BRUINS SHOOT DOWN HABS IN MONTREAL
Marchand wins it in shootout
MONTREAL — The first meeting of this NHL regular season between the Bruins and the Canadiens went to the team Claude Julien used to coach.
In a very entertaining — if somewhat sloppy — game last night at the Bell Centre, Brad Marchand’s goal in the fourth round of the shootout gave the Bruins a 4-3 victory over the Canadiens.
It was the first of three games in an eight-day span between the longtime rivals.
The Bruins fell behind by an early goal, and it could have been worse. But they tightened up their game and played better — overcoming Montreal leads of 1-0 and 3-2.
“We seem to be able to show that character,” said Marchand. “It was great to be able to see the guys battle back. We didn’t have a great game, but we dug down and capitalized when it mattered. It was good to get the two points.”
Goalie Tuukka Rask took the rap for the first Montreal goal, as Max Pacioretty scored 3:42 into the game, but he was good the rest of the way, including stopping 3-of4 attempts in the shootout.
“We got better throughout the 60 minutes,” said Rask. “It definitely wasn’t the best start, the best first period, but we hung in there and came back.”
The Bruins took the ice anticipating the usual emotional onslaught in the early minutes from the Canadiens and their fans.
Montreal still managed to have a strong start on the ice, helped by sloppy defensive play by the Bruins.
The Canadiens took the 1-0 as young defenseman Victor Mete sent a puck from the blue line toward a jangle of bodies at the net front. Rask made a couple of saves, but Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk was unable to clear the puck. Montreal forward Max Pacioretty, stationed near the right post, banked it in off Rask’s pads.
The B’s were making turnovers, and the Habs were getting opportunities, including 3-4 other dangerous situations in the early minutes. However, the hosts were unable to gain shots in those situations.
“We did not have our game early in terms of managing the puck,” said coach Bruce Cassidy. “I think you’re still a little in that break mode: You’re not bearing down, you’re not hockey strong.
“We got better as the game went on — and we did enough early to stay in it and not take ourselves out of the game. We came back all night and on the road that’s not easy to do. Every team plays well with the lead.”
The B’s tied the game when Patrice Bergeron rushed up the right boards and sent an almost no-look pass cross ice and hit Marchand busting in on the weak side. The winger finished with a crisp forehander to the stickside on Carey Price.
The Bruins made it 2-1 at 2:55 of the second, when Charlie McAvoy fed a nice pass from the Bruins zone to send Jake DeBrusk breaking in on left wing behind checker Nicolas Deslauriers. DeBrusk skated in and finished nicely with a forehander under the bar on Price’s stickside.
The B’s seemed to have the game well in hand at 5:45, when on an innocuous-looking neutral zone play, Zdeno Chara looked to stumble with his footing for an instant — just enough for Deslauriers to skate down an open lane into the B’s zone and snap a mid-range forehander past Rask inside the left post.
Barely 1:30 later, David Pastrnak went to the box for
interfering with Danault — and Montreal put the B’s in a 3-2 hole with a power-play goal by Alex Galchenyuk.
At 17:42, Montreal defenseman Jakub Jerabek blocked a shot a few feet in front of his net, but then slipped when he tried to clear the bouncing puck. Krejci was quickly on the puck and popped a forehander past Price, tying the game, 3-3, after 40 minutes.
So it stayed through a busy overtime and three shootout rounds — until Marchand’s snap slipped through Price’s 5-hole for the win.
So Round 1 goes to the Bruins and they will try to make two straight against Julien’s Canadiens at the Garden on Wednesday.