Brian Gionta

One night after Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim Ducks scores the goal of the playoffs, Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas made what may be the save of the playoffs.

With the game on the line in the second overtime, Thomas finds himself facing a 2-on-1 breakaway situation against Montreal Canadiens Travis Moen and Brian Gionta.

Before the regular season began, the major question regarding the Montreal Canadiens and their season was: How will Carey Price play as the Habs' starting goaltender?

With all the pressure of the Montreal hockey world, Price answered the call all season long. He carried the team to the sixth seeding in the Eastern Conference and would head into Boston as an underdog, a role he must be pretty familiar with by now.

And so tonight, after a 31-save shutout of the Bruins in Game 1, did he perform up to standard?

Heading into tonight’s tilt between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens there is a sense of excitement.

Max Pacioretty's injury has left a massive void on the Canadiens roster. Throughout last night's lackluster effort against the St. Louis Blues, Jacques Martin threw a number of players on Gomez's left wing, waiting for someone to emerge as a capable top six forward.

With the All Star break behind us it was time for the NHL to resume play last night for the final stretch run of the 2011 season. So what better way to kick things off than a Montreal-Washington show down in Washington?

With both teams eager to get their motors running they took to the ice at the Verizon Center, intent on charging head first into the playoffs.

I wanted Brian Gionta as captain of my favorite hockey team. I wrote a blog about it that even got recognized and a shout out from Habs Inside Out’s very own Mike Boone for crying out loud.

Yet after dropping another stink bomb of a game versus Tampa Bay, here’s what my genius pick for Habs captain observed.

Brian Gionta: "Right now, we're a fragile team."

So much for the ''who have they beaten'' argument.

A flawless week that saw finally saw the Montreal Canadiens meet and defeat superior competition. Three flawless outings, with only three goals allowed by temporary fan-favorite Carey Price.

Following the No. 3 trend, we have no choice but to mention the loss of superstar defenseman Andrei Markov after a collision with Carolina Hurricanes captain Eric Staal.

The Montreal Canadiens visited the Boston Bruins at the Garden.

The Bruins just came off a wild night in Pittsburgh after they came back from a two-goal deficit to win it 7-4 in the third period.  With the effort that they put in, you wonder if fatigue would be a factor.

The Canadiens have been playing in a bit of a slump having only won 2 of the last 5 games, but their last win just came against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.

Tuukka Rask was looking for his first win of the season after going 0-3-1.

With the Vancouver Canucks at the Bell Centre to take on the Montreal Canadiens, Tuesday night, it was the story of two teams headed in different directions.

The Canucks, winners of six straight games, were being touted as a legitimate contenders for the Stanley Cup this coming spring. The Habs have been going through a rough patch and have only been able to squeak out one win in their last four games.

Reprint from HabsAddict.com