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Bruins Beat Habs, Take 3-0 Series Lead

It appears that the Bruins might finally be ready to exorcise their demons and beat the Montreal Canadiens in a first round playoff series. Monday night in Montreal, the Bruins took a commanding 3-0 series lead with a crucial 4-2 win. With a win Wednesday night, the Bruins can eliminate the Canadiens in a series sweep and move on to Round 2.

Michael Ryder scored a tie-breaking goal late in the second period against his former team, and Tim Thomas finished with 23 saves to push the Canadiens to the brink.

Chris Higgins got the scoring started for the B’s in the first period, and Phil Kessel answered with his third goal of the playoffs late in the first.

The Bruins took the lead wth Shawn Thornton’s goal at 3:36 of the first period. In a back-and-forth game, Montreal tied it at 2-2 with Yannick Weber’s goal less than two minutes later, but Ryder’s goal later in the period proved to be the difference.

Phil Kessel added an empty-netter late in the fourth for the win.

The Bruins face the Habs in Game 4 Wednesday night at 7 p.m.

About KC Downey

KC is the "head coach" of the Sports of Boston, LLC blog network. Follow him on Twitter: @kc_downey

Tags: Bruins, Chuck Kobasew, Michael Ryder, Montreal Canadiens, NHL Playoffs, Phil Kessel, Shawn Thornton, Tim Thomas