It has been a long time since the Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, but Saturday night (Nov. 11) at home, they ended a lot of frustration against their Original Six rival. Kaiden Guhle scored his first goal of the season in overtime as Montreal rallied for a 3-2 win over the Bruins, snapping a losing streak that dated back to Nov. 5, 2019.
Montreal deserved the win as they were the better team for most of the night and they pushed the Bruins around. The loss drops Boston to 11-1-2 on the season and here are three takeaways from a game where they were lucky to leave with a point.
Bruins Suffer Another Third-Period Implosion
If there is one common theme with all three losses this season for the Bruins it’s that in each game, they have held a third period lead in all of them and they have not been able to close it out. It started against the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 26 when they allowed two goals in the final two minutes before losing in overtime. On Nov. 4 in a 5-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, they took a 3-2 into the final period and allowed three goals in a four-minute span in the loss. Against the Canadiens, they took a 1-0 lead into the third period and gave up two goals in the first minute.
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Nick Suzuki connected on the power play 24 seconds into the period, then just Brendan Gallagher jammed home a rebound 27 seconds later. Fortunately for the Bruins, Brad Marchand was able to tie the game on the power play with under eight minutes left, but they need to fix their third-period struggles as the season goes along.
Charlie McAvoy Makes Immediate Impact in Return
It was nearly two weeks that Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy was last in the lineup. He served a four-game suspension for a hit on Florida Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson in a game on Oct. 30 and in his absence the Black and Gold went 3-1-0 with impressive wins over the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dallas Stars, and New York Islanders. He made his return against the Canadiens and made an immediate impact.
In the first period, he assisted on Pavel Zacha’s goal just 36 seconds into the game when the Bruins center redirected McAvoy’s shot past Montreal goalie Samuel Montembeault. Paired with rookie Mason Lohrei most of the night, McAvoy played 26:44 and logged a lot of ice time in all situations as usual. He played 3:12 late in the second period after the Bruins were whistled for three consecutive penalties in the final five minutes of the period.
Jeremy Swayman Steals Bruins a Point
There was one reason and one reason only why the Bruins left with a point and that was because of Jeremy Swayman. He was spectacular throughout the game and kept them in it to allow them to steal a point in the standings after being outplayed for a good part of the game.
Aside from the two goals he allowed in the first minute of the third period and Guhle’s overtime game-winner, Swayman turned back shot after shot and many in impressive fashion. He finished with 24 saves, including stopping Sean Monahan and Gallagher on a 2-on-1 in the first period, then turned back three shots during Montreal’s 5-on-3 in the second period, where he made 11 saves in the period. His best save was in overtime when he stopped Mike Matheson at point-blank range.
Bruins Quick Takeaways
- The Bruins power play struggled mightily against the Canadiens until Marchand tied the game in the third period. They had a 5-on-3 for 1:34 earlier in the period and failed to find the back of the net. Montreal deserves credit for the kills and blocking several shots.
- Boston had a goal called back after the Canadiens took a 2-1 lead in the third when Oskar Steen made contact with Montembeault when he circled the net and redirected Ian Mitchell’s shot home. Montreal coach Martin St. Louis challenged the call and it was taken off the board.
- Charlie Coyle won 55% of his faceoffs and Matthew Poitras won three of his six, but John Beecher and Zacha both struggled with each winning just 33.3% of their draws.
- David Pastrnak picked up an assist and had a team-high six shots on the net, while Marchand had five to lead the Bruins.
Boston gets a break in their schedule over the next week with their next game on Nov. 14 on the road against the Buffalo Sabres, then they will be off until a rematch with the Canadiens at the TD Garden on Nov. 18. They looked tired against Montreal and looked like they could use the break over the next week with just one game.