Canadiens Bruins Betting – A Classic David Versus Goliath Matchup
When the 2011 NHL playoffs get underway this Wednesday, there will be no opening round matchup as highly anticipated as the latest chapter in the Original Six rivalry between the Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins. A quick glance at the history of these teams reveals countless battles, from the days of Rocket Richard to Patrick Roy, Bobby Orr to Ray Bourque, the Canadiens and Bruins are a couple of teams that just can’t stand one another. But there isn’t even a need to look back at those past years to generate the bad blood and animosity that has built heading into this series. From the one-sided domination by the Canadiens early in the year, to the Zdeno Chara hit on Max Pacioretty that fractures his vertebra and nearly ended his career, to the Bruins’ 7-0 beat down on Montreal in the final regular season sports betting game between these teams, the fuel is there. Now, all it will take is one match.
The Canadiens will rely on their speed and quickness against a much tougher Boston team. Montreal is one of the smallest teams in the league with snipers such as Mike Cammalleri and captain Brian Gionta, and the team will need for those two players to pick up their production in the postseason to have any chance. Andrei Kostitstyn could be one of the keys to getting the Canadiens through the first round, one of the few Montreal forwards that has both the size and skill combination. Scott Gomez remains an enigma after failing to score a single pay per head goal in his last 28 games, and will need to have an offensive impact behind Tomas Plekanec as the Habs’ top two centers. The key difference-maker could be Montreal’s powerplay, which finished as one of the hottest in the NHL. With rookie defenseman PK Subban working his magic from the point, the Canadiens’ forwards will be able to work down low.
Boston will respond with a tough group of forwards that includes Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic riding beside David Krejci. Montreal can’t match the size of either Horton or Lucic, and it will be on both of those players to wreak havoc in front of the Canadiens’ goal. Zdeno Chara will be ready for this series, and his ability to unleash an absolute cannon from the point is scary. The Bruins will dump the puck in and look to go to work on the smaller Canadiens every chance that they get, and it will be on Montreal to try and counter with their sports betting bonus speed.
Both goaltenders ranked among the best in the league, with Bruins’ Tim Thomas likely to earn the Vezina trophy ahead of Montreal’s Carey Price. Price will need to prove he is strong enough mentally with Boston crashing down on him, and the Canadiens will need to do everything they can to provide the same type of traffic in front of Thomas. The Bruins look like Goliath heading into this series, but as we’ve seen in the past, Montreal is fully capable of playing the role of David in this battle. They will need to, as the most highly anticipated series of this sportsboom promo NHL postseason gets underway Thursday.
