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April 20, 2008

Montreal - Boston: Game Seven!

The Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins are set to meet on Monday night in the winner-takes-all grudge match known as game seven.

The Canadiens have already had two chances to eliminate the resilient Bruins, once holding a 3 games to 1 lead.

Interestingly, this marks the first time the Canadiens have ever blown a 3-1 playoff series lead and had to play in a game seven. Likewise, this is the first time the Bruins have ever come from behind 3 games to 1 to force game 7.

Boston, winners of the last two games, might be heading into game 7 with a lot of momentum, but history certainly is not on their side.

In NHL history eams have trailed 3-1 in a best-of-seven series a total of 220 times but have only come back to win the series on 20 occasions or 9.1% of the time. Moreover, the home team historically has won 63% of game sevens.

Montreal has an all time record of 10-8 in game sevens (7-3 at home), while Boston has a record of 9-7 (0-3 on the road). The two teams have played against each other in six game sevens, with Montreal holding a 4-2 edge. This seventh contest will set a new mark for most game sevens between two organizations in North American pro sports history.

The last time these two teams went the distance was in 2004. In that series the Canadiens successfully come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the Eastern Conference quarter final series. Claude Julien was the Habs coach back then, and of course he now coaches the Bruins.

Just a little extra incentive for the B's.

By The Way: Eleven Montreal players have played in a game 7 before, with a combined record of 17-8, led by Alexei Kovalev's perfect 5-0. The Bruins also have eleven players who have participated in a game 7, including back up goaltender Alex Auld. The Bruins are a combined 8-15. Glen Murray leads all Bruins scorers with 2 goals and 3 points in 5 career game sevens.

1 comment:

vdkhanna said...

I hate to admit it, but Barry Melrose looks like a genius now......San Jose vs. Montreal seems to be the likeliest Finals matchup, given the adversity these two teams overcame in Round 1 (I'm of course assuming SJ beats Calgary in Game 7 tomorrow).......also, these two teams are BY FAR the deepest in terms of their rosters.