Playoff Series Analysis: Montreal vs Boston

VS

Season Series:

Montreal wins 8-0.

Statistical keys to the series (Courtesy of TSN.ca)

- Montreal ranked first in the league on the power play, with a 24.2% success rate. Boston ranked 16th at 20.6%.

- Montreal ranked 15th in the league in penalty killing, with an 82.5% success rate. Boston ranked 28th at 78.6%.

- Montreal ranked second in the league with 3.13 goals per game.

- Montreal ranked 26th in the league with 31.6 shots allowed per game.

- Mike Komisarek (266), Francis Bouillon (168) and Roman Hamrlik (138) are the Canadiens' leading hitters.

- Zdeno Chara (223), Milan Lucic (181) and Aaron Ward (143) are the Bruins' leading hitters.

- Saku Koivu is the Canadiens' top face-off man -- 52.3%.

- Marc Savard is the Bruins' top face-off man -- 51.6%.

- Boston's Marc Savard ranked third in the league with 63 assists.

- Montreal's Alex Kovalev tied for fourth in the league with 17 power play goals.

- Boston's Zdeno Chara ranked third in the league with 26:50 of ice time per game.

- Andrei Kostitsyn led the Canadiens with 11 points in seven games against the Bruins this year.

- Marc Savard led the Bruins with nine points in eight games against the Canadiens this year.

- Montreal's leaders in power play ice time (per game):
Andrei Markov 5:10
Mark Streit 4:52
Alex Kovalev 4:09
Saku Koivu 3:30
Tomas Plekanec 3:25
Chris Higgins 3:12

- Boston's leaders in power play ice time (per game):
Zdeno Chara 4:20
Marc Savard 4:11
Glen Murray 3:44
Patrice Bergeron 3:44
Dennis Wideman 3:43
Marco Sturm 3:19

- Montreal's leaders in penalty killing ice time (per game):
Mike Komisarek 3:21
Andrei Markov 3:10
Roman Hamrlik 3:06
Francis Bouillon 2:42
Steve Begin 2:14
Bryan Smolinski 1:51

- Boston's leaders in penalty killing ice time (per game):
Zdeno Chara 3:37
P.J. Azelsson 3:13
Dennis Wideman 2:57
Glen Metropolit 2:49
Andrew Ference 2:45
Aaron Ward 2:28

Goaltending, as always in the playoffs, can win or lose a series. Last year, Montreal's Carey Price led the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs to their first Calder Cup. Price entered the AHL following his season in junior, getting three games of professional experience under his belt before being thrust into the spotlight of the playoffs. Price earned the Jack Butterfield Trophy (AHL Playoffs MVP). Can he repeat the same success at the NHL level? Based on his play this season, there is no reason to believe he can't.

Tim Thomas, on the other hand, has struggled this season. Brilliant at times, and abysmal at others, Thomas will have to be on top of his game against the NHL's number one offense. Like Price, this will be Thomas' first appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

X-FACTOR'S PREDICTION: Habs in 6.