Game 79: Habs vs. Panthers

FIRST PERIOD:

- Charlie Lindgren is, at least at the present, the only viable goaltending prospect in the Habs system. No pressure or anything, kid.

- Reto Berra starts for the Panthers, contrary to our statement earlier that James Reimer would get the start. An interesting choice, given how much Berra has struggled this week, including the blowout loss in Montreal last week.

- Nesterov ... a little sloppy and casual in his first shift. Sure looks like Jordie Benn, and maybe Davidson, were the only beneficial trade deadline pickup by Bergevin. The rest, Ott, Martinsen, King and Nesterov - write-offs.

- That Plekaenc/Gallagher/Byron combo continues to roll along nicely. Line has been on fire for well over a week, as well as a strong start tonight.

- Danault/Pacioretty/Radulov joining in on the fun, Panthers are having a tough time winning puck battles in their own zone.

- Alex Galchenyuk - might he be rounding back into form? He looked great handling and dangling the puck behind the Panther's cage before eventually feeding the puck which finds its way onto Andrew Shaw's stick, a slam-dunk shot and a 1-0 lead. Both Shaw and Galchenyuk have shown little chemistry, perhaps due to a lack of communication, since they were placed together two weeks ago. Looked very good there.

- Plekanec and Danualt lines, all the Panthers can handle this period.

- Canadiens owned the period, although I'm not sure how much of that was Florida seemingly going through the motions. Don't see anyone on that Panthers side of the ice attempting to prove themselves for the next season - it's a pretty sad state of affairs. Anyway, hard to envision the Canadiens not causing their way through the next 40 minutes if this is all their opponent is offering as resistance.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Pretty meek, Florida. Pretty meek. Habs SA CF (5v5): 64.5%:

- 6 minutes gone, low event period so far, Panthers can't get much of anything going, except for the occasional long-range shot at Lindgren. Florida's only real sniff at scoring tonight has been during Ott line shifts. Otherwise, virtually nada.

- 2nd pair defeseman Jason Demers having a rough night 2/14, and we're not even at the half-way mark. He's been matched against the Danault line, and he's had his hands full.

- Gallagher virtually tackled from behind carrying the puck through centre, somehow it's not called.

- Hate to see a team dominate and then give up a sloppy goal, and hey, it's our old friend Emelin making an awkward and failed checking attempt, which frees up Marchessault, Lindgren making an awkward belly flop save attempt, and the game is tied.

- They've been buzzing the Panthers zone all night long, if anyone is most likely to get the Habs the lead back, it'll be either Gallagher or Byron.

- All of the sudden, the refs are calling penalties, even after earlier letting the Gallagher mugging go uncharged. Panthers with an extended 5-on-3.

- Panthers powerplay is horrid. Putrid. Tres terrible.

- Not a very good period for the Habs, whom I think might have taken their opponent's lacklustre, go-through-the-motions play too lightly, and while the officiating was, at best, uneven, it still doesn't excuse them for not putting this game away.

THIRD PERIOD:

- When you're outplayed in any period by the Florida Panthers, you have not played a good period. In that 2nd, Florida's SA CF at even strength was 53.3%.

- Julien mixing things up a little, as he moves Byron next to Galchenyuk and Lehkonen, and it pays off their first shift, as Lehkonen fires a blazing wrist shot that Berra might now have even seen, to give the Habs the lead back 2-1.

Kid's got a shot, eh? #MTLvsFLA pic.twitter.com/JOY4ahsAjT

— NHL (@NHL) April 4, 2017

- Still view this game as an inevitable Habs win, although Lindgren still looks a little nervous (it's hard to blame him). He's very much a stay-at-home goaltender. I've barely seen him move outside the blue paint tonight. Also wary of handling the puck. But he plays the angles nicely, very much like Carey Price.

- Panthers really stepping up this period, Lindgren doing an excellent job making the primary save, and covering up loose pucks.

- Well, we predicted either Byron or Gallagher would win, would Byron off a breakaway, Lehkonen blasting home a rebound be close enough? Insurance goal all but puts the wraps on this game.

- Rough night not only for Demers, Matheson and Petrovic. Just a rough night in general if you're a defender for the Panthers. Not fast enough to pick up the Habs speedy wingers tonight, Berra again mostly hung out to dry.

