Rookie playing as if he's been here before

Montreal goaltender Carey Price is 20 years old, a kid still, but last night he wreaked havoc with the carefully considered game plans of grown men.

The Bruins came back for Game 4 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the Canadiens with a strong effort - they were aggressive and physical, pounding Montreal players into the boards to unearth scoring opportunities, and relentlessly blocking out the Canadiens forwards.

But the Canadiens did all that, too.

It was left to Price to make 27 saves while his teammates limited the Bruins to one shot in the last seven minutes as the Canadiens held on for a 1-0 victory at TD Banknorth Garden, taking a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Price, who earned the first playoff shutout of his NHL career, sounded more like a veteran after the game.

"Whenever you come to an opposition rink, especially in the playoffs, they're going to come out swinging," said the rookie, who was MVP of the Calder Cup playoffs in the AHL last season, as well as MVP of the World Junior Championships, where his Canadian team won gold.

"He's in the zone," said Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau. "I know he's a rookie, he's a 20-year-old, but he did something last year that not a lot of players have been able to do. And that's the experience that you gain.

"I think he's used that. He's really strong, mentally. He uses his size [6 feet 2 inches, 222 pounds] really well, I think right now he's in the comfort zone and it's going to be tough to get him out of it."

The Bruins certainly tried to give Price a jolt. They looked smarter and tougher in this game, but they were no better at scoring. Price made some of his toughest saves in the first period, including a pair on hard-working Marco Sturm.

In one sequence, Sturm opened a path down the left wing, and Price skated far out of the net to cut him off. Sturm swerved around the goalie but his shot at the open net skidded wide, Price catching a piece of the puck with his stick to make sure.

"We tried to lock them down," said Price. "They came real hard at us the first 10 minutes.

Halfway through the second period, with the game still scoreless, Price denied veteran wing Glen Murray, who had a clear shot from the hash marks and couldn't bury it.

"They're good at getting guys in the slot," said Price. "Murray's a really good player at trying to find holes. When they get opportunities like that, you're just trying to make yourself look big."

"I don't want to discredit [Price] for this shutout," said Bruins coach Claude Julien, "because he played well enough that he deserves it, but from my point of view, we didn't do enough to create traffic and create some great chances.

"Having said that, it doesn't mean he didn't play well. It's our own fault for not putting more, and when we did, he did the job. That's what it boils down to."

Patrice Brisebois scored a power-play goal for Montreal at the end of the second period, and the Canadiens defense worked hard in the third to stymie the Bruins.

"The last 10 minutes I thought we played well," Price said. "I couldn't ask for a better effort from the guys in front of me. Guys would have blocked shots with their teeth tonight."

Price, who led rookie goaltenders this season with 24 wins, 1,179 saves, a .920 save percentage, 3 shutouts, and 2 assists, has given up only five goals in the series.

He's new at this, but it's just what he expected.

"That's the playoffs," Price said with a shrug. "It seems like every goal counts, every goal matters, and you've got to try and do your best every game or else it's going to bite you. Sometimes one goal is all you need and sometimes one goal against is all they need."

Price held off one final scramble from David Krejci in the last minute, nailing down the shutout.

"It's nice," said Price, "although it would have been just as fun to win, 2-1."