May 10, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Montreal Canadiens center David Desharnais (51) skates with the puck as Boston Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk (55) defends during the third period of game five of the second round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Banknorth Garden. The Boston Bruins won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Bruins Flourish at the Garden
Gliding to a pleasant 4-2 triumph over the Montreal Canadiens in Boston, the Bruins now hold command of their Eastern Conference semifinals series, 3-2.
Reilly Smith, Carl Soderberg, Jarome Iginla and Loui Eriksson put the B’s on the board, while P.K. Subban and Brendan Gallagher notched scores for the Habs.
In the first period, Smith came out of the gate firing, as he beamed the crossbar with his strong wrist shot about three minutes in.
The Bruins were then awarded a power play on Max Pacioretty’s clear hooking penalty on Matt Bartkowski. Unfortunately, they couldn’t have convert this opportunity. According to NESN.com’s Mike Cole, Boston hasn’t scored a postseason man-advantage goal vs. the Canadiens for 38 attempts, the last successful time being in 2009.
Past the halfway point, Soderberg struck for twine when Eriksson played the puck behind Price and fed the big Swede, who snapped a high shot that fluttered its way into the back of the net.
The conclusion of the first period marked the Bruins’ success on the penalty kill and their third line dictating the outcome of the contest. Soderberg and his fellow linemates also brought forth energy and pace, which the B’s lacked in Game 4.
Period No. 2 began, and in classic Bruins fashion, the 1-0 lead all of the sudden grew wider.
Roughly a minute went by before Smith redirected Dougie Hamilton’s try from the blue line, causing Carey Price to look silly when the puck dribbled between his squeezed leg pads for the goal. Thirty seconds later, Torey Krug won a battle along the boards and zipped a backhanded pass to Iginla sitting on the doorstep. The wily veteran buried his endeavor underneath Price–yet another five-hole tally.
With only five minutes remaining, though, the Canadiens may have convinced some that a comeback was possible following Gallagher’s tip-in goal off Tomas Plekanec’s try for net. The Bruins grounded that idea early in the third period when Eriksson beat the Habs’ defense in a charge towards Price and cooly slotted home a rebounded Matt Fraser shot.
Subban netted an amazing slap shot the rung the iron and fizzled by Tuukka Rask to halve the lead; the scoreboard now read 4-2.
It was too little to late for the Canadiens, and despite pulling Price with a fair amount of time left on the clock, Michel Therrien’s team couldn’t ignite an unimaginable comeback.
The Bruins third line concluded the match accounting for six points overall. Rask made 31 saves.
The Canadiens will fight for their postseason lives at the Bell Centre on Monday night.