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Bruins lose to Habs for first time in over four years

November 12, 2023, 8:57 AM ET [59 Comments]
Ty Anderson
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • RSSArchiveCONTACT
In the latest sign of all great things coming to an end, the Bruins saw what was a dominant run over the Canadiens come to an end Saturday night in Montreal, as an overtime goal from Kaiden Guhle sealed the deal on a 3-2 win for the Canadiens and snapped the Black and Gold’s 10-game win streak over their century-long rival.

It was Boston’s first loss to the Canadiens since Nov. 5, 2019.

But before Guhle sent the Bell Centre into a frenzy, it was a night that came with its share of frustration, headlined by an opening minute of the third period that saw Montreal’s Nick Suzuki and Brendan Gallagher strike for two goals within a 27-second stretch to give Montreal a 2-1 lead.

“I think the first minute of the third was a microcosm of the first two periods,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said after the loss. “We were lucky to be in the position we were, up 1-0.”

And Montgomery couldn't help but find himself a bit confused with what he had just seen from his club in the losing effort.

Speaking with NESN’s Andy Brickley in the immediate aftermath of the 3-2 defeat, Montgomery noted that his team appeared tired and couldn’t necessarily understand why that was the case given his team’s schedule. (It’s also entirely too early for the ‘fatigue’ thing to become a real issue for the Bruins, especially looking at how their opponent came into this contest playing their third game in the last five nights.)

And to Montgomery’s point there, this only was the B’s third game of the week, and they even got Tuesday completely off after winning in Dallas the night before. Montgomery went on to mention the apparent fatigue in his postgame scrum with the assembled media, and said that it was something the team was going to have to look into moving forward.

It was a valid concern to have with his team after that loss, too, as the Bruins simply didn’t get enough from the club in this contest.

A tip from Pavel Zacha put the B's on the board just 36 seconds into action, but it would be the lone highlight of what finished as a six-shot opening period from the Bruins. It didn't get all that much better in the second frame, either, as the Bruins landed just seven shots on goal.

And had it not been for Jeremy Swayman, who stopped the first 17 shots he faced in this contest, things certainly would've been a lot worse for the B's.

On the lineup front, the Bruins welcomed Charlie McAvoy back to action after the do-it-all defenseman missed the last four games due to a suspension. McAvoy finished with a team-leading 26:44 of time on ice, along with two assists and three shots on goal in the losing effort.

The Bruins also welcomed forward Jakub Lauko back to the lineup. This was Lauko’s first game since suffering a facial fracture on a scary-looking skate to the face incident back on Oct. 24 in Chicago.

With the loss, the Bruins dropped to 11-1-2 on the season, and will return to action Tuesday night in Buffalo.
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