Everything else you need to know from the Bruins' win in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis.
HEADLINES
Bittersweet: The Bruins ruined Claude Julien’s return to TD Garden by handing the Canadiens the dominating loss. During the second television timeout, the Bruins recognized Julien with a minute-long tribute on video board.
“It’s always something that you kind of dread a little bit because it’s a little emotional while you’re trying to keep your emotions intact so you can coach the game,” Julien said. “I appreciate what they did for me and I’ve got nothing but good things to say about this organization that gave me the opportunity to spend 10 years here. I’m kind of happy it’s over so we can now move on, but that doesn’t mean you forget what’s happened here. It’s always going to be with you, but now I’m in another chapter of my coaching career and I’ve got to think about that.”
The 17,565 in attendance, including players on both benches, stood and gave the Stanley Cup-winning coach a respectable ovation.
Masked man: Tuukka Rask finished with 21 saves to extend his career-best point streak to 15 games with a 13-0-2 record. He's been in a bad mood recently, but maybe that bodes well for his performance.
Streaking: The Bruins have extended their point streak to 14 consecutive games with a 10-0-4 record. It’s the team’s longest point streak since a 15-0-1 stretch from March 2 to March 30, 2014.
“We just want to keep it going,” said Brad Marchand, who had a goal and assist against the Canadiens. “We had a good game. It was a frustrating start there but the boys did a great job battling back again. We got the two points, which is what matters.”
Marchand now has four goals and seven assists for 11 points in the last six games.
https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/953823126470701056
TURNING POINT
With the Bruins holding a 2-1 lead in the second period, Boston was called for two penalties and the Canadiens had a 5-on-3 for 1:09. The Bruins were able to kill it off.
“You can’t say enough about those plays and those turning points in the game,” said Bruce Cassidy. “We had been the better team, but they found a way to stay in the game on the road, and that (two-man advantage) was their opportunity to take control of the game and we did a real good job.”
Defenseman Adam McQuaid, who missed the previous 36 games after breaking his right fibula on Oct. 19, returned to the lineup and was outstanding on the penalty kill. He was on the ice for nearly the entire two-man advantage for the Canadiens and stifled a few of their scoring chances.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” Cassidy said. “Adam’s very good on the kill. We’ve said that all along and that’s one area we miss when he’s out of the lineup.”
Now that we’ve given McQuaid his due, Zdeno Chara was an absolute beast for a span of 4:18 before and during that 5-on-3. He was on for his normal 5-on-5 shift before Charlie McAvoy’s penalty at 8:33 and Brandon Carlo’s at 9:24.
“He thrives on it. He wants it,” Cassidy said of that responsibility. Sometimes we’ll try to get him off in those situations, not on a 5-on-3, but he relishes that role.”
TWO UP
Ryan Spooner: He doesn’t land in this category because he scored his sixth goal of the season, but he played a physical game, something that was missing during his career under Julien in Boston. It was almost as though Spooner wanted to show up his former coach.
"It's just another game for me," he said. "I just want to help out. It was nice to score though, for sure."
To Spooner’s credit, he’s been playing with an edge for the last month and a half and his production has increased on a line with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk. Spooner has five goals and one assist for six points in the last seven games.
oh noooo canadiens ? pic.twitter.com/MfchOe3qRG
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) January 18, 2018
boop it's in the net pic.twitter.com/KI6J2IVBwT
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) January 18, 2018