- Radulov with the empty net to finish the game, and the Habs officially cinch the Atlantic Division title, which is a wonderful luxury to own 10 games in advance of the playoffs. Can now rest bodies for the rest of the week without consequence. Very good performance tonight from Charlie Lindgren, Gallagher, Lehkonen and Byron another sparking night, and while they didn't tally points, the Danault line looked dangerous most of the evening. Everything coming up roses for the Montreal Canadiens, who can celebrate their excellent 1st place achievement.

GAME PREVIEW: NOTHING MATTERS UNTIL APRIL 12TH. HEY, WHY ARE WE STILL PLAYING GAMES?

Hey, Habs play tonight with absolutely nothing on the line. Ziltch. The Habs cannot go up or down in the standings. So the rest of the regular season schedule are basically glorified scrimmages. Which means, it's time for "important" guys to get pulled from the lineup. First up? Shea Weber:

#Habs: Shea Weber ne jouera pas ce soir contre les Panthers. Il est blessé au bas du corps. Charlie Lindgren obtiendra le départ.

— J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontJDM) April 3, 2017

Yeah, yeah. The ol' LBI trick! Except that ... hrmmm ...

#Habs: Shea Weber s’absentera pour au moins les deux prochains matchs. Le CH l’a renvoyé à Montréal par précaution.

— J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontJDM) April 3, 2017

Hrmmm. We'll see where that goes. Heck, if I'm pulling guys out of the lineup, let's give Andrei Markov a couple of days off. Or Max Pacioretty. Or Alex Radulov. Heck, let's just bring up the Ice Caps for the next week (yeah, yeah ... I know that's not possible, but still ... wherever possible, rest and heal).

As you might have caught from the first tweet, Charlie Lindgren will be the Habs starting netminder tonight, with Carey Price getting a well deserved night off, and Al (Tony) Montoya still recovering from whatever injury he has. This will be Lindgren's first NHL game in almost exactly 2 years. His last (and only NHL) game was April 7, 2015, a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

It's not only Weber who's out tonight - Jordie Benn continues to recover from another undisclosed injury, and will also not play tonight. So, the Habs' suddenly thin defence will look something like this:

Markov/Petry
Beaulieu/Emelin
Davidson/Nesterov

Meanwhile, on the forward lines:

Pacioretty/Danault/Radulov
Byron/Plekanec/Gallagher
Galchenyuk/Shaw/Lehkonen
King/Ott/Martinsen

Meanwhile the Panthers, who are also playing out the string with nowhere to go in the standings, have a few lineup changes tonight. Sitting in the press box will be Shawn Thronton (AWWWW!),

Huberdeau/Trocheck/Jagr
Jokinen/Bjugstad/Smith
Vanek/Malgin/Marchessault
Sceviour/MacKenzie/Sgarbossa

James Reimer will start tonight for the Panthers, against Lindgren. Puck drops at 7:40 EST.

Game Six - EC Semi Finals: Bruins vs. Habs

SOMEBODY IS GETTING A FINE ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON:

Oh, Andrei. You know we love you to death, but we can't possible condone the stickwork with a clear conscience. We know you're just settling a few scores, but that's the wrong way of doing it. Enter, the GREAT Dale Weise:

See Andrei? That's how you give the Bruins a taste of their own medicine: With sardonic and sarcastic delight.

Montreal 4, Boston 0:

THIRD PERIOD:

- Don't say we haven't been begging for Murray to be mothballed, but the evidence is kinda really in: Beaulieu's possession tonight, 77%. Murray's this series? 29%.

- Start to this period will be critical - Habs must maintain their composure, and also their forecheck. They played an exceptionally sound game in their zone Game 3, if they can replicate that for 20 more minutes, the Bruins will have an almost unclimbable hill. 

- Here come the Bruins. Price needs that A game more than ever.

- Habs aggressive in the neutral zone, this is what they need to do. Also hustling back hard to break up Bruins rushes.

- Beaulieu with a tremendous shot block, that has him smarting. Possibly saved a goal.

- Doug Hamilton very, very lucky for not getting called for delay after taking out the Boston goal on a Habs 3-on-1 rush. Officials determined to give Boston every possible benefit of the doubt, here. 

- Habs playing an excellent third, the Bruins are basically throwing caution to the wind, desperately trying to generate a goal. It's resulting in many great chances for the Habs off the rush. Habs defense very sound, calm, composed, and effective. 10 long minutes still left, though.  We haven't forgotten Game 2.

