2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs Blog - Conference Quarter-finals

The Boston Bruins may have suffered a severe blow near the end of their 5-1 Game 2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens Saturday night.

But the way the Bruins are playing, it may not make any difference at all.

Milan Lucic is facing a possible suspension after cross-checking Habs agitator Maxim Lapierre in the face with less than five minutes to play Saturday.

Lucic was originally given a game misconduct for the momentary lapse in judgment, but the officials changed it after the game to a match penalty. Though the two terms sound similar, they have very different consequences.

A game misconduct carries an automatic $200 US fine (which I think we can all agree is not much of a deterrent) along with the possibility of a suspension. But a match penalty means a player is immediately suspended until further notice from the commissioner.

Stick-shaped welt

Lapierre was sporting a welt under his right eye after the game that perfectly matched the shape of the frame of a stick, but Bruins coach Claude Julien insisted afterward that Lucic hit Lapierre in the helmet with his glove, not his stick.

“Somebody’s coming at him and he hit him in the head with his glove,” Julien said. “We just feel that he certainly doesn’t deserve (a suspension).”

In any case, whether Lucic plays or not, the Bruins’ performance Saturday night left little chance for the Canadiens to get back in this series, even though they are heading back home for the next two games.

The Bruins were constantly first on the puck, making crisp, tape-to-tape passes, and were dominant on the power play to the tune of three goals on five chances.

Meanwhile, the Canadiens committed penalties outside their own defensive zone, could rarely string together more than one pass (if that) and were completely dominated in the faceoff circle.

“We felt there were some positive things that happened in the first game,” said Habs winger Christopher Higgins. “There wasn’t a whole lot positive that happened tonight.”

Win for Hunwick: Savard

It didn’t help the Canadiens’ cause that the Bruins were an inspired bunch, and not only by the sellout crowd of 17,565 at TD Banknorth Garden who were hungry for a victory after the Celtics lost their opening game of the playoffs a few hours earlier.

With Bruins defenceman Matt Hunwick resting comfortably in hospital following an emergency splenectomy, Boston had every reason to come out and give their fallen teammate a reason to smile.

It’s safe to assume Hunwick was going ear to ear when he fell asleep Saturday night.

“We obviously knew he had a tough day today, and as a team, if he’s watching, that was for him,” said Marc Savard, who led the offensive charge with a two-goal, two-assist night. “We wanted to end his day on a nice note.”

Blue-line injuries still haunt Habs

For the Canadiens, a lot of things have to change by Monday for them to get back into the series with a Game 3 victory.

The biggest factor would be the return of Andrei Markov, who is waiting in Montreal nursing his suspected knee injury. Markov is what makes the Canadiens go, both offensively and defensively. He ensures a clean breakout from the zone, and he could very well be the league’s best defenceman when it comes to holding the blue-line.

Since the lockout, the Canadiens are 6-17-2 when Markov is out of the lineup, and chances are excellent that record will drop to 6-19-2 by Wednesday night if he’s not ready to go.

Habs general manager and coach Bob Gainey called in Francis Bouillon to try to play Game 2, even though he’s not fully recovered from a torn groin and pulled abdominal muscle. Bouillon gave it a shot, but couldn’t come out for the second.

It might be a desperate enough situation for Gainey to try the same thing with Markov. Otherwise, we may have a sweep on our hands.