Bring on the Habs

For the 33rd time in history, the Bruins and Canadiens will meet in the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs. 

While it remains to be seen whether the Bruins can hoist Lord Stanley's Cup this Spring for the first time in 39 years, one thing that is certain is the fact that the Black and Gold's postseason journey will begin against a familiar foe: the Montreal Canadiens.

After defeating Toronto 4-1 Saturday night, the hated Habs officially clinched the #6 seed in the playoffs, setting up an epic seven game series with the streaking Bruins full of compelling storylines, rich history and unmatched hatred. The first-round matchup represents the latest installment of the long-time rivalry between the two Original Six teams.

"I'm just excited for the opportunity," said Canadiens forward Mike Cammalleri. "The rivalry matchup, it's one of those series where there will be a lot of eyes and a lot of talk about and all those things. Boston's a team that probably had a lot of high expectations internally."

The reason for Boston's optimism stems from their spectacular play of late. Heading into their regular season finale Sunday afternoon in New Jersey, the Black and Gold are 7-2-1 in their last ten games and post a 46-24-11 record overall, good for 103 points and the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

As a result, the Bruins will have home-ice advantage in the seven game series with Montreal, which is set to begin Thursday night at the TD Garden. And, after winning their regular season home finale 3-1 Saturday afternoon against the Senators, the Bruins enter the playoffs with a distinct advantage playing at home (22-13-6 overall).

The Bruins' star-goaltender is hitting his stride as well. After stopping 31 of 32 shots Saturday against Ottawa, Tim Thomas set the all-time, single season save percentage record. His .938 just edges Dominik Hasek's .936 in 1998-99.

Historically, the upcoming Bruins/Canadiens matchup will be the 33rd postseason meeting between the two bitter rivals. Overall, Montreal has won 24 times (including four of the last six). However, in their most recent meeting the Bruins swept Montreal in 2009.

This season, the Habs have won four of six meetings with the Bruins. However, the two Bruins wins included an 8-6 slugfest victory on February 9 (featuring a plethora of fights and 182 total penalty minutes) and a 7-0 pasting at home on March 26.

In addition, the now-notorious Zdeno Chara crushing of Max Pacioretty against the unpadded stanchion will no doubt be in the back of the Canadiens' minds. So while Montreal thirsts for revenge, the Bruins will just have to focus on not making the same mistake they made in last season's playoffs: choking.

Kicking off the postseason against their oldest, most hated rival could go a long way for the Bruins in terms of setting the tone for a deep playoff run. All in all, the Bruins and Canadiens will be set for another postseason bloodbath.

For hockey fans, it doesn't get much better than that.

"They play with a lot of fire," said Habs goaltender Carey Price of the Bruins. "It's just going to be good old-fashioned hockey."