(Best E Casino) - The Montreal Canadiens were the most surprising team in the 2007-08 season. They're a club that many pundits, myself included, considered to be a non-playoff team and all the Habs did was take the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

The East powers coming into this season were supposed to be Pittsburgh, Ottawa and the New York Rangers, but Montreal gradually worked its way into that conversation and now has home-ice advantage through the conference playoffs.

How exactly was it that so many people were so wrong about this year's edition of the Habs?

First of all, few people could have predicted Alex Kovalev would regain his prolific scoring touch and have his best season in seven years. The talented right winger played in all 82 games and led Montreal in goals (35), points (84), plus/minus (plus-18) and was tied for the team lead with 49 assists. Kovalev's point total was his highest since notching 95 points with Pittsburgh in 2000-01.

Kovalev did a large part of his damage on the power play and actually led the NHL with 47 points (17 goals, 30 assists) on the man advantage. The 35-year- old Russian has 84 points (37g, 47a) in 100 career playoff games and has one Stanley Cup title to his credit, winning it all with the Rangers in 1994.

Another reason the Canadiens were supposed to have a down year this season was due to the departure of defenseman Sheldon Souray, who fled to Edmonton as a free agent in the summer. Souray set an NHL-record for power-play goals by a defensemen with the Habs in 2006-07, as he notched 19 markers on the man advantage and finished with 64 points.

However, the play of defensemen Andrei Markov made fans in Montreal quickly forget about Souray. Markov, who is a superb two-way defenseman, played in all 82 games this season and notched career-highs in goals (16) and points (58) this season.

The combination of Kovalev and Markov on the power play is Montreal's biggest asset. The Canadiens were easily the NHL's best team on the man advantage this season, as they scored on 24.1-percent of their power-play opportunities.

Montreal had five players with double figures in power-play goals this year. Kovalev led the way with 17, Markov had 10 and Christopher Higgins, Andrei Kostitsyn and Tomas Plekanec each had 12 apiece.

Plekanec, a 25-year-old centerman, was actually the second-leading scorer overall on Montreal with 69 points (29g, 40a) in 81 games.

Mark Streit, who plays defense and sometimes on the wing, actually had more points than Markov this season with 62 points (13g, 49a). Streit was another key power-play performer with 34 points (7g, 27a) on the man advantage.

Saku Koivu, Montreal's captain, posted 56 points this year on 16 goals and 40 assists, a disappointing effort after he registered a career-high 75 points (22g, 53a) in 2006-07.

The Habs also saw a handful of youngsters step up on offense this season, but none more than the 22-year-old Kostitsyn, who had 26 goals and 27 assists in his first full season with Montreal.

There was also a great deal of concern at this year's trade deadline when the Habs decided to trade their starting goaltender Cristobal Huet to Washington for a second-round pick in the 2009 draft. That meant that the Canadiens were going to rely on 20-year-old rookie Carey Price to start in goal the rest of the way.

Price, the fifth overall pick in the 2005 draft, had an impressive first year in the NHL, going 24-12-3 with a .920 save percentage and 2.56 goals-against average. He was especially solid down the stretch, winning his last seven starts and allowing just 15 goals over that span.

Obviously, Price has no experience in the NHL playoffs, but last year was the youngest player ever to win the MVP of the Calder Cup playoffs. He led the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs to the championship by going 15-6 with a 2.06 GAA and .936 save percentage.

Canadiens head coach Guy Carbonneau, a popular player for the Habs himself in the 1980s and '90s, will be coaching his first playoff series.

BOSTON BRUINS (8th seed, East)

REGULAR SEASON RECORD: 41-29-12

2007 PLAYOFFS: Did not qualify

(Best E Casino) - Like the Canadiens, the Boston Bruins were not exactly a popular pick to make the playoffs, but the club was able to get into the postseason by playing a stingy brand of hockey.

The man responsible for this year's style of play is head coach Claude Julien, who coached the Canadiens for parts of three seasons before getting fired midway through the 2005-06 campaign.

Julien was hired in the offseason by Boston after lasting just 79 games last year with New Jersey, despite having the Devils in first place at the time of his firing.

Playing more of a trap system makes sense for the Bruins, especially since they have the game's most physically imposing defenseman in 6-foot-9, 250- pound Zdeno Chara.

Chara signed a five-year, $37.5 million deal with Boston before the 2006-07 season, but his first campaign with the Bruins was disappointing as he was a minus-21. This year was much different, as Chara posted a team-high plus-14 rating and also led Boston defenseman with 51 points. The Slovakian was also tied for second amongst NHL defenseman with 17 goals.

Overall, the Bruins were 11th-best in the NHL with an average of just 2.58 goals allowed per game.

Boston's offensive star over the last two seasons has been playmaking centerman Marc Savard, who led the team with 78 points this year after posting 96 points to lead the Bruins in 2006-07.

Savard had just 15 goals this year, but was third in the NHL with 63 assists.

Marco Sturm, a linemate of Savard's, led the Bruins in goal-scoring this season with 27 markers.

All told, Boston had nine players with double figures in goals, including Chuck Kobasew (22), Phil Kessel (19) and Glen Murray (17). Yet, the club was still 24th in the league with an average of 2.51 goals per contest.

The Bruins hope to get an offensive boost from the return of centerman Patrice Bergeron, who may be ready to play later in this series after sitting out since late October with a severe concussion. Bergeron had three goals and four assists in 10 games this season after finishing second on the Bruins with 70 points a year ago.

Veteran goaltender Tim Thomas will be between the pipes for Boston in this series after putting together a solid season in 2007-08. Thomas went 28-19-6 and posted career-bests in save percentage (.921) and goals-against average (2.44). Thomas has never seen action in an NHL playoff game.

In addition to Chara, the Bruins also boast promising young defenseman Dennis Wideman. The 25-year-old set career-highs in goals (13), assists (23) and plus/minus (plus-11).

Boston rounds out its regular defensive rotation with quality minutes from Andrew Ference, Mark Stuart, Shane Hnidy and Aaron Ward.

MATCHUP

The Canadiens dominated the season series with the Bruins this year, as they won all eight meetings and outscored their Northeast Division rivals by a 39-16 margin.

The regular-season series should usually be thrown out the window when it comes to the playoffs, but the way the Habs beat up on Boston this year cannot be ignored. Montreal had wins of 6-1, 7-4, and 8-2 against the Bruins this year.

The Canadiens also hold a sizeable advantage in terms of all-time playoff meetings between the clubs. Montreal has taken 23 of the 30 postseason series between these Original Six franchises and has also won the last two, beating the Bruins in the conference quarters in 2002 and 2004.

One of the big reasons Boston has a tough time with the Habs is that its penalty-kill was one of the worst units in the league this year. The Bruins stopped just 78.6-percent of their opponents' power plays and finished 28th in the league on the penalty kill.

The young age and lack of NHL experience at goaltender could be a problem for Montreal, but GM Bob Gainey was obviously confident of Price or else he wouldn't have traded Huet at the deadline.

Not to mention, the Canadiens had great success with a young goaltender in the playoffs in recent memory, as a 20-year-old Patrick Roy won the Conn Smythe in leading Montreal to its 23rd Stanley Cup title in 1986.

The Canadiens may have shocked some people with their excellent regular season, but Montreal will keep the surprises to a minimum in this series against an opponent they match up very well against.

Best E Casino predicted outcome: Canadiens in 5