The Boston Bruins were able to throw a very old monkey off their back tonight at the Bell Centre. The B’s came up with three straight third period goals to hand the Habs a 3-1 defeat in their own house. That loss gives the Canadiens their first three game losing streak of the season.
More from Bruins News
- Bruins release Prospects Challenge roster, schedule Tuesday
- Bruins bringing back familiar forward on tryout contract
- The Bruins should take a look at these four free agents
- NHL Network lists Ullmark as sixth-best goalie in the league
- The Lasting Legacy of David Krejci
This win has been a long time coming for the Black and Gold. Tonight’s victory was Boston’s first win against Montreal since March 12, 2014. The win also wipes out the seven game losing streak the Bruins have had when facing the Canadiens. It’s another page in the history of the glorious rivalry between Boston and Montreal. This rivalry has been going on since December 8, 1924 (where Montreal beat Boston 4-3), and has endured through two world wars, a century of progress, and 732 matches.
Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask was able to beat the Habs tonight, and he deservedly earned his first star honors. He stopped 32 of 33 shots on goal and denied the Canadiens any goals while on the power play. Rask’s numbers have been steadily climbing out of the basement, and he’s starting to look like a Vezina winner again. Rask’s goals against average is now a tolerable 2.63 and his .910 save percentage finally gives him a better overall save percentage than backup goaltender Jonas Gustavsson.
Puck Prose
Loui Eriksson earned his first shorthanded goal (and Boston’s fifth) of the season for the Bruins in tonight’s win. Zdeno Chara was able to bat-down a pass in mid-air and send it to the speedy Swede. Eriksson was able to beat out two Canadiens on the breakaway and get the goal past Mike Condon to tie the game up.
Landon Ferraro continues to be a good pick up for the Bruins. He earned his third goal as a Bruin just 42 seconds after the Eriksson goal, sealing the win for the Black and Gold. The B’s improvised line of Ferraro, Ryan Spooner, and Brett Connolly played very well for the B’s.
Patrice Bergeron earned the insurance goal for the Bruins five minutes later. Bergeron’s goal now gives the future member of the Boston Rafters Society his 576th career NHL point. That puts him past Bruins legend Milt Schmidt for 11th place for all time Bruins scoring leaders.
The next time the Bruins and Canadiens face off against each other will be the 2016 Winter Classic, taking place in Gilette Stadium on January 1st.