One down, fifteen to go.

The Montreal Canadiens began their quest for the Stanley Cup yesterday as the first game of the first round series with the Boston Bruins was presented at the Bell centre.

The Bell centre was filled to capacity and the fans were not disappointed by the home team. The Canadiens exploded out of the gates, bringing the loud roar from the crowd. With just over two minutes of play, Sergei Kostitsyn and his brother Andrei Kostitsyn had scored a goal each.

The Canadiens played a very solid game as they only allowed a goal to Boston. Shane Hnidy deflected a shot from the blue line to bring the Bruins within a single goal. But that's about all the Bruins could do during this game.

The Canadiens dominated the Bruins physically. Some very good bodychecks were distributed by the home team. Zdeno Chara was often targetted by the Canadiens players. Bryan Smolinski and Tom Kostopoulos completed the score for Montreal.

In net, Carey Price had his first playoff experience in career and was never seriously tested. At the other end of the ice, Tim Thomas had plenty of work in front of the Bruins net. The four Montreal goals were scored between Thomas' pads...

Final score: Montreal Canadiens 4 - Boston Bruins 1 (Montreal leads the series by 1-0)

Game 2 of the series will be played saturday evening.

Other first round scores:

Pittsburgh Penguins 4 - Ottawa Senators 0 (Pittsburgh leads by 1-0)

New-York Rangers 4 - New-Jersey Devils 1 (New-York leads by 1-0)

Detroit Red Wings 3 - Nashville Predators 1 (Detroit leads by 1-0)

Calgary Flames 3 - San Jose Sharks 2
San Jose Sharks 2 - Calgary Flames 0 (This series is tied at 1-1)

Colorado Avalanche 3 - Minnesota Wild 2 (Colorado leads by 1-0)

Dallas Stars 4 - Anaheim Ducks 0 (Dallas leads by 1-0)

(Picture: Canadian Press.)