Last night, in front of a pathetically small and quiet Montreal crowd (which just goes to show how little pride the Montrealers have in their team), the Boston Bruins completely dominated the hapless Habs and won by a score of 4-1. The Bruins were especially strong in the opening minutes, where they scored two goals, which caused me to not throw my television remote and not take any anger out on my dog.
All night long, the Bruins made crisp, tape-to-tape passes when exiting their zone and the Habs were totally powerless to stop them. In fact, a finer display of puck possession and clean break-outs by a defence has never been seen before in the NHL. With the likes of Zdeno Chara, Dennis Wideman and Aaron Ward, Bruin fans know they’re in good stead for this series as all three d-men were impeccable when it came to getting the puck out of their zone cleanly. This is the main reason that the Bruin forwards – who played like fierce Scottish savages fighting off a whole legion of Roman soldiers – were able to outshoot the Habs 32-18.
All of that is impressive, but not nearly as impressive as the incredible job that the rock-solid Bruin defence did at taking away the space of the uninspired Hab forwards. In fact, the Habs had so little space with which to operate, they may start pushing for international sized rinks in the off-season. Particularly good in this regard was Zdeno Chara, who didn’t at all look like a slack-jawed, confused, simpleton in his own zone. In fact, if Chara played any more of a cerebral game last night, Dr. Hawking would have to try to lure him away to Cambridge.
This air-tight defence that kept moving more than an extra on a Richard Simmons video was nicely complimented by the brick wall that was Tim Thomas. Thomas, who at the start of the game looked more calm than a grizzled detective dealing with a petty theft, was especially strong positionally and down low he was airtight. There was definitely no five-hole to shoot at. No siree, bub.
Of course none of the defensive prowess of the Bruins really mattered since guys like Marc Savard, David Krejci and Phil Kessel were so good offensively. The creativity and drive these guys showed was reminiscent almost of a combination of Van Gogh and Michael Schumacher. They were coming up with brilliant art while going full speed ahead.
But the most satisfying aspect of last night’s game was the physical domination that guys like Thornton, Lucic, Reich and Chara showed. They were smashing and hitting all of the Habs, but they especially got Roman Hamrlik several times. Yup, by the end of the night, it was clear who the real men were and who the ones with European Carry-Alls were. I can only assume that the Habs went home, upset and tired, to drown their sorrows in ice-vodka while petting their labradoodles.
All of this caused alcohol to flow from my system and into a bottle. Yup, everything I own is in prime condition and I am fully rested today. In fact, the game went so well, I slept very soundly as the moments of the glorious victory were replayed over and over in my mind.
One thing is for certain: if the Bruins come out like that again, then Bruin fans will be very happy people.
Have a lousy opposite day everyone. I won’t be back later or tomorrow with another rant.
-Gerz
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