The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because where else do you find a team that lost all eight games against the same opponent during the regular season now within one win of knocking the same foe out of the playoffs?

That’s the position the Boston Bruins find themselves in Monday night where all of the pressure is on the top-seeded Montreal Canadiens, who host their long-time and last-seeded rivals in a winner-take-all seventh game.

Once leading the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinals 3-1, the Canadiens have lost each of the past two, including Game 5 during their last stand on home ice. The Bruins, battered by injuries, have scored 10 goals on rookie Carey Price. The 20-year-old is said to be unflappable, but he’ll never face more pressure than a Game 7 as a member of Les Canadiens de Montreal.

No two teams among those in major pro sports have met as often in a seventh game (seventh time) as Boston and Montreal. The Canadiens have won four of the previous six such meetings, including the most recent April 19, 2004, when under head coach Claude Julien the Habs won 2-0 at Boston. Julien now coaches the Bruins.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because good things do come to those who wait. How distant of a bad memory it must be now for Joe Sakic over uncertainty regarding a groin injury and subsequent sports hernia surgery earlier this season? How helpless was the feeling while rehabilitating and watching as his Colorado Avalanche teammates were on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. And how rewarding and gratifying must it feel for Sakic to be healthy and in the second round of the playoffs.

Ditto Peter Forsberg.

Ditto Adam Foote.

And ditto Jose Theodore, who has quietly rediscovered the elite-style of goaltending that earned him Hart and Vezina trophies with Montreal in the 2001-02 season. No one looks this far down the road, but wouldn’t Theodore enjoy getting a crack at the Canadiens in the Cup finals?

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because while household names such as Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Jonathan Cheechoo are producing, a lesser-publicized player such as Ryane Clowe can come out of nowhere to lead not only the San Jose Sharks, but be among the league leaders in postseason scoring.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because there’s no such thing as a shootout.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because even though Alexander Ovechkin has only one goal in five playoff games after scoring 65 during the regular season, there’s still time to score the biggest goal of his career.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because no one needs prompting from an oversized video board to “make noise.”

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because the sight and sound of 19,000 fans belting out “O Canada” in unison never gets old.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because there’s no such thing as an insignificant goal.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because there may be as many as three Game 7s in the first round, and no fewer than two.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because with all the attention paid to Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Henrik Lundqvist, the real reason the Rangers are a legitimate threat is the depth provided by poised youngsters Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan and Marc Staal.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because with Martin Brodeur out of the picture the door is open for Marc-Andre Fleury, Martin Biron, Cristobal Huet, Tim Thomas, Price or Lundqvist to be the hero in goal in the East.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because of all the new arenas that have sprung up in the NHL over the past decade, important games are still being played in the Saddledome, Madison Square Garden, Joe Louis Arena and The Igloo.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because it exposes despite how easy Brian Campbell was making it look after getting traded from Buffalo to San Jose (three goals, 19 points in 20 games) that it’s a completely different animal in the postseason (no goals, two points in six games).

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because it came be sunny skies and 85 degrees in one city while its freezing temperatures and snow blizzards in the other.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because as awful of a season Philadelphia endured last year – 30th in the league and double-digits behind the second-worst finishers – just look at the Flyers now.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because a little blood probably means an additional two minutes for your power play.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because while Red Wings Chris Chelios and Dominik Hasek might be considered old, this never gets old to them.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because while Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal are all young, none of the baby Penguins appears in over their head.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are great because as good as the first round has been there’s still seven weeks of this kind of drama left.