Canadians goaltender Jose Theodore, a candidate for the Hart and Vezina trophies, will be a busy man during the 29th all-time playoff meeting between Original-Sixers Boston and Montreal.

In the five regular-season games between the Northeast Division rivals, the Bruins outshot the Canadiens, 182-110. In fact, the Bruins didn't attempt fewer than 32 shots in any of those games. At the other end, the Canadiens didn't produce more than 26 shots in any single game.

Clearly, the combination of size and skill among forwards Bill Guerin, Joe Thornton, Glen Murray, Sergei Samsonov, Brian Rolston and Martin Lapointe gives Boston a huge offensive advantage.

That said, Theodore has been the great equalizer for Les Habitants. Despite outshooting Montreal by such a wide margin, Boston needed an overtime goal to gain a 3-2 edge in the regular season series.

Because of Theodore's ability to keep the Habs in games, the key to this series will be found in the Bruins' end.

Boston goalie Byron Dafoe will have the more-difficult-than-you-think task of staying sharp and focused while facing fewer chances. In their last regular-season meeting, on March 6 in Montreal, the Bruins outshot the Canadiens, 41-16, but still lost 5-3. Dafoe surrendered all five goals in the loss.

On Nov. 20 in Montreal, the Bruins suffered a similar fate. They outshot the Habs, 38-26, but lost 3-2.

The Bruins' defense, which was described by one Stanley Cup-winning coach as a "panic waiting to happen," must make short, quick passes to move the puck to their talented forwards. In turn, the forwards must retreat into their zone to help out on defense and make themselves available for those passes.

If the gap between the Bruins' defensemen and their forwards becomes too large, the Canadiens' crafty forwards (like Yanic Perreault, Doug Gilmour, Richard Zednik, Oleg Petrov, Joe Juneau and Sergei Berezin) will be able to create turnovers and convert them into scoring chances.

Armed with Perreault, the league's best faceoff man, the Habs can be dangerous off the draw. The Canadiens won the battle in the faceoff circle in each of their five meetings with Boston. Bruins centers Thornton, Rolston and Jozef Stumpel must bear down in their own end. If they don't, the Canadiens will be able to create chances off faceoff wins.

In this series, the bottom line is simple. If the Bruins work efficiently in their own end, they'll eventually wear down Theodore and win the series. If they don't, the favored Bruins could find themselves looking for answers ... on the golf course.

E.J. Hradek writes hockey for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ej.hradek@espnmag.com.