Boston Bruins: Round One Game 2 (Canadians)

     There was one team I didn't want the Bruins to face in round one of the playoffs.  It had nothing to do with records or match-ups and everything to do with an irrational unsubstantiated fear.  The Bruins can't beat the Canadians.  I know they have beaten them, as recently as two years ago, but I can't help feel with every new playoff series between the two teams that there is no way the Bruins are going to win.  Something crazy is going to happen, say Zdeno Chara not being able to play due to dehydration, some really bad call is going to be made and the Bruins are going to be sent home.  I don't know why certain teams have other teams numbers, it doesn't make any sense, the '79, '87 and '04 Bruins and Canadian team's have totally different rosters and coaches yet by the time '04 came around it was no surprise when Montreal knocked the number one ranked Bruins out of the playoffs.  We see it every where in sports, Indy can't beat New England, New York can't beat Anaheim, Phoenix can't beat San Antonio.  Even in college basketball there are certain teams that you can safely predict are going to choke, Kansas, Arizona, Pittsburgh, even though the rosters and coaches continue to change.  There is absolutely no rational for this other then the fact in holds up 80% of the time.
     So, even though the Bruins had a better record, even though the Bruins beat the Canadians 7-0 the last time they played, I was terrified going into this series and so far my fears have come true.  The Bruins are now down two games to none and have to go to Montreal for the next two games.  So far the keys to the series have been Montreal scoring first and within the first couple minutes of the game, Carey Price standing on his head for a period or two, and a third period trap that the Bruins can't break.  All season long the Bruins have been streaky, a bunch of games in a row where they scored a ton followed by a bunch of games in a row where they can't score at all.  I felt the Bruins were going to be trouble if one of those none scoring streaks hit during the playoffs.  I was hoping it wouldn't be in the first series, but here we are.
     The Bruins aren't out of it.  And the best way to break through against a team that has your number is with a miracle comeback (ask the Red Sox and Yankees).  There is part of me thinking the best outcome would be losing tonight and battling back from 3-0 down to exercise both the demons of last year and against the Canadians.  The Bruins have never won a Cup in the modern era in a year they played Montreal in the playoffs.  Maybe they need to have a miraculous comeback for that to happen.  In all honesty, the reason I'm most upset about the present state of the Bruins has more to do with baseball then hockey.  I was hoping for a nice long Bruins run so I wouldn't be left with nothing but Red Sox loses to watch every night.