As their obituaries were halfway written, and as the Boston Bruins were quietly helping to pen them, a sound came floating through the walls into their dressing room, deep in what people still call The Boston Garden. Somewhere in a neighbouring hallway, a gang of Montreal Canadiens fans were singing, singing with all their hearts, and the tune was familiar. "Olé, olé-olé-olé," they bellowed. "O-lé, O-lé."
The sound faded away, but it may yet serve as a funeral dirge for a Boston team that accumulated the third-most points in the Eastern Conference, set itself a lofty postseason goal, and has now lost six consecutive playoff games, dating back to last season's collapse against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Canadiens, meanwhile, have become masters of the playoff arts, and their 3-1 victory in Game 2 was another uncompromising masterpiece by the little men who could.
"There's no doubt it's nice to have big forwards, and we have some of those players," Canadiens coach Jacques Martin said yesterday, after his team had taken a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven firstround series. "But sometimes it's not the size of the players, it's the size of the heart. And our players have a big heart.
"It doesn't matter. Our guys who are small, they play in the traffic. And there are others, [like Tampa Bay's] Marty St. Louis, [who] have done very well. So, yes, it's nice to have big players, but I think that sometimes determination and the character of the individual are also great attributes."
It's a cliché to attribute playoff success to determination and character, to discipline and teamwork, but that is what's happening. Through two games the Canadiens have been resolute, and the big bad Bruins have been reduced to a bit of a basket case. They have become a mess of dumb penalties, of absent-minded giveaways, of insufficient goaltending, of good intentions. The doubt is thick in the air, swirling.
"It might be a good thing for us to get [to Montreal] and really simplify things, and get more composed than we are now," a disconsolate Mark Recchi said after Game 2.
"I thought we were a little more tight, actually, tonight than we were in Game 1 . the execution is not there right now," Recchi added. "And for whatever reason, whether guys are nervous, I'm not sure."
To be sure, Montreal was lucky in addition to being good. Zdeno Chara, Boston's captain and best defenceman, missed Saturday's game with a severe case of dehydration, as a result of what is believed to a virus. He tried to skate, and could not; he is still a game-time decision for Game 3 Monday in Montreal.
Without him, Boston's defencemen made three mistakes that led to the three Canadiens goals. And once given a lead, Montreal transforms into one of the best teams in hockey.
"[It's] not to sit back, but you're able to sit within your system and not extend yourself," Canadiens captain Brian Gionta said Sunday. "That's when you get in trouble, when you're taking risks and taking chances to try to get back in the game or trying to make something happen. And when you play with the lead, you don't need to do that, necessarily."
It sounds simple, but only because it is. One of the last blocked shots of Game 2 was recorded by Mike Cammalleri, who scored the game's first goal just 43 seconds in. As Canadiens goaltender Carey Price put it, "I guess one word to describe it would be commitment. Everybody in our locker room is willing to do whatever it takes to win hockey games. [Cammalleri is] taking shots in the laces, and everybody is going to do whatever it takes."
When players talk about how they need to keep it simple in the playoffs, Montreal is what they mean. The Canadiens have blocked 46 shots in two games to Boston's 21 -only Washington, through the first two games, had more -and they have allowed one goal in two games. They are working.
"We know exactly what we're doing out there, and we have a plan in place, and we've ben playing the exact same way, and playing to a tee," Montreal centre Ryan White said. "And that's probably been our best asset so far. We haven't been outplaying them because of one or two guys -we've been doing our jobs, and everyone's contributing, and it's big. We need to be playing that way."
"If we outwork teams, nine times out of 10 we're going to be successful," said Montreal defenceman Brent Sopel.
It is not over, of course -Boston was a fine road team this season, even if none of those road wins were accumulated at the Bell Centre. There is still a chance that they will win four out of the next five games, two of which will have to come on the road. They could yet fail to disappoint.
But it doesn't feel likely, just now. That neither of the local Boston papers used "The Boston Stranglers" in heavy and terrifying print was a missed opportunity, really; the Globe tried "Bumble Bs," but it just wasn't the same. The truth is this is now less a series than an asphyxiation, and there are a lot of different hands around Boston's neck. Some belong to the Montreal Canadiens; some belong to the Bruins themselves. Either way, Boston's windpipe has been located, and it is being squeezed.
barthur@nationalpost.com
