Boston Bruins Week 15: The bye week stinks edition

Welcome back to the weekly Boston Bruins roundup, and the finally the bye week is over.  After 5 days off, the Bruins returned to the ice against hated rival Montreal Canadians.

After an exciting, albeit disappointing OT loss in Pittsburgh on Sunday night, the Boston Bruins used the time off to focus on their first matchup against the Habs and former coach Claude Julien.   With the Habs 13 points behind the Bruins, they play each other 3 times in the next 8 days, if the Canadians have any hope of a late playoff chase, it starts against the Bruins.  But, the B’s were up to the task and were able to defeat the Habs in a thrilling game on Saturday night.

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Game 1: Montreal Canadians

The game got off to a flying start as struggling Montreal captain, Max Pacioretty scored just 3 minutes into the game to give the hosts and early 1-0.  Late in the frame the Bruins were awarded a power play and they were able to capitalize.  After a superb pass by Patrice Bergeron, the puck found its way onto Brad Marchand’s stick and he sniped one past Canadians goalie Carey Price to tie the game at 1 after the first period.

Early in the middle frame, the Bruins took the lead as Jake DeBrusk continued his impressive rookie season, scoring his 10th goal of the season, giving the Bruins a 2-1 lead.

Soon after, the Canadians would tie the game at 2, before regaining the lead after an Alex Galchenyuk PP goal.  With the Bruins down 3-2, David Krejci would tie the game at 3 late in the period.

But, the period would come to an early and frightening end as Canadians forward Phillip Danault, took a Zdeno Chara shot up high and after a few minutes lying on the ice, was eventually stretchered off and taken to a local hospital.  Later updates listed him as conscious and alert, so good news there, and I hope he was a quick recovery from such a scary sight and injury.

Back to the action on the ice, both teams were looking for a winner in the 3rd, but after an exciting period, both teams could not find the winner in regulation, so we headed to OT.  In the extra frame, both teams had great scoring chances but we still remained tied.  The Bruins did get a little lucky late in OT however, as a goal mouth scramble resulted in Torey Krug saving the game for the Bruins.

In the shootout both teams traded first round snipes, as Paul Byron and Jake DeBrusk both had great shots to score for both squads.  In the fourth round, Brad Marchand won the game for the B’s as his shot beat Price 5 hole to give the Bruins a 4-3 victory in the shootout.

Full recap here.

The Road Ahead

Monday vs Dallas

Wednesday vs Montreal

Thursday at New York Islanders

Saturday at Montreal

Next: Bruins Ryan Spooner Aims for the Future

Predictions

The Bruins have been rolling as of late, and I see no signs of them stopping any time soon.  The Bruins will finish the week at 3-1-0 only dropping points to the Islanders on the second half of the midweek back to back.