(Sports Network) - A pair of Original Six franchises meet once again in the playoffs, as the top-seeded Montreal Canadiens host the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

The Canadiens dominated the season series with the Bruins this year, as they won all eight meetings and outscored their Northeast Division rivals by a 39-16 margin.

The regular-season series should usually be thrown out the window when it comes to the playoffs, but the way the Habs beat up on Boston this year cannot be ignored as Montreal had wins of 6-1, 7-4, and 8-2 against the Bruins.

The Canadiens also hold a sizeable advantage in terms of all-time playoff meetings between the clubs. Montreal has taken 23 of the 30 postseason series between these old rivals and has also won the last two, beating the Bruins in the conference quarters in 2002 and 2004.

Game 2 of this series is set for Saturday evening in Montreal.

The Canadiens were one of the NHL's biggest surprises this year, as they were picked by many to fall short of the playoffs, but wound up being the best team in the East.

One of the reasons for Montreal's big year was the resurgence of Alex Kovalev. The talented right winger played in all 82 games and led the Habs in goals (35), points (84), plus/minus (plus-18) and was tied for the team lead with 49 assists. Kovalev's point total was his highest since notching 95 points with Pittsburgh in 2000-01.

The combination of Kovalev and defenseman Andrei Markov on the power play is Montreal's biggest asset. The Canadiens were easily the NHL's best team on the man advantage this season, as they scored on 24.1-percent of their power-play opportunities.

On the other hand, Boston's penalty-kill was one of the worst units in the league this year. The Bruins stopped just 78.6-percent of their opponents' power plays and finished 28th in the league on the penalty kill.

Kovalev led the NHL with 47 points (17 goals, 30 assists) on the man advantage. Markov, who is a superb two-way defenseman, played in all 82 games this season and notched career-highs in goals (16) and points (58) this season. Markov had 10 goals and 22 assists on the power play.

The Canadiens will go into this postseason with 20-year-old rookie Carey Price as their goaltender. Montreal thrust the No. 1 backstop tag onto Price when it traded previous starting netminder Cristobal Huet to Washington at this year's deadline.

Price, the fifth overall pick in the 2005 draft, had an impressive first year in the NHL, going 24-12-3 with a .920 save percentage and 2.56 goals-against average. He was especially solid down the stretch, winning his last seven starts and allowing just 15 goals over that span.

Montreal will be without its captain Saku Koivu tonight, as the Finnish centerman continues to recover from breaking a small bone in his left foot. Koivu had 16 goals and 40 assists in 77 games for the Habs this season.

Like the Canadiens, the Bruins were not exactly a popular pick to make the playoffs, but the club was able to get into the postseason by playing a stingy brand of hockey.

Playing more of a trap system makes sense for the Bruins, especially since they have the game's most physically imposing defenseman in 6-foot-9, 250- pound Zdeno Chara.

Chara signed a five-year, $37.5 million deal with Boston before the 2006-07 season, but his first campaign with the Bruins was disappointing as he was a minus-21. This year was much different, as Chara posted a team-high plus-14 rating and also led Boston defenseman with 51 points. The Slovakian was also tied for second amongst NHL defenseman with 17 goals.

Overall, the Bruins were 11th-best in the NHL with an average of just 2.58 goals allowed per game.

Boston's offensive star over the last two seasons has been playmaking centerman Marc Savard, who led the team with 78 points this year after posting 96 points to lead the Bruins in 2006-07. Savard had just 15 goals this year, but was third in the NHL with 63 assists. The Ottawa, Ontario native is expected to make his playoff debut tonight despite missing the last seven games of the regular season with a back injury.

Marco Sturm, a linemate of Savard's, led the Bruins in goal-scoring this season with 27 markers.

The Bruins hope to get an offensive boost from the return of centerman Patrice Bergeron, who may be ready to play later in this series after sitting out since late October with a severe concussion. Bergeron had three goals and four assists in 10 games this season after finishing second on the Bruins with 70 points a year ago.

Veteran goaltender Tim Thomas will be between the pipes for Boston in this series after putting together a solid season in 2007-08. Thomas went 28-19-6 and posted career-bests in save percentage (.921) and goals-against average (2.44). Thomas has never seen action in an NHL playoff game.

The Canadiens were 22-13-6 at the Bell Centre this season, while Boston was 20-13-8 as the visiting club.