LET'S GO.

Yes. Yes. Yes.
Expect to hear this from Jack Edwards soon.

Alright, I gotta say, while this was not the prettiest win for the Black and Gold this season/postseason, this was a win that felt great. To Bruins fans - Michael Ryder is a hero, and that was a phenomenal goal, BUT, this is a game that, no pun intended, they barely skated away with. This was an absolute rollercoaster of a game, and in the postseason, rollercoaster games should be avoided. Let's break this game down.

The first period struck some serious fear in the hearts of Bruins fans. Right off the first faceoff, the Bruins were looking out of it. I was hoping we would be seeing a repeat of Monday's efforts, with the Bruins just absolutely flying with the throttle wide open. I was disappointed to see what I was seeing. The Bruins, right from the start, were playing catch-up hockey. The Habs were dominating the Bruins with offense, and were generating way too many chances. Thomas was looking good, but a goalie who is getting ZERO defensive support can only do so much, and at 11:47 in the first, he was outworked. Deep in the slot, Brent Sopel teed off on a feed from behind the net, and tallied the first score of the game. The Bruins continue to drive their special teams stats in this postseason further into the ground. They are now 0-12 on the powerplay this series, and their penalty kill allowed a Habs powerplay. They needed to step it up.

I don't know what Claude Julien said to his squad in the locker room in between the first and second periods, but it got them fired up, and the second period showcased a more focused Bruins team. Just 2 minutes and 13 seconds into the first period, and Michael Ryder scored the equalizer on a wrist shot, and gave some hope to the B's fans out there. Their hope was quickly subdued when Cammalleri and Kostitsyn scored within a minute of eachother, and made it 3-1. I have to give the Bruins some credit here because they flat out refused to quit, and while it was not their best showing out of this series, they played this period with a lot of heart. At 10:01, Ferrence shot an absolute laser from the point, and cut the lead down to 1 goal. Both teams had stepped things up hugely this period, and were giving it their all. There was lots of physical play, players giving up the body to block the puck, and forechecking the shit out eachother, and I gotta say, it was a great period. With 2:56 left in the second, Patrice Bergeron forced the score to get knotted up again, and the Bell Centre fell quiet.

The third period was one of the most nerve-racking periods of hockey I've seen. Both of these teams were absolutely battling each other, and it was great to watch. The Bruins momentum from Bergeron's goal was cut when only 1:39 into the third, the wunderkid PK Subban scored a powerplay goal and gave the Habs the advantage. Again, I saw no Bruins hanging their heads, I saw no giving-up attitude, and saw no lack of drive when they went down. They fought through, and were rewarded for their drive in the form of a Chris Kelly rebound goal. I know rebound goals are often considered "garbage goals", but I gotta give Kelly respect for this goal. The puck was absolutely buried underneath Bruins skaters, Habs skaters, and Price, all trying to fight for it, and Kelly never lost sight of it, and at 6:28, he tied it up. The third ended with a scary powerplay for the Habs, but Thomas would not open the door, and to overtime we went.

Not much to say about the overtime period, it was over in 1 minute and 59 seconds off of a Ryder wrist shot that saw its way over Price's right shoulder, and shattered the hopes of all of Montreal.

Guess what Habs. We're tied. That's right. You have ZERO advantage over us. You are coming off of losing two in a row in front of your own fans, and now...now you're stepping onto 100 Legends Way to play in front of some passionate Bostonians who want nothing more than for you to be embarrassed on the plane ride back to your country where you can't even say you made it past the first round. Sure the Habs fans might be loud. Sure they play in country where the sport was invented. But this is not their time (to be slightly Herb Brooks-esque). They've had their moment. Year after year, the Canadiens are the thorn in the Bruin's side, and every Bruins fan is SICK of it. Fuck the Habs. Shut them up for once. Nothing makes these ears happier than a Bell Centre that is so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Also, check out how Boston responds when the Habs fans boo the national anthem back in '04