The history between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens is arguably the most famous in hockey. When the two Original Six teams go head to head emotions are stirred between the two historic franchises.
The first meeting between the two clubs took place December 8, 1924. They have played 888 times combined, including the playoffs with the Canadiens holding a decided 448-337-103 edge. In the playoffs the clubs have met in 33 series with 8 of those requiring a seventh game to determine the winner.
Montreal and Boston also finished 1st and 2nd respectively in the final season of the Northeast Division. Though the Ottawa Senators upset the Habs, the Bruins blitzed through the Eastern Conference before falling to Chicago in the Stanley Cup Final.
A new season and a realigned NHL will still see the fabled rivals battling for divisional supremacy. At the core of each club is a standout goaltender. For the Canadiens that man is Carey Price a 26-year old veteran of six NHL seasons.
Price is a three-time starter and is the backbone of a young Canadien team that surprised the NHL with a standout performance in 2013. After a last place conference finish in 2012, the Canadiens cleaned house from the bench to the front office. Those decisions paid immediate dividends as the Canadiens returned to glory with a division crown and a second place seed in the east.
For Boston, defense is also the key with Tuukka Rask minding the nets in Beantown. The biggest question heading into last season would be if Rask was capable of filling the shoes left by Tim Thomas. An amazing statistical season punctuated with a Stanley Cup Final appearance answered the doubters with an unequivocal yes.
The forecast for the 2013-14 looks exactly the same for both clubs with the men behind the masks largely responsible for the success or failure. In front of Price is the reigning 2013 Norris Trophy winner P.K Subban who seems to be turning into one of the elite blueliners in the league. A veteran defensive corps returns for Montreal, which is good news for Price and his potential fantasy owners.
Boston has no shortage of superb defensemen as well. With perennial Norris candidate Zdeno Chara patrolling the back end Rask can rest assured that his crease will be cleared more often than not. The Bruins have an impressive crop of youngsters that will fortify one of the NHL’s stingiest defenses.
Carey Price and Tuukka Rask seem like almost the exact same goaltender to me. They are almost exactly the same size, they are only a year apart in age (Rask 26, Price 27) and both shown that they can unravel anytime. For my money I have more faith in the Bruins’ defense in front of Rask rather than Price. The stats look better for Rask though Price has a larger body of work.
While it may be fun to watch some of Rask’s implosions on YouTube and even those still to come, he has a team in front of him that plays better defense collectively. Expect another gigantic stat season from the Boston netminder. Price might have another solid statistical effort, but his numbers have been progressively getting larger, and not in a good way. Advantage Bruins/Rask, for a change.