Canadiens: Seeded No. 1; 47-25-10.

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Bruins: Seeded No. 8, 41-29-12.

Season series: Canadiens won all eight games.

Last playoff meeting: Montreal beat Boston in seven games in the first round in 2004.

Offence: Montreal led the NHL with 262 goals and 35-year-old RW Alex Kovalev had the second-best season of his career with 35 goals and 84 points. Tomas Plekanec (29), Christopher Higgins (27), and Andrei Kostitsyn (26) each topped 20 goals. ... The Bruins' Marc Savard had nobody to play with, but still managed 63 assists en route to a 78-point season. Marco Sturm was the top goal-scorer with 27.

Defence: Each team gave up 222 goals, tied for fourth-best in the Eastern Conference.

Goaltending: The Canadiens raised some eyebrows at the trading deadline when they sent No. 1 goaltender Cristobal Huet to Washington, handing the top job to rookie Carey Price. Since the trade, Price is 12-3 with a 2.12 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage. Boston's Tim Thomas had the fourth-best save percentage in the NHL at .921, but his numbers dipped late in the season and he was 0-4-1 vs. the Canadiens.

Power play: The Canadiens led the league for a second consecutive year with 90 goals and a 24.2-per- cent success rate. Boston was 16th with 56 goals and a 17.6-per-cent success rate.

Penalty kill: The Canadiens allowed only two power-play goals in their last eight games and ranked 15th at 82.5 per cent. Boston was 28th, allowing the opposition to score at a 78.6-per-cent clip.

Injuries: Canadiens -- D Mike Komisarek (hip), C Mikhail Grabovski (flu),

RW Michael Ryder (leg) and D Francis Bouillon (ankle) will all be available. C Saku Koivu (foot) is questionable for the start of the series. Bruins -- C Marc Savard is questionable with a back injury, and Patrice Bergeron (concussion) could play before the series is over.

Canadiens win if: Rookie goaltender Price continues to show that he's immune to pressure.

Bruins win if: Savard and Bergeron are healthy enough to make a difference.

Prediction: Canadiens in five.