- Desharnais may not have scored in a long while, but he makes a remarkable diving play to somehow keep the puck out of the net. That's an incredible athletic play by Desharnais to keep the Bruins off the board.

- Short change really benefiting the Habs this period in protecting their zone.

- As time winds down in the 3rd, Habs have to be extra aware of Bruins taking cheap shots with intent to injure.

- Vanek with the empty netter. Habs will play one more night.

- Now, and this is very important, the Canadiens must avoid all physical contact, all Boston attempts to hit cheap and/or dirty. Tonight's lineup will be Wednesday night's lineup, for all the marbles.

- Here comes the Bruins goon show. Skate away guys, skate away.

- And so we go to Game 7. Habs played an excellent elimination game - did everything right, and were aided by good bounces, both in scoring, and in Boston not scoring, especially earlier in the game. Key moments was the Habs holding steady after getting caught in their zone, with Gorges running a 3 minute shift. The other was a shift by the Briere line with 6 minutes left in the second period, which really stunted the Bruins' momentum, and in retrospect, caused the period to flip completely in the Habs favor, where they were able to extend their scoreboard lead from 1, to 3-0.

I cannot envision Therrrien changing his lineup Wednesday. Tonight, the team clicked. Beaulieu was just fine, thank you very, very much. This is the team that will either live, or die, in 48 hours.

I'll say it now. The winner Wednesday night will play in the Stanley Cup Final. So hold on. It's going to be intense.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Glorious missed chances off the powerplay. Really should be 2-0. Bounces ominously not going Habs way.

- Bruins powerplay apparently only making a game 5 appearance.

- Subban comes out of the box, and long change catches the Habs badly, the Bruins hemming them in their zone for nearly two straight minutes, with Montreal pinned 3 defenseman. Exhausted, they can't clear. Bruins push hard, but Canadiens somehow manage to win the puck and clear the zone.

- Bruins with a strong 2nd, real bounce-back period. But they're failing to capitalize on great chances, Marchand, Lucic both missing sure-fire scoring chances. Again, we have to wonder if frustration will set in on that Boston bench?

- Habs defense doing long-bomb zone clearances, which is not only a bad sign, but it's essentially automatically surrendering puck possession. This cannot be sustained. The Bruins will keep coming back and pounding the puck deep. Eventually they will score, unless and until the Habs are able to regather their composure, and focus on clearing their zone while maintaining possession.

- Habs 4th line with a solid shift, able to generate a couple of turnovers, able to outpossess the Bruins. This is critical in turning the momentum tide, which is right now, firmly with Boston. Canadiens should be focused on finishing the 2nd period aggressively, the opportunity at hand to generate some separation heading to the final frame.

- And there we have it. Beaulieu with time, a fine long pass that takes a crazy bounce, Pacioretty outskates Rask to the puck, and finally, finally scores. This is huge. Mega huge. 2-0.

- And Vanek makes it 3-0 on the powerplay. Bounces again going the Habs way. But really, he and Desharnais and Pacioretty have finally delivered on the promise. And the Habs are now in great shape forcing this to a game 7.

- That shift by the Habs 4th line with 6 minutes left was a real game changer. Depending on how this game pans out, and possibly Wednesday night, it could be a series changer. We'll see.

FIRST PERIOD

- Welp, I must admit I had a bad feeling heading into Saturday night, much much better feeling heading into tonight. But that's just my gut feeling at this point.

- Therrien not holding back, putting in Briere, pulling out Moen. He's looking to outscore, outspeed the Bruins tonight. The physical stuff is shelved. There's nothing more to be gained from "outhitting" this Bruins opponent.

- Gio better shake her hand.

- Prust gets the honor. Here's hoping he gets a better result tonight.

- Firsr huge break of the night. Miller with terrible misplay behind his net. Eller capitalizes. Can the Habs keep building on this bounce?

- Tremendous start for Montreal . Forecheck very resembling of game 3. Bruins basically in retreat trying to weather the storm.

- Desharnais line comes within a hair of making it 2-0. Lots of fire in their belly so far. Best looking they've appeared this series.

- Habs winning most of the puck battles firing shots on Rask at every angle. No way they can sustain this pace over 60 minutes, though.

- Julien in a tough spot. Therrien matching Desharnais line against Bartkowski and Miller, wit the last change. Bruins may be forced to over play their top 4.

