What he got instead was an ugly 4-0 loss and a winner-take-all Game 7 in Boston on Wednesday night.
Up three games to two and with a chance to clinch their best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semifinals series, the Bruins laid an egg, practically handing the Canadiens scoring chances as the Habs scored on two embarrassing defensive faux pas, one on a power play and one into an empty net to ice the game.
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| Habs' David Desharnais (51) makes a crazy save on a Jarome Iginla offering |
The Bruins? On Monday night they couldn't have scored at a bar full of cougars.
Especially the way that the Canadiens were contesting everything - laying out to block shots, winning on the dashers, causing chaos with their swarming neutral zone defense and tight zone box protecting the slot - the Montreal defensemen escorting the forwards to the wings and intercepting nearly every centering pass that actually made it through the lumber.
Despite all of that, the Bruins still made their own chances, but continued their post-season long habit of drawing iron and missing wide open nets, while the Canadiens connected on their opportunities, which were the kind served on a silver platter by the sloppy Bruins' defense.
The carnage started almost immediately, the Canadiens' pressure down low on Bruins' defenseman Torey Krug forcing a bounce pass to rookie blue liner Kevan Miller, who misplayed the funky carom and the puck squirted into the slot where Habs forward Lars Eller gathered it in and went backhand on Rask, who abandoned the crease to try and poke check the puck away from Eller.
That goal just 2:11 into the game turned out to be the eventual game winner, as Montreal goalie Carey Price stopped all 26 shots he faced to make the lead stand for the remaining 57:49 of regulation.
But the Bruins weren't finished making mistakes, and the Canadiens were far from finished scoring.
Montreal blew the game wide open with two goals during a short, intense 2:15 span of the late second period, rookie blue liner Nathan Beaulieu got hold of a deflected Loui Eriksson point drive and led Max Pacioretty with a tumbling stretch pass after he had released and gotten behind the defensive pairing of Zdeno Chara and Dougie Hamilton...
...Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask still had a chance to make a play on the puck, but perhaps thought better of it after the earlier Eller goal and got caught in no man's land when Pacioretty split the defense and reached the puck before Chara, planting the puck behind Rask for an easy 2-0 lead.
Tomas Vanek then made it a three goal lead, cleaning up a loose puck that emerged from a scrum in front of the Bruins' net with Gregory Campbell in the penalty box, poking it in the open net before Rask could square his shoulders, and the game was essentially over.
The only spark of energy that came from the Bruins was an eruption of frustration with 24 seconds remaining in the game - no gloves were dropped but that didn't prevent Chara and Jarome Iginla from shoving their gloved fists in Mike Weaver's and Brian Gionta's respective grills, perhaps trying to send a message in advance of Game 7 in Boston...
...but if that's all they have to hold on to, it's going to have to be enough as the desperation is now on both teams - and if the Bruins can't get up for a winner-take-all Game 7 against their oldest and most bitter rivals - if they can't find their effort, if they can't find the defensive intensity and close out the series, they have only to look back at Monday night's comedy of errors to realize where it went wrong.
Because when you gift wrap scoring chances the way the Bruins did, the present inside is called momentum - and going into an elimination game looming, it's the gift that keeps on giving.
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