Sports Redux: Au Revoir Les Habitents

It was exactly and totally unlike last season. This time, the #1 seed fully lived up to its poisition, while the #8 seed meekly submitted. Last year, the Bruins were #8, and came out of the series loss with unbounded optimism for the future. This year, the Canadiens were #8, and they're just done.

Until yesterday, P.J. Axelsson was the only guy on the team who ever experienced a playoff win in black and gold. "It's a little sweeter this time, I think. Maybe I was too young back then to know better." Or maybe it's sweeter because they're not just happy to be here; they're in it for the long haul. And with other top-tier teams (Washington, San Jose) struggling to survive in the first round, things look better and better.

But first, let's celebrate this win. After quickly falling behind 1-0, Tim Thomas buckled down and saved the rest of Montreal's 26 shots. His businesslike offense tied it and then took the lead late in the first, on goals by Michael Ryder at 17:27 and David Krejci at 19:25. The Bruins blew the doors off the game, and sent Habs fans crying into their poutine, with two quick goals late in the second, by Phil Kessel and Ryder again. Ryder, seen here, had good reason to whoop it up, since Montreal sent him packing last season. "It was good to beat your old team. I'm a Bruin now. It's a lot of fun." Says it all. Claude Julien also has a French pink slip in his past, so the win was gratifying for him, too, though he won't come out and say it. Just for fun, Milan Lucic got into one last contretemps with Mike Komisarek, who got to start his summer vacation a bit early when he got tossed from the game after cutting Lucic in the face.

Now the B's wait, to see who they'll play in the next round. The Rangers took a 3-1 lead over Washington, so it will probably be them.

The Red Sox took care of things at Fenway, sweeping the day/night doubleheader from Minnesota. A set of two-run homers (Youk, Nick Green, Lowell) paced the offense, while Tim Wakefield shut the Twins down for seven innings. Then it rained, and with the score 10-1, everyone seemed agreeable to shutting down Game One and getting ready for Game Two. They had a whole new crowd to file in, they had hot dogs to rotate, and they had to change into their green-tinted uniforms for Earth Day. Then they came back out and kept rolling, as Jeff Bailey's three-run homer helped give Brad Penny a nice cushion for an eventual 7-3 win.

That's seven in a row for the boys, who now trail Toronto by 1.5, and are tied with the Yankees for second. So the wild-card spot could be on the line this weekend, if you ignore the 5 1/2 months left to go. Which we do. In any case, it's good to see the Sox bandwagon pulled out of the ravine and refurbished; they've even agreed to hold it at the gate until we know where and when the Celtics' bandwagon reaches its terminus. We'll know a lot more about that tonight, when the series shifts to Chicago for a pivotal Game Three.

Photo by Ryan Remiorz/Associated Press/Canadian Press.