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The Bruins showed up in Montreal with a near complete line-up and it showed, this Boston outfit is a force to be reckoned with and they could do some serious damage in the playoffs. Patrice Bergeron did have to leave the game early though with an upper body injury, but the Bruins said it was precautionary. The Canadiens gave the President trophy champs a run for their money and even took the lead early in the third period when Justin Barron scored a shorthanded goal. It was short-lived though as Boston fought back to level the score before David Pastrnak scored his 61st goal of the season to give the Bruins the win.
Avec un homme en moins 🤯
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 14, 2023
Don't poke the Bar-ron#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/NzEWuS93kg
Lucas Condotta who had just been recalled from Laval scored the Canadiens’ first goal, the Habs’ captain Nick Suzuki scored his 26th of the year, tying Cole Caufield for the lead in goal although the diminutive winger did it in only 46 games while the captain took part in all 82 contests and the other goal came from Michael Pezzetta who had also assisted on the first goal of the game. For once, Samuel Montembeault looked human as he surrounded 5 goals on 21 shots, but at this stage, no one will hold that against him.
Premier match dans la LNH, première présence, premier but!!
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 13, 2023
First NHL game, first shift, first goal!!#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/9ZHUZF1Myy
With the loss, the Canadiens “clinched… the 28th place in the standings and will have an 8.5% chance of winning the draft lottery come May 8th. Furthermore, they are now guaranteed to pick in the top 7, have 17.3% odds of picking 2nd, 41.8% chances of picking in the top 5 and 86% chances of picking top 6. With the Panthers making the playoffs, their second 1st round pick will not be a lottery pick, but still, if Florida goes out in the first round, they’ll have the 17th pick, we may just see some Habs fans cheering for the Bruins in the first round. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if that pick was moved by Kent Hughes in a hockey deal at the draft.
Today, the players attended the Complexe Sportif Bell in Brossard to clean out their lockers and have their exit interviews before heading home for the off season. Once I’ve caught up on all of those interviews, I’ll write up my season’s post mortem, look-out for that blog sometime tomorrow. Thanks for sticking along for the ride this season even if it’s been a very long and painful journey, but keep your chin up Habs fans, the future is bright.