The Kid came through

The Montreal Canadiens advance and all's right with the world. But as a Habs fan, you never doubted it, right?

Every Montreal Canadiens fan in the city was nervous heading into Game 7. That guy named Mo Mentum was firmly on the side of the underdogs and all of our city's flag bearers were already thinking about how to dispose of their waving displays of affection. Well, lucky for everyone it worked out. Monday night didn't start out very pretty, but it certainly worked out.

In a brilliant move by Guy Carbonneau, and with the season on the line, the venerable Hab-for-Life put Koivu with Kovalev and Higgins, and stuck the flying Kostitsyn brothers with Plekanec. It was a move that ignited Sergei and his brother, as well as the top line. Continuing his strong play from Game 6, Christopher Higgins showed why he loves playing on the wing. He was a force on the boards and allowed Saku and Alex to do their thing in the middle of the ice. Indeed, Montreal's best forwards played like their best forwards. Was it ever really doubt?

And let's take a moment to acknowledge the rebound performance of Carey Price. Not only did he keep his team in the game in the first until his teammates got their legs under them, but he showed why he is destined for greatness. He came out in the most important game of his life and played like it.

The Canadiens played with passion, they played with speed and they played with skill. They played like a team seeded first overall and served notice to the remaining teams in this postseason that they are ready to take on adversity and come out on top.

But before we look ahead, we must mention how brilliant Claude Julien and his staff were in this series. They adjusted to what Montreal did and seemingly had an answer for everything the Canadiens threw at them - at least through the first six games. Julien managed to slow Montreal's speed and silence some of Montreal's top guns at times. It was truly a display of grit, toughness and desire. How Julien is on his third team, I'll never know. Boston will back in playoffs next season, you can book it.

As for the Canadiens' chances moving forward? Well, something has to be done about that power play. You can be sure that either the Rangers or Flyers will be watching tape of the Bruins' pk. For Montreal to score on the power play they simply have to keep moving around- both themselves and the puck. The odds will catch up to the Habs if they don't turn it around.

Some will say that going seven games with Boston isn't a good sign of things to come. I couldn't disagree more. The young Canadiens took their lumps and got some much needed lessons in grit and adversity. This is how you gain postseason experience and lucky for Montreal they've survived to play again.

The Canadiens did exactly what they needed to do in the most important game of the season -they scored a lot and they didn't allow a lot. Sounds simple but it isn't.