All things considered, the Boston Bruins played their best game against the Canadiens in their last six attempts, and this time, they came away victorious.
The 4-1 score didn't mirror the kind of domination Montreal exhibited in Boston earlier this season, when Patrice Bergeron referred to it as the Bruins' worst game.
Montreal came out firing in the first period, with Max Pacioretty and Alex Galchenyuk stymied on breakaway opportunities, as Tuukka Rask settled in with serenity--the kind Canadiens fans have been missing in their net with Carey Price's absence.
To outshoot the Bruins 14-6 in the first, pushing several quality scoring chances onto Rask without reward enabled Boston to reestablish their system in the second period without having to chase the game. Claude Julien made some stellar adjustments to his team's neutral zone positioning, and the tables turned very early in the first two minutes, care of an unfortunate bounce by Jarred Tinordi's stick; Carl Soderberg deposited a gimme, after Peter Budaj decided not to poke the puck away as it caromed from the back boards to the front of the net.
The first 10 minutes of the second period belonged to Boston, and they made the best of two terrible defensive lapses by Montreal, already up a goal. Bergeron made short work of a nice passing play with Brad Marchand, and Budaj was so far out of the way that the final pass back to Bergeron could've been a shot by Marchand, and the result would've been the same.
Montreal came back with aplomb, but the Bruins were gifted a 3-on-1 with a precious couple of minutes remaining in the frame, and Milan Lucic fired one straight through Peter Budaj to practically nullify any hope of a Habs comeback.
Then, mere seconds into the third period, a comedy of errors allowed Zdeno Chara to waltz through the slot, inevitably pushing his own rebound past a helpless Budaj.
The Habs brought it for the rest of the third, as Therrien let the chains loose, opting for Thomas Vanek to join David Desharnais and Pacioretty, shifting Gallagher in with Galchenyuk and Eller, and moving Briere onto Tomas Plekanec's wing, with Brian Gionta. The top line struck with an early goal (Vanek's first assist/point as a Hab); a glimmer of hope extinguished by the lack of follow up in the first 10 minutes of the period. The score became insurmountable, and the Bruins spoiled what was a great opportunity for the Habs to build on their cushion in the Eastern Conference standings.
***************** 1) How stubborn is Michel Therrien?
We'll find out at practice tomorrow. The Canadiens were down four goals a minute into the third period, and there was no choice but for them to go for it. They created some good chances. There were signs that if these lines were given a game to figure it out, they would, and goals would be found at the end of that experiment.
But next game starts at 0-0, and Therrien said just two days ago that he wants to give it some time for Plekanec, Vanek and Gionta to find some chemistry.
2) Brandon Prust looked like a guy who hadn't played hockey in over a month. Forgive him.
3) Can easily see why the Bruins have won six straight.
a) Rask.
b) Four different goalscorers in the game. More than 14 different scorers on this run. Balance is there.
c) Discipline. The rivalry was on last night. Lucic got away with a couple on Emelin, and visa versa, but when all was said and done, the Bruins didn't allow frustration to settle in when things weren't going their way in the first. Julien made some excellent tactical adjustments that shutdown Montreal's speed through the neutral zone in those first 10 minutes of the second period, and though Therrien adjusted to that, that third goal was an absolute back-breaker.
4) Not a comment intended to be made just in hindsight; the Canadiens could've used Weise and Parros in this game.
I'm not suggesting the Bruins ruffed their way to a 4-1 score.
But here are some things I noticed. The Bruins were physically imposing. And the Canadiens--instead of pushing back and making an early statement that it wouldn't be tolerated--were caught looking for the referee, begging for explanations, like Pacioretty and Emelin did in the first.
Not that they couldn't have won without those guys. Not like the Canadiens didn't create enough chances in the game to bury the Bruins quite early, in fact. But the tone of the game was set by Boston when all was said and done, and the Canadiens replique should've been something other than some bellyaching to the officials.
No discredit to Brandon Prust who took on Kevan Miller--offering a spark that awoke the Canadiens in the latter half of the second.
Anyways, Weise and Parros missing this one had nothing to do with the result, but perhaps the game would've taken on a different tone if they were dressed.
5) Weise and Parros can't stop pucks. That much is certain. The Habs have a day off--a scheduled day off thanks the CBA--but will it be a day off for Price?
6) An early hit from behind brought the best out of Emelin. He played a pretty good game at both ends of the ice. Sure, he was caught on the 3-on-1 that led to Boston's third goal, but you can't fault him after Lucic wiped him out of the play in Boston's end.
7) A lot of people were up in arms about Francis Bouillon's use in the game. Only Markov played more than Bouillon did, and regardless of how Bouillon played, there's hardly any justification for throwing him out there for 23+ minutes, when he wasn't good enough to get into a game for well over a month.
He was fresh.
And you know what, he played quite well. Give him credit, he deserves it.
Two goals went in on Tinordi and Murray to make the game 2-0. The first one was an awful bounce, and Tinordi was unlucky, but where was Murray on the play?
The second one was just a mess.
Their ice was reduced to 14:25 (Tinordi) and 13:00 (Murray), so it's not that hard to figure out why Bouillon ended up at 23:00+.
Subban was at 22:53, and played most of his shifts alongside Bouillon.
Emelin was at 22:16 and Markov was at 24:14.
Let's quit with all the complaining about Bouillon--who was clearly one Montreal's most stable forces in the game.
8) Paging Nathan Beaulieu.
Forget the powerplay. Obviously, he can be of assistance there. What about having a third defenseman, behind Subban and Markov, that can move the puck efficiently?
9) Back-to-back games this weekend, and clearly, Murray needs a rest.
10) The Habs are 9-7-4 against Atlantic Division opponents. In the remaining 15 games on the schedule, the Habs play Atlantic rivals 10 times.