After having their seven-game winning streak snapped on Thursday night, 5-3, at the hands of the Ottawa Senators, the Boston Bruins were heading into a buzzsaw in Montreal against the Canadiens. The Habs entered the game after two straight losses, by a combined margin of 12-1.
Boston, Montreal, and Ottawa entered the game tied with 22 at the top of the Atlantic Division standings. When the dust settled on Saturday night, the Black and Gold were the last team standing in the division. The Los Angeles Kings beat the Senators, 1-0, and the Bruins gutted out a win over the Canadiens.
Bruins beat Canadiens, but lose key defenseman Charlie McAvoy
What a win this was. The Bruins killed off seven Montreal power plays, a pair of two-man advantages that were 1:28 and 1:51 in length. During a Habs power play in the second period, they lost Charlie McAvoy with an upper-body injury when he took a puck to the face. He didn't return.
Boston was able to gut through it without their best defenseman by winning the special teams battle. The Bruins not only killed off all seven Montreal power plays, but they had a second-period power play from Viktor Avridsson that turned out to be the game-winning goal. Special teams win games.
Marat Khusnutdinov opened the scoring in the first period when his shot pinballed into the net. Montreal tied the game on a Jake Evans shorthanded goal later in the period, but Mason Lohrei flipped a shot toward the net from the point in the second period, and it found its way past Samuel Montembeault for a 2-1 lead. Cole Caulfield cut the deficit to one late in the second on a breakaway 4-on-4.
Montreal carried the play for most of the third period, but Jeremy Swayman was up to the task, making nine of his 26 saves in the final 20 minutes. This is a huge win for Boston, which returns home to play the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night before heading west to California next week.