MTL vs BOS

BOSTON – Here are a few notes prior to tonight’s Game 3 between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens:

Home ice disadvantage?

If the Boston Bruins felt intimidated by the rocking atmosphere at the Bell Centre in Game 1 of their first round playoff series with the Montreal Canadiens, how will they feel tonight if their hometown crowd at the TD Banknorth Garden is dotted with more of those loud Habs fans?

That possibility certainly exists as CH jerseys and car flags are visible all over the place in Boston today, from the airport to hotel lobbies to restaurants.

Many of the most diehard Canadiens fans could never dream of landing a ticket at the eternally sold out Bell Centre, and they have come down to Boston in droves Sunday to support their team.

Tickets for Game 3 were available online as late as Friday and were being snatched up by Habs fans.

It’s possible that the impact of Canadiens fans on the overall atmosphere at the Garden tonight will be minimal, but the crowd will not be nearly as one-sided as the ones in Montreal on Thursday and Saturday nights.

Kostopoulos making an early case for the Conn Smythe

O.K., that may be a bit of a stretch but Tom Kostopoulous has certainly been one of Montreal’s most valuable players through the first two games of this series.

In Game 1 Thursday, Kostopoulos was the only Montreal player to register two points in the Canadiens’ easy 4-1 win, converting a beautiful feed from Maxim Lapierre with a one-timer five-hole on Tim Thomas in the third and also picking up an assist on Bryan Smolinski’s goal in the second period.

Not only that, but Kostopoulos dished out five hits in the game, second only to Lapierre and Roman Hamrlik who had six each.

In Game 2, Kostopoulos managed to get under the Bruins skin from the get-go, drawing a momentum-shifting penalty on Zdeno Chara in the first period and an equally retaliatory interference penalty on Mark Stuart late in the second.

He was also the victim of Shawn Thornton’s inadvertent high stick with 2:17 to play in regulation, giving Montreal two more power play chances, and added four hits and a blocked shot to his body of work.

The Canadiens didn’t connect on any of the four power play chances Kostopoulos provided them, but if the league’s top power-play unit starts to click, those penalties he’s drawing will become that much more valuable.

When asked about his effect on Chara prior to Game 2, Kostopoulos said, “He’s a dominant player. We just have to keep hitting him, keep wearing him down.”

Wideman still a question mark

After missing Game 2 with what the Bruins called a “lower torso injury,” top-pair defenceman Denis Wideman remains a question mark for Game 3.

Bruins coach Claude Julien could not, or would not, shed any light Sunday on the availability of Chara’s regular partner on the blueline.

The 25 minutes a game Wideman spends on the ice are extremely vital to Julien’s team. In Game 2, Aaron Ward took Wideman’s spot and played 26:57.

Montreal’s second goal by Sergei Kostitsyn showed why Ward should not be playing those kinds of minutes. Ward watched as a loose puck in front of the Bruins net drifted to Patrice Brisebois, whose shot was stopped by Thomas.

And Ward was still a spectator standing next to the post as Kostitsyn walked around from behind the net, grabbed the rebound and put it in. If Wideman is unable to go in Game 3, it puts a serious damper on Boston’s chances in a must-win game.

History not on the side of the B’s

The Bruins entered this series with both short and long-term history working against them.

The Canadiens winning streak against the Bruins dating back to March 20, 2007 now stands at 13 games, and Montreal still has yet to trail in any of its 10 games against Boston this season.

Montreal’s all-time record against the Bruins in playoff series’ is 23-7, including 18 straight wins from 1946-87.

The kicker is that Boston has never overcome a two-game deficit against Montreal.