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Habs Crumble On The Brink Of Elimination

April 23, 2009

Boston dominate Habs in Game 4 to sweep the series.

By Bryan Mongeau-Eastmond, staff writer

MONTREAL (RPRN) 04/23/09-Michael Ryder continued his assault on his former team, scoring two goals and assisting another, as the Bruins advance to the next playoff round. This is the first post season series victory for Boston since 1999 in which they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes.

Boston completed the sweep Wednesday night at the Bell Centre, with a convincing 4-1 victory over the Canadiens.

This time the Montreal fans saved their booing for their local team (most notably goalie Carey Price) rather than the American national anthem.

With the emotional high heading into an elimination game, the Canadiens once again came out firing and captured an early lead on a goal from Andrei Kostitsyn with just 39 seconds in the first period.

After controlling the tempo and out shooting their opponents for the majority of the opening period, Boston took the lead scoring two quick goals late in the period.

Boston goalie Tim Thomas was solid making 26 saves on the night. He has allowed just six goals in the series while his counterpart Price was not so productive. The Habs’ second-year goaltender allowed a staggering 17 goals in the first-round series much to the dismay of the fans.

While the Habs challenged themselves to play better and their captain Saku Koivu vowed the team “would give everything it had” in Game 4 -the old proverb: actions speak louder than words, tells the story.

Ryder tied the game on a broken play deep in the Habs territory and assisted the other one on a text book give and go with teammate David Krejci. Ryder has been a dominant force, scoring 4 goals in the series.

Montreal has had trouble holding on to the lead throughout the entire series and it cost them dearly in Game 4.

Phil Kessel, Boston's leading goal scorer during the regular season and Ryder added back to back second-period goals to secure an easy victory.

The top-seeded Bruins advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals as they patiently await their next opponent.

This is unquestionably a disappointing way for Montrealers to see their 100th hockey season end.

SERIES STATUS:

BRUINS WIN 4-0 OVER CANADIENS

PENGUINS LEAD 3-1 OVER FLYERS
GAME 5: @Pittsburgh, Thu. 4/23, 7 p.m

RANGERS LEAD 3-1 OVER CAPITALS
GAME 5: @Washington, Fri. 4/24, 7 p.m.

DUCKS LEADS 2-1 OVER SHARKS
GAME 4: @Anaheim, Thu. 4/23, 10:30 p.m

CANUCKS WIN 4-0 OVER BLUES

DEVILS TIED 2-2 WITH HURRICANES
GAME 5: @New Jersey, Thu. 4/23, 7:30 p.m

BLACKHAWKS LEAD 2-0 OVER FLAMES
GAME 5: @Chicago, Sat. 4/25, 9:00 p.m.

RED WINGS LEAD 3-0 OVER BLUE JACKETS
GAME 4: @Columbus, Thu. 4/23, 7 p.m.

Photo of Montreal goalie Carey Price courtesy of the National Hockey League.

Read all of Bryan’s stories here

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