Bruins Hab It Their Way

Ex-Hab Pouliot has found a home in Boston. (Getty)

Tonight's game featured polar opposites.  The Eastern Conference Boston Bruins entered the night with just two (regulation) losses since they were beat by the evening's opponent, the Montreal Canadiens, on Oct. 29.  The Canadiens, on the other hand, sat last in the Northeast Division with 33 points and had just fired their coach for one that didn't speak any French (never something that appeals to the Quebecois fan base).

But, once the puck dropped, it didn't matter.  It was just Boston vs. Montreal, arguably the most historic rivalry in hockey (the evening's game actually tied the two teams with Detroit-Chicago for most games played against one another in NHL history).  The Canadiens might have been struggling, but they always seem to give the B's issues.  Their small, skating style doesn't mesh well with the Big, Bad Bruins mentality in Beantown.  Carey Price's goaltending has also been known to give the Bruins fits in the past.

Boston started the game off early with ex-Canadien Benoit Pouliot finishing a goal on a great offensive zone faceoff win by Rich Peverley.  Peverley pushed it past Petteri Nokelainen on the puck drop and shoveled it to the front of the goal, where Pouliot jammed it home for the ice breaker at 12:13.

The fourth overall pick in the 2005 draft by Minnesota, Pouliot played for Monteral the past two seasons before moving south to Boston.  Jack Edwards once described him last season as "the biggest waste of talent in the NHL," but he's found his role in Boston and let his former team see it with that goal.

However, the Canadiens wouldn't let Boston sit on the lead for long.  After a peculiar no-call for a hook on Patrice Bergeron (that would even itself out when Bergeron wasn't called for one on Max Pacioretty in the third period), the Habs attacked on an out-of-position Bruins team.  The B's got back to close down the first opportunity, but Michael Cammalleri had a nifty backhand pass through traffic to Bruins-killer Tomas Plekanec on the far side of the net.  Plekanec fired it into the open goal at 13:26 for his third goal and fourth point in four games against Boston this season.

Boston assistant captain Andrew Ference stepped up to help break the deadlock early in the second.  He picked off a lazy P.K. Subban breakout attempt and drove past Subban below the goal line.  He tried to center the puck to David Krejci and the puck was directed off Krejci's stopping skate and in at 2:42 of the second.  The play, rightfully, went to Toronto for review to see if Krejci had kicked the puck in.  It was determined that he made no kicking motion, so the Bruins took the 2-1 lead.

The relatively clean game saw an exchange in penalties the rest of the period, but the score went unchanged.  Boston's Nathan Horton was whistled for a hook at 3:50, and Montreal failed to register a shot on the ensuing advantage.  The Habs' Josh Gorges went off for interference at 11:24.  Zdeno Chara rang the post early in the power play, but the Canadiens flashed the league's second-best penalty kill to limit the chances the rest of the way.  They also killed off a four-minute minor to end the period, when Louis Leblanc got an unlucky high-sticking double-minor that drew blood on an inadvertent play.

Strong goaltending was the secret sauce in the third for Boston's Tim Thomas (who made 16 saves in the third) and Montreal's Price (who made 10).  Boston killed off the game's final penalty for a Zach Hamill cross-check at 5:44 and then looked for insurance.

Marchand had just enough control
to net the game-winner. (Getty)

With the game going back and forth, the Canadiens had a costly turnover that sat on the defensive blue line.  Tyler Seguin picked it up for Boston and quickly fed Brad Marchand in all alone on Price.  Marchand lost some control of the puck, but managed to flip a backhanded, off-angle shot past Carey Price, who was caught out of the net after coming out to cut off the angle.

"I got lucky," Marchand said of the ultimate game-winner.  "I lost the puck and just happened to get it by him."

The game seemed to be in hand with the goal at 14:14 of the third, but the pesky Canadiens never go away.  With Price headed to the bench for the extra skater, the Bruins saw their breakout attempt kick off a Canadien skate.  David Desharnais ended up with the puck on the opposite side of the slot and fired it toward the goal, where it redirected off Erik Cole's skate and into the net at 18:46.  Like with Krejci's goal, the score went under review, and, like with the previous call, it was upheld.

The Bruins were suddenly back on their heels for the final minute of the game, but Thomas stood strong, as always.  The B's defenders made several strong attempts to clear the puck and stifle the Canadiens 6-on-5 advantage, en route to the 3-2 victory.

"It was a typical Montreal-Boston matchup," said Boston Coach Claude Julien.  "A very close game and we got ourselves a good goal late in the third."

Despite the disparity in the standings, the game was evenly matched as expected.  Montreal ended up using its late flurry to outshoot Boston 35-31 on the evening, but it was the Bruins that lit the scoreboard where it counted.

"It wasn't the prettiest game on our part," said captain Zdeno Chara.  "But, we found a way to score one more goal than they did and that's all that counts."

"They battled hard," assistant captain Patrice Bergeron said of the Canadiens.  "It's a good team with a lot of speed and a lot of skill."


The Bruins now sit alone a top the Eastern Conference, with the Flyers' game at Colorado still pending for the evening.  They are now 19-2-1 since suffering back-to-back losses to Montreal to close out October at 3-7-0.

Looking forward, they have just one game in the next eight days, but it's not a Holiday Break, by any means!  The upstart Florida Panthers roll into town on Friday night for a 7:00 p.m. game.  The Panthers are one of the only two teams to beat Boston in regulation since that October swoon, when they shut out the B's at the TD Garden on Dec. 8.  Florida leads the Southeast Division with 42 points and will look to gain ground in the East on the Conference-leading Bruins.

"We're really happy with how it's going, but we can't be satisfied," said Bergeron.  "We gotta make sure we finish on a good note [before Christmas] against Florida."

Montreal will get no relief as it tries to get the season back on track.  It heads to Chicago on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. game against the Western Conference leader.