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Montreal came to Boston looking to make a statement, and instead they laid a giant egg. They collapsed like the U.S. economy. And after losing to Boston 7-0, Montreal’s divisional hopes may have gone up in smoke. There was sure a lot to salivate over, so let’s get to it.

It didn’t take long for Boston to set the tone; Johnny Boychuk scored just 1:01 in after getting a long rebound. Tim Thomas nearly got caught while a man down, but a shorthanded bid caused Montreal to slip up and make it 4-on-4. The Bruins later made it 2-0 while outflanking Carey Price, and nearly made it 3-0 but couldn’t get a shot off with the bad angle.

The first major problem of the game occurred at 14:10, when Tomas Plekanec hit Nathan Horton with a high stick for the double minor. Check out the clip and judge for yourself, but it certainly looked like an awful big windup for an accidental swing. No worries, though. Horton came back on the tail end of the power play, and completely faked Price out. Price moved all the way to the other side of the net, allowing Horton to pick up an easy goal.

The 2nd Period was more about who would control the momentum for the rest of the game. Both teams got some good shots in. Thomas lost track of the puck but regained sight of it just in time for a save. Price made a save after a very quick steal next to his net. Boston couldn’t convert after Price played the puck out from behind his net but lazily didn’t get back. Thomas was in a tough spot when Montreal stole the puck close to his net, and while he likely could have made the save, Dennis Seidenberg helped him out by tipping away a pass. Gregory Campbell and Paul Mara finally had to fight it out to end the period.

Montreal had a good chance on the power play in the 3rd, but after they failed to convert, Nathan Horton beat Price high after David Krejci threaded the pass through two defenders. 26 seconds later, a shot bounced off a Canadien stick to make it 5-0 Bruins, and chase Carey Price from the game.

The TD Garden faithful took the opportunity to usurp the Bell Centre faithful’s “Ole!” chant, and were soon rewarded with yet another goal, this time from Tomas Kaberle. Montreal had another power play chance later on, which was promoted to a 5-on-3 when Brad Marchand received a roughing penalty (just a two-minute minor, nothing special) for a mega hit that was rather close to the head area. But even up two men, Montreal let Boston nearly get a shorthanded goal down two men. Then they did let Boston get said goal after an interception behind enemy lines. In fact, if the game were 60:01 long, Boston would’ve made it 8-0. Fun game, wasn’t it?

JERRY!! JERRY!! Moment of the Game

Campbell and Mara had the game’s only fight, which was nothing more than a few punches that never landed anything worthwhile, and ended in a bear hug.

That’s What He Said

“You didn’t execute? You might want to go home and take your panties off, guy.” – From the “NESN Daily” dialog after the game, responding to Montreal saying the only problem was their execution.

Scoring Summary

Penalty Summary

Goalie Stats

Shots on Goal

Game Notes

• Happy 200th NHL game, Carey Price.
• Milan Lucic’s 28 assists for the season are easily a career high.
• Tim Thomas earned his 8th shutout of the seasons.
• Boston’s last 3-on-5 goal against Montreal? February 28, 2002.
• Their last seven-goal thrashing of Montreal? 1998.
• Boston leads Montreal by five points with two games in hand; Montreal has seven games remaining.
• A happy 54th birthday to NESN commentator Jack Edwards. And while I’m at it, a happy 24th birthday to me, so everyone feel free to give me things.

Tags: Adam McQuaid, Brad Marchand, Bruins, Chris Kelly, David Krejci, Dennis Seidenberg, Gregory Campbell, Jack Edwards, Johnny Boychuk, Mark Recchi, Milan Lucic, Montreal Canadiens, Nathan Horton, Tim Thomas, Tomas Kaberle, Zdeno Chara