This story originally ran in BruinsZone.com on April 14, 2011.

By Nick Tavares

One early defensive lapse was enough to do in the Bruins, who fell 2-0 to Montreal in Game 1 at TD Garden in Boston, the victims of a very early goal and a very late goal by Canadiens captain Brian Gionta.

Price puts up a wall

Carey Price had clear looks at the Boston shooters most of the night, and no one was getting through. Boston wasn’t short on shots, putting 31 on the Habs goaltender and a whopping 18 on him in the second period, but Price turned everyone away with what looked like relative ease.

Brad Marchand led the Bruins with six shots on net, including a couple of nice breakaways, while Zdeno Chara put five up of his own and the line of David Krejci, Nathan Horton and Milan Lucic all put in their chances.

Bruins skate hard, don’t beat themselves

The most trying times watching a Bruins game, for Boston fans, come when the team stops skating and allows a team to beat them. This didn’t happen tonight. What did happen was that Montreal used their speed to create havoc for the Boston offense, particularly on the power play. Boston had trouble getting into a rhythm with the extra man, particularly in the second period, wasting their time breaking up shorthanded chances and retooling rather than creating any kind of flow.

On even strength, the Bruins had their act together, with a number of excellent chances. But the screens weren’t there, there wasn’t always a presence in front of the net, and in the end it doomed Boston.

Down goes Subban

P.K. Subban might be the most exciting player Montreal has. He’s fast and creative, and is constantly moving the puck and creating chances out of the back end.

But he is as gutless a player as there is in the NHL (at least among those not currently under suspension). Upon noticing Krejci skate by him near the Montreal net at the end of the first period, Subban went flying, flopping down on the ice and letting his stick loose from his grip, as if a 700-pound behemoth had just slammed him from behind. Out came the whistle, and Montreal was on the power play.

Flopping is nothing new for Montreal, so in the long run, perhaps it was good for Boston to know that that part of their game isn’t going away in the playoffs. And when it comes to flopping, flying and diving, no one is better than Subban.

Actually, I think he just fell down as I typed this. That’s two minutes in the box for me. …