The Boston Bruins - Montreal Canadiens rivalry is one of the famed rivalries in the NHL, so when both teams dispatched their first round opponents, hockey fans across Canada and New England knew they were in for a fight. Game 1 was yet another game for the history books as the Canadiens were able to outlast Boston and record the victory in the overtime.
The game opened up looking like the Bruins would dominate, but against the run of play the Canadiens P.K. Subban was able to score on a wrister halfway through the first. Tacking on a second goal in the late second, the Canadiens went into the third period with a dominant lead despite being outshot 22-17.
The second period was one played more so in the middle of the ice with both teams only recording single digit shots. Both goalies stood strong as the Bruins looked to capitalize on their solid play.
The gridlock was finally broken for the Bruins early in the third period when Johnny Boychuk sent in a bomb of a slapshot, however the lead was stretched back to two only six minutes later by the Habs' Francis Bouillon. The Bruins looked out of the game until Torey Krug and Reilly Smith were able to score a goal a piece in the final portion of the third to knot the game at 3.
The real story of the game was either the Bruins' offense or Carey Price in net, depending on which team you support. The Bruins took a total of 51 shots in the game compared to Montreal's 33 over the course of the game and had multiple wonderful opportunities. A multitude of these opportunities were squandered by the Bruin offensemen, but just as many were stopped off of great play by Price.
Then finally, in double overtime was product of the same man who opened the scoring. Subban was given a tremendous opportunity from the high slot, which he fired a bullet slapshot right past Tuukka Rask who had no chance with all the traffic. The Boston faithful will be upset, as P.K. Subban is one of the most hated players in the Bay State, but the facts remain that Subban had a splendid performance, netting two and capitalizing on the few opportunities Montreal had.
Game 2 of the series will again be in Boston beginning at 12:30 ET on Saturday May 3rd, so don't miss it because this series is going to be a classic.