- unbelievable PK for the Habs, highlighted by an astonishing shift by Emelin. Boston in total disarray. Probably the best kill of the season. Right there.

- Game settling a bit, but it's still one of the best periods this team has played all year.

- Siren goes to end the period, Bruins attempt to sucker the Habs behind their net, but Hamilton is the only one penalized with a vicious cross on Plekanec. Habs will have man advantage to start the 2nd. 

- Habs looked good. Great even. Early period checking was near perfection, and surprisingly physical. Boston, even knowing their opponents were going to come out hard, looked a little shellshocked the first 10 minutes. Game settled down somewhat, officials let a lot of nasty stickwork go, most of it committed by Boston. The only area that looked weak for the Habs was puck control in their own zone - too many clunky and unforced turnovers, a couple of which generated some pretty high percentage scoring chances on Price. Still, there's no way the Habs can't be happy with the result. The only big question is, can they maintain this vigor and pace all the way to the finish line? If they somehow can, they'll be in great shape to force a game 7. Huge if, though.

GAME 6 PREVIEW:

Need motivation? Well, you can start with this:

Need more? About about this:

Or if that still isn't enough, maybe a bit of this:

Ladies and gents, the Boston Bruins, in all of their bush-league, arrogant glory. 

It's all pretty simple at this point for hockey fans in Montreal. Lose, or go home. The Canadiens face elimination for the first time this season, as they take on the Bruins at the Bell Centre.

Right now, a betting man wouldn't dare touch the Habs. After Thursday's devastating 1-0 OT loss, and Saturday's listless 4-2 defeat, the Bruins look to be unstoppable.

But ... there remains hope. Not much. But some.

The crux of the Habs hopes focuses on a couple of late Game 5 incidents, both very similar in nature. First, Milan Lucic, with his team holding a comfortable lead (apparently) started taunting P.K. Subban with a series of arm flexes. With 4 minutes left in the game, Shawn Thornton, who earlier in the series attempted to fake injury after hitting his knee against a dodging Subban, sprayed the Canadiens defenseman with water to his face as he was skating by the Boston bench during play. The spray cost Thornton a $2,800 fine, a mere pittance for an NHL regular.

While the League seems unwilling to take meaningful action against such classless behavior, those two acts were noted, and have been talked about by Habs players and coaches alike since Sunday morning. They were acts brazen with arrogance, committed by a team that believes that it's above the law of the League. To a great extent, that's true. The National Hockey League continues to look the other way, even though Boston consistantly acts very, very badly on the ice and their bench.

So there's a score to be settled. The question is, does this Habs team have the gumption to put Boston back in a humbler place?

While no official lineup changes have been announced, there's been lots of speculation today that the Habs will start the young Nathan Beaulieu, in place of the screamingly incompetent Doug Murray. It would be a bold move, especially considering that it would be Beaulieu's very first post-season game of his life, and against the Habs' fiercest rival in a do-or-die contest. This isn't tossing Beaulieu into the deep end. It's tossing him into the Mariana Trench.

Still, the logistics do make sense. Paired next to Mike Weaver, who's had an excellent series as a shot blocker and defensive defenseman, Beaulieu's specialty leans towards possession and transition. Weaver can do his job stopping pucks, Beaulieu can do his moving them.

Ultimately, we won't know for great certainty if Beaulieu will start until warmups.

Otherwise, the ongoing story continues to be the lack of production by the players who everyone assumed would produce. Once again, all eyes will be on Max Pacioretty and Thomas Vanek, the former who has but just one goal in 9 playoff games, the later who's posting the worst possession numbers among all - that's right - all Habs players, except for Doug Murray.

Other players to watch out for include Thomas Plekanec, who had a string of disastrous shifts Saturday night that contributed directly to the Habs loss. Meanwhile, fans are growing increasingly impatient again with the performances delivered by Rene Bourque, who just two weeks ago was playing like a Conn Smythe candidate, but against the season, has looked like the usual, listless, unproductive, regular season self.

This 6th game of the series won't be easy.  Carey Price will have to play extraordinary well, even by his standards. There is much more pressure on the Habs tonight, especially against a Bruins team that seems to be strutting with great confidence.

But there's a fine line between confidence and arrogance. With the Bruins, it's especially thin. This is a team that tends to fray very quickly when things don't go their way.

