The Boston Bruins will host the Montreal Canadiens in the opening round of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which begin later this week. The match-up was finalized following the Philadelphia Flyers' win over the New York Islanders on Saturday night.
Boston (46-24-11) is currently in third place in the Eastern Conference, which is where they will finish the regular season regardless of the outcome of Sunday's game in New Jersey. Montreal (44-30-8) locked up the conference's sixth seed with its 4-1 win over Toronto on Saturday night.
Recent history favors the Canadiens in this series, as the Bruins are 2-3-1 against Montreal this season. In their last meeting, Boston posted an impressive 7-0 win over the Habs.
The complete Eastern Conference standings can be seen below, and you can check out the official NHL playoff picture by clicking here.
- Washington Capitals (48-23-11; 107 points)
- Philadelphia Flyers (47-23-12; 106 points)
- Boston Bruins (46-24-11; 103 points)
- Pittsburgh Penguins (48-25-8; 104 points)
- Tampa Bay Lightning (46-25-11; 103 points)
- Montreal Canadiens (44-30-8; 96 points)
- Buffalo Sabres (43-29-10; 96 points)
- New York Rangers (44-33-5; 93 points)