Beers On Sports Final: Bruins Must Stay Disciplined Against Montreal
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Bruins are moving on in the NHL Playoffs, and will now face their biggest rival on the ice in the second round.
After handling the Detroit Red Wings in five games in their first round series, the Bruins now have a playoff matchup with the Montreal Canadiens for the 34th time in the two team's storied rivalry.
This will be the fourth time the two teams have met in the playoffs since 2008, with the Bruins coming out victorious the last time they tussled in the postseason: a dramatic seven-game, first-round series in 2011.
98.5 The Sports Hub's Bruins radio analyst Bob Beers joined Dan Roche on WBZ-TV's Sports Final on Sunday night to break down the upcoming series. He likes the Bruins to prevail, but said that discipline on the ice will be a big key for Boston, as it always is whenever they face off against the Habs.
"It always comes back to discipline when you play the Canadiens," said Beers. "It's not always the discipline of taking penalties, but the discipline of not running all over the place, because you get so amped up playing them and you want to finish them. But the Bruins are at their best when they're not running around and depending on everybody."
The Bruins went 1-2-1 against Montreal during the regular season, and the Habs are coming off an impressive first-round sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning. But with all the history between the two teams, the Bruins know what to expect and should be ready for what the next series will bring.
"I think theyve been through it enough," said Beers. "In that atmosphere, just playing against them everything is magnified. For some of the new guys it may be different, but for the guys that have been here, they've had success against the Canadiens in the past few years so they can draw on that success -- realize that this is how they need to play to beat them."
"Everyone talks about their speed and their skill, but they've added some size and that size was good for them in the Tampa series," Beers said of Montreal. "They're better than Detroit and they've been through a bit more than Detroit had as a group. Everything the Bruins did against Detroit they'll have to do that and probably a bit more, and they'll be tested a bit more against Montreal. But the depth for the Bruins, as long as everyone is healthy, should be able to prevail."
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