Talking points from the Bruins' loss to the Canadiens. . .
GOLD STAR: The Bruins outshot the Canadiens by an almost 2-to-1 margin, so you’ve got to give plenty of credit to Carey Price and his 41 saves in the victory. Price did his usual job of frustrating the Bruins whenever they got the puck around the net, but he was also the beneficiary of a Bruins group that didn’t really get much going offensively until the final period of play. Price stood tall for the most part in the third period making 16 saves and only getting beaten by a double screen of Jake DeBrusk and Patrice Bergeron with the goalie pulled in the final minute of regulation. Overall he was clearly the better goalie among him and Tuukka Rask on Monday night, and the biggest difference-maker in the game.
BLACK EYE: It wasn’t the best of nights for Patrice Bergeron, who was on the ice for a pair of goals against and managed just a single assist and three shots on net in his 17:44 of ice time. Bergeron was also kicked out of the face-off circle in the first period, giving way to Brad Marchand, who lost the defensive zone face-off and that immediately turned into a Brendan Gallagher redirection that gave the Habs life. In all Bergeron lost 12-of-22 draws against the Canadiens and certainly wasn’t as good as he normally is in the face-off circle. So it’s been a couple of tough games in a row for Boston’s top line even as they’ve hit a pretty good stride overall.
TURNING POINT: The turning point was the overtime period where the Bruins didn’t even give themselves a chance to get the second point when it was all over just 15 seconds into the extra session. A Max Domi chanced popped up in the air after Tuukka Rask couldn’t glove it cleanly and Jeff Petry moved in to swat the backhanded attempt past the goal line for the game-winner. It was a good OT effort for a Montreal team that was desperate for the two points, but it also a reminder that the Bruins didn’t seem to come into this game with the same kind of tenacity and ferocity as they did for the Toronto game last weekend. The Habs wanted it more and that was evident in the extra session.
HONORABLE MENTION: Time to give David Krejci some credit for playing some really strong hockey as of late. Krejci scored the late third-period goal with the goalie pulled to push the game into overtime and get the Bruins an all-important point. He was also the better of Boston’s two centers in this one with the goal, three shots on net and 9-of-15 in the face-off circle while racking up a massive 21:32 of ice time in a big effort. During 5-on-5 play it was a little slow-going offensively given that Bruce Cassidy was switching out his wingers mid-game, but Krejci showed once again there’s nothing wrong with his offense when he’s out with the team’s best offensive players. Krejci also now has goals in three consecutive games for the B’s after a slow start to the season in that category.
BY THE NUMBERS: 10 – the number of shorthanded goals allowed by the Bruins after giving up another one to Paul Byron in the second period of Monday night’s loss.
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QUOTE TO NOTE: “We had some good chances, but it also just didn’t feel like we were playing the way that we had the last few games.” –Kevan Miller, who accurately described a just “okay” effort against Canadiens until they started getting desperate in the third period.
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