Tonight, the ghosts must make their presence felt. The Habs need the benefit of some luck if they have any hopes of playing Wednesday, one final time, against the despised Bruins.

Puck drops at 7:40 EST. For perhaps the last time until October.

4:45 P.M. EST UPDATE: Beaulieu is IN tonight, according to TVA.

Game Four - EC Semi Finals: Bruins vs. Habs

BOSTON 1, MONTREAL 0 (OT)

I'll let the video speak for itself, but add this bit. In Murray's two starts, he's played 24 ES minutes, resulting in 39 Boston shot attempts, or 94/60.

Yeah. That's bad. That's really bad.

OVERTIME:

- The best and worst part of these playoffs. One goal stands between the Habs and a probable third round appearance. That's it.

- Not gonna say who was on the ice when that goal was scored. But Therrien played with fire and tonight, it finally burnt.

- Well, I'll say it. Murray was behind his net, and Fraser, the last minute call up, easily beat him fighting for the puck. 

Scroll down and take a look at the game preview. I'll quote myself. "While Doug hasn't committed any errors that have directly resulted in a loss, it's only going to be a matter of time. Forewarned!!".

Indeed.

THIRD PERIOD:

- So who's gonna be the goat tonight?

- Pacioretty off the wing, Rask looked pretty iffy making that save.

- Just shoot it on net, guys. Nothing pretty. Just put it on.

- Great start to the period for Montreal. Lots of energy, Eller line still looking great.

- Habs very diligent in their own zone, Boston struggling to generate a grade A shot on Price. Habs being very patient, looking to spring someone free off the break.

- Emelin called for a hit the exact same as Iginla delivered on Pacioretty. Horrible time for the official to be inconsistent.

- Bruins really pushing centre ice, and the Habs are having trouble moving the puck east/west. It's a chess match right now, both teams pushing with all their might but neither is buckling. 

- Habs just pounding the Bruins like crazy, and now they seem to be struggling to find their legs. Habs have dominated the period, in good position to score the first goal.

- Got nails? You won't after this night is over. Crazy good period for the Habs - their checking, both forward and back, was pretty near perfect. Against the team who run roughshod supreme over their opponents the final frame. The Habs hitting in the 3rd really paid dividends in slowing the Bruins up, whether or not that will carry into overtime, we'll have to see.

SECOND PERIOD:

- Habs more aggressive with Rask to start the period, looking for dirty rebound goal. Rask isn't giving any up, though.

- Push by Boston. They're getting free entries into the Habs zone, which is a bad thing for the Canadiens.

- Habs need to hold on here - Bruins determined to get the game's first. Not sure how much longer Price can keep it out.

- Bruins 3rd and 4th lines really rolling right now, which is wearing the Habs ragged, especially in their own zone. This could have big playoffs for Boston as they game progresses.

- Refs have had whistles firmly in pockets, but make a bizarre marginal interference call on Subban. Wow.

- Nothing going right for is Boston powerplay. Totally disorganized and utterly ineffective. Habs PK has dominated this series.

- Bad powerplay for Boston and as a result, ice now tilting in favor of Montreal. Chance to capitalize at hand.

- Excellent shift by Eller generates Habs first PP of the night.

- Eller line all engines firing tonight. If Habs score tonight don't be surprised if that line is on at the time.

- Margins are ridiculously narrow between these two teams. The intensity of the battles out there are fierce as you'll see in any hockey game. Both teams playing for the mistake to break this scoreless tie, neither team has committed that big error. Yet.

FIRST PERIOD:

- So Julien does shake up the lineup with the young Caron, and maybe more surprisingly, reinserting Barkowski, who really struggled in game one. It's an interesting gamble.

- Therrien juggles them up right off the bat - Plekanec/Gallagher/Vanek. Hmmm ....

- Murray out. ICING. Annnnnnnd ... drink.

- Habs focusing on hits and checking, Bruins on taking shots at Price early going.

- Another humdinger tonight. Desharnais had a sparking chance off a complex series of set passes, but hesitates on taking high percentqge shot. That's the bad Desharnais. 

- Chara, and I could be wrong, just doesn't look right.

- Iginla boards Pacioretty who hits his head hard on the glass. Pretty borderline.

- Pacioretty determined to continue his shifts. Concussion protocol apparently in the backseat.

- The good Doug Murray, who absolutely wrecks Thornton who had his head down entering Habs zone. Lovely.

