The Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 tonight at the Bell Centre. That gives the Bruins two wins this season in Montreal, something the B’s have had trouble putting together in the last few seasons. Still, this was a surging Boston team taking on and taking out a mediocre (at best) Montreal squad. The only downside of tonight’s game was comparing the two teams on the ice and wondering how the Bruins could have been so terrible at the Winter Classic a few weeks ago.
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The Bruins win certainly gave them two big points and more confidence when playing their ancient rivals. The win was great, but there were other truly positive things going on tonight for the Black and Gold.
Patrice Bergeron second period goal (which held up to be the game winner) gave the Bruins alternate captain his 591th point. That places the 30-year old Bergeron in ninth place for all time Bruins scorers, passing Bruins President Cam Neely in the record books. Bergy leads all Bruins with 41 points this season.
David Pastrnak looked great tonight in his first game back from his injury. The young Czech forward only played eight shifts tonight, but he was able to put up a goal (his fourth of the season)and an assist.
The Boston Bruins have gone 53-for-55 on the penalty kill in their last 19 games. This gives the Bruins a 84% success rate while on the man down, moving them up t0 seventh in the league. That is a remarkable turnaround from the team that was at the bottom of the league at the beginning of the season.
Sure, we can claim this gives the Bruins a fair measure of revenge. The B’s got embarrassed in their own house (well, Gillette stadium, but close enough.), and now we’ve returned the favor in theirs. I’d like to think that that the Bruins weren’t aiming for revenge. They chose to adjust their rear view mirror, step on the gas, and leave the Canadiens in the dust.
This loss further sets the Canadiens back, giving them they’re fifth loss in a row. They’re 4-16-1 in their last 21 games. It’s looking more and more like the Canadiens are in fact a one-trick pony without Carey Price. Tonight’s defeat pushes them out of playoff contention for the first time this season. The floundering Habs are now tenth in the Eastern Conference. (If that’s not icing on the cake, I don’t know what is.)
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