going to trick Carey Price.

Thankfully, Game 6 isn't until Tuesday. Both these teams need some recuperation time. The Canadiens are facing elimination and that makes them very dangerous. Under Julien, the Bruins are 2-7 when they can eliminate a team from the playoffs. They're also 0-3 in Game 7's under Julien. So despite the 3-2 series lead, I'm hardly over confident.

-The Commodore

Canadiens 2, Bruins 0

A few days after a guy named Price shut down the Sox, Carey Price shutout the Bruins. I'm just glad the Knicks don't have anyone named Price.

It's been my mantra all season long. The Bruins give the puck away too easily in dangerous places. Their power play sucks. They have too much trouble entering the zone. The forwards aren't good shooters. All these problems were on display last night.

The two goals the Bruins allowed came off inexcusable turnovers. First, let's discuss Kaberle's mistakes.

He wasn't under enough pressure to justify his blind pass. The B's traded for Kaberle because he was a "puck moving defenseman." But last night, he moved the puck far too often. Instead of trying to win a one-on-one confrontation with a Canadien, he'd arbitrarily pass it to another spot on the ice, often a more dangerous spot.

Kaberle's second mistake was how hard he passed along the boards. It wasn't a soft dribbler to the relatively safe corner. It wasn't a hard screamer along the kickplate and out to the blue line. It was the perfect speed to set up a Canadien by the faceoff circle.

Kaberle's third and fatal mistake was to take a large circular route around the net. He vacated the slot, abandoning Tim Thomas to fend for himself against a pair of Montreal forwards. Three mistakes in one play. That's impressive.

Lucic's giveaway was a lot simpler, but no less stupid. There was no reason to try to outmaneuver Scott Gomez there. Just pass it back to the defensemen, or self-pass off the boards, but there's such little reward for so much risk in that situation. Lucic simply lost his patience, and tried too hard to make a small play.

That's why the Bruins allowed 2 goals. Why didn't they score any?

Give some credit to Price. Give some credit to nerves, as playoff rookie Brad Marchand had a few golden opportunities he seemed a bit too eager to slam home. Krejci was still in regular season mode, trying and failing to make his clever plays in the middle of the ice. Those don't work in postseason play. And Milan Lucic was a complete ghost for 2 periods. He didn't show up until the 3rd, and then his most important play favored the Canadiens.

The Bruins' power play was dreadful. But the penalty kill was good. I'll take that exchange. In this series, if the B's can emerge from a game even on special teams, that's a victory.

For the Bruins to win this series and go deep into the playoffs, they need their best players to show up. Lucic, Chara, Marchand, Bergeron, Recchi. They need to eliminate the mistakes they made last night. They need more ferocity, more energy, and more bloodthirstiness. When Montreal was on the ropes, the Bruins seemed to slow down. That's when they need to speed up. They need second chance opportunities on Price. They need to control the crease on both ends of the ice.

It's easy to say, not so easy to do.

Game 2 Saturday night at the Garden.

-The Commodore