Canadiens fans' hopes uprooted

With Game 3 still up for grabs, Dennis Wideman (left) and Zdeno Chara tried to swat a puck away from the Bruins goal. (Jim Davis/Globe Staff)

Habs Invade Hub. Read all about it.

The Bruins played host to the Canadiens last night and the New Garden at times sounded like the old Forum or the new Bell Centre. Boston was Montreal South.

Montreal fans came to see their team beat the Bruins for the 14th consecutive time and take a 3-0 lead in their first-round playoff series. They made a lot of noise for three hours, but they were silenced at the end of the night when Boston's Marc Savard scored off a pass from Dennis Wideman to give the Bruins a 2-1 overtime victory.

But don't be surprised if the royal rooters of Les Glorieux stick around Beantown for Game 4 tomorrow night.

"I was not surprised it was like this," said standing-on-his-head Bruins goalie Tim Thomas (27 saves). "When I went out to eat in Montreal, the waiter was saying he was coming up to Boston because tickets were so cheap."

A great exchange rate, ticket availability, and playoff fever conspired to put a lot of red sweaters on Causeway Street by late afternoon. They came in planes, buses (the Fung-Roy Line?), and automobiles - singing songs, carrying signs, and lofting a tin-foil Stanley Cup. Canadien Nation had landed.

This was a little taste of what Red Sox fans have been doing across North America over the last few years. The suddenly arrogant and entitled Big Papi-jersey crowd has gained a toehold in most American League cities and has completely taken over at Camden Yards and the Tropicana Dome. Pitching in their home ballparks, Orioles and Ray hurlers now expect huge ovations when they surrender home runs to Manny Ramírez. Thomas worked with the same trepidation in his home office last night.

White-towel-waving bleu, blanc et rouge fans poured into the Garden as soon as the gates opened and chanted "Go Habs, Go!" before anyone came out for an early skate. There were many customers Standing On Guard For Thee during Rene Rancourt's stirring rendition of "O Canada".

"I don't remember playing here in Boston and having that many fans from Montreal," said Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau. "They wouldn't have had the courage to wear the sweaters in the old Garden."

The Habs Homies were silenced when young Bruins wing Milan Lucic (Cam Neely in the making?) potted the first goal of the night in the seventh minute of play. Incredibly, this marked the first Boston lead over Montreal since last March. All in all it was 11 straight games - 687 minutes and 25 seconds - without a lead. You could look it up.

"I was thinking, 'Let's get a lead on these guys,' " admitted Thomas, who then joked, "Why didn't we think of that before?"

It was shocking to hear the crowd reaction when Canadien winger Tom Kostopoulos tied the score in the fifth minute of the second period. There was a scramble behind the net, the puck came out to Kostopoulos , he muscled it into the goal, the red light went on, and it sounded like Bobby Orr had just been introduced. No fun for Thomas.

One really had to pay attention in this game. When the ref blew his whistle to send someone to the penalty box, the crowd reaction made it impossible to tell which team committed the infraction.

"Ole, ole, ole, ole!"

"I don't really hear it," said Thomas.

Bruins captain Zdeno Chara heard the same boos he hears in Montreal whenever he touched the puck. Boston fans had to fight back with noise of their own.

"I thought our fans did a great job when Chara was getting booed," said Savard.

This might have been a good night for Montgomery Burns and his son Charlie to accept Canadian cash at the concession stands. Were Jeremy and Charlie Jacobs bothered by the split allegiance of the sellout? One could only wonder. Beer sales are beer sales in any language.

The Bruins haven't been in the playoffs since 2004 (also a first-round loss to Montreal) and it felt pretty flat - especially given everything that's going on with the Red Sox, Celtics, and the Boston College men's hockey NCAA championship. But it was all good at the end. Boston loud. Just like the old days.

The Bruins were desperate to avoid the 3-0 series deficit. Only two hockey teams have recovered from 3-0 - the 1975 Islanders (vs. Pittsburgh) and the 1942 Maple Leafs (vs. Detroit). I seem to remember the Red Sox having some kind of success of this sort against the Yankees four years ago. But the '08 Bruins are not the '04 Red Sox.

Now they don't have to recover from as deep of a hole. It's a winnable series. The long losing streak is over.

"We've got a lot of guys who laid it all on the line," said Thomas. "It's good to get rewarded. I hope every spectator at that game enjoyed the game."

No one asked for their money back. In any language. In any currency.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is dshaughnessy@globe.com.