Montréal Canadiens 1, Boston Bruins 0 FINAL

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Boston, MA – The Boston Bruins fell to the Montreal Canadiens, 1-0, Tuesday night in game four of their Stanley Cup quarterfinal series at the TD Banknorth Garden.  Patrice Brisebois scored the game’s only goal, and Carey Price made 27 saves for the shutout.

“It was just a good, solid hockey game,” said Marc Savard, “and there’s a challenge that lies ahead now, a little bit of a deeper hole….It’s our season [on the line] now.”

The series now stands at 3-1 in favor of the Habs, and Boston faces elimination Thursday night at Montreal's Bell Centre.

"It's pretty simple [now]," said Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien. "We just need to go to Montreal and play one game.

"You don't look at the fact that you have to win the next three, because it is too big of a picture.

"It sounds like a cliche...but it's one game at a time," he said.

Michael Komisarek earned the first penalty of the game for clipping at 7:38, putting the Bruins on the first power play of the game, and was joined shortly after by Petteri Nokelainen, at 8:12, for interference, keeping the play equal at four-on-four.

But when Zdeno Chara entered the box for hooking at 10:05, Montreal wound up with a short five-on-three (only seven seconds), followed by a power play of their own. Boston earned another chance with the man advantage when Sergei Kostitsyn was called for elbowing at 13:21.

Not for lack of effort – the Habs had 12 shots, while Boston had 9 – both teams headed to the locker room with the score tied at zero.

“We’ve just got to keep going to the net, creating our own chances, and outworking them,” said Glen Murray.

The second period was an even, back-and-forth affair, and it was not until very late in the session that the scoreboard changed.

With Andrew Ference in the box to serve a tripping penalty, called at 18:21, Brisebois used the man advantage to get the puck past Tim Thomas with just 42 seconds remaining in the second period.

“It was at the end, I guess, and guys tried to block it, and [Brisebois] just pushed it forward, and they scored,” said Chara.  “Unfortunately, that was the goal that decided it.”

It was the first goal of the game and made the score, 1-0, Montreal.

As a small consolation, Boston would start the final 20 minutes on a power play as Steve Begin was called for tripping as the buzzer sounded.

But with the Bruins unable to score on Price, who stood strong in net and made some tremendous saves to keep Boston scoreless, the game went to Montreal for the third time in the series.

“Obviously, it’s not fun to lose,” said Ference.  “In a good hockey game, when both teams play well, somebody’s got to win, and somebody’s got to lose, so you feel a little down because it didn’t work [for you].  

“[But], at the end of the day, the last three games, there’s been so many positives to draw on that you just stick with it.”

Coach Julien understands the task ahead, but is not hanging his head at the series deficit.

"I am sitting up here at two teams battling and, you know what, it's supposed to be one [seed] versus eight," said Julien. "I see two teams that are pretty evenly matched, when it comes to the kind of games that we've played.

"Right now it's a question of inches," Julien said.