- Game has settled down a bit, which I'd consider a Habs win. The Bruins came out hard but Canadiens kept them at bay.

- Bruins with possession edge, Habs controlling centre ice. Tradeoff is making this game reasonably even.

- Good P.K., outstanding sliding check to wreck a Bruins break. Bad P.K. Thoughtless blind turnover behind his net, Soderberg hits the crossbar. Bruins have to be totally frustrated at this point.

GAME PREVIEW:

So the day was suddenly interrupted by all the nonsense happening in Toronto - with the Leafs making the perplexing decision of not only keeping their head coach Randy Carlyle around for one more season, but extending his contract for two more years. Oh Leafs fans. You poor, poor bunch. We feel badly for you. Well. Almost.

It goes without saying that if a guy like Carlyle can be as bad as he's been, and get rewarded with contract extension, it basically totally extinguishes our hopes of Michel Therrien going anywhere, anytime soon. In fact, with the Habs now well advanced into the 2nd round, he'll probably get a similar job extension this summer.

Oh yeah. We have a game tonight! It's a pivotal biggie. In a few hours time, the Habs will either find themselves enjoying a stranglehold 3-1 lead, or the Bruins heading home tied up and plenty of momentum in their sails.

What is there to expect tonight? Probably not a whole lot different, lineup-wise, than what we saw Tuesday night. That means another 60 minutes of Doug Murray, who even after an extraordinarily awful performance, even by his standards, is probably going to get another start tonight. Therrien continues to overlook the obvious when it comes to Murray, and while Doug hasn't committed any errors that have directly resulted in a loss, it's only going to be a matter of time. Forewarned!!

That aside, a few concluding thoughts:

- Let's get the obvious out of the way. Bruins will come out roaring for that first goal - the team scoring first in this series has won every game. The Bruins, let's be honest here - cannot lose tonight. Expect anything and everything. Physical play in overdrive. Ferocious forechecking. A desperate team playing desperately. Which means Carey Price can expect to be very, very busy tonight. Anything less than his "A" game will mean a Habs loss.

- Keep an eye out on Chara. Speculation around Montreal today that his wrist injury is actually pretty serious, but he's playing through it. If there's any semblance to that speculation, then keep an eye on his willingness to fire shots from the line. He may not be able, which won't help the Bruins' production.

- Habs really need to just do the same thing tonight. This means effective zone clearance, more east-west rather than north-south passing through the neutral zone, a tenacious forecheck to stifle the Bruins transition, and staying out of the penalty box.

- Will this be the night that David Desharnais and Max Pacioretty start collecting actual goals and assists? We're getting itchy waiting for top line production to finally arrive.

- Speaking of production or lack thereof, Bruins fans are getting pretty restless about David Krejci's failure to make a significant impact in the series. We saw Julien do a little bit of line juggling at practice this morning, breaking up the Krecji line as (we assume) part of attempt to spread the offense. But I just don't think come gametime that Julien will actually take such a radical and risky step. It's a diluting strategy - fine if the new combos "catch fire", but wrought with incredible downsides in that if it fails to work, then your team probably doesn't score a single goal.

Puck drops at 7:40 EST. The Habs are still a long 10 wins away to winning the greatest prize in sport - but a victory tonight will take them a considerable way towards achieving hockey glory.

GAME DAY NEWS 'N' NOTES:

So we've arrived, the probably-series-deciding Game 4 tonight at the Bell Centre. A few things happened this morning, mainly Bruins-related.

- Claude Julien shuffled many deck chairs this morning. Whether or not it reflects the Bruins actual line combinations tonight remains to be seen (it probably doesn't). Anyway, here's how it went down. With defensemen Carl Soderberg taking the morning off (optional I guess?), the Krejci line, which hasn't had its greatest series ever, was split apart, with Krejci shifted down to the second line with Marchand and Smith, Bergeron shifted up to the top line beside Lucic and Eriksson, and Iginla shifted down to the 3rd line next to Campbell and Paille. Still with me?

I wouldn't read a whole lot into the line juggling routine. It seems to me a more tactical move by Julien to mess with the Canadiens mind. I fully expect Julien to start the exact same line combos tonight.

Speaking of combos, Bruins defensive pairs this morning, with Sodenberg's absense, were Chara/Hamilton, Meszaros/Boychuck and Krug/Miller.