Resilient B’s Even Series At Two

Email to a friend Permalink

Friday, April 22, 2011

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

For the first 30 minutes of Thursday night’s game in Montreal, things did not look good for the Boston Bruins.

Trailing the series 2-1 to the Canadiens, the B’s also found themselves down 3-1 in game 4 at the Bell Center with just over 10 minutes to play in the second period.

To make matters worse, the B’s were getting thoroughly outplayed by Montreal who seemed quicker to the puck and was peppering Boston goaltender Tim Thomas with shots in the first half of the game.

Embattled Bruins’ coach Claude Julien called for a timeout after Andrei Kostitsyn’s goal put the Habs up by 2 goals with 12:13 to play in the second period. Whether it was simply a coincidence or not, Boston responded with a spirited effort from that point forward tying the game at 3 on goals by Andrew Ference and Patrice Bergeron late in the second period.

Montreal would regain the lead early in the third on a power play goal by P.K. Subban - his first of the series. The power play was the result of a phantom call by the officials on Patrice Bergeron who was called for hooking Montreal’s James Wisniewski in the corner.

But the resilient Bruins wouldn’t give in. After getting outshot by the Habs 30-22 in the first 2 periods, Boston outshot Montreal 12-6 in the third and scored the equalizer with 6:18 to play on Chris Kelly’s second goal of the series.

The two teams headed to overtime tied at 4 after Boston killed off an interference penalty on Dennis Seidenberg in the final two minutes of the third.

Then, just 1:59 into the first overtime, former Montreal Canadien Michael Ryder scored his second goal of the game tying the series at 2-games a piece sending a stunned Montreal crowd home disappointed.

For the game, Montreal outshot Boston 38-35. The win by Boston also kept the streak alive for the road team which has won all four games in this series.

Game 5 of the best-of-seven series will be played Saturday night at the TD Garden in Boston. Faceoff is set for just after 7pm.