Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 4-0 win over the Canadiens in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
B’s open strong, don’t let up
Let’s not get it twisted, Boston put together one of its most complete efforts of the season on Monday — an impressive outing from a club on the second leg of a back-to-back stretch and in the midst of a two-game losing skid.
Still, a horrific outing from the Habs made things pretty easy for the B’s on Monday night.
Even though they only entered the first intermission with a one-goal advantage, the Bruins easily could have potted another two or three tallies had it not been Carey Price in net.
Sloppy with the puck for most of the night, the Habs were knocked for 14 giveaways in the opening stanza. The Bruins during that same stretch? Just one.
Montreal continued to shoot itself in the foot all night — including a brutal stretch of turnovers and miscues that led to David Krejci’s sixth goal of the season 46 seconds into the third — but let’s give credit to the Bruins.
At the end of regulation, Boston held the edge in attempts, shots for, scoring chances (28-11) and high-danger chances (14-5). Dominance.
Secondary scoring starting to break through:
While Boston’s top line of Krejci,
David Pastrnak
and
Brad Marchand
finished with four points on the night, just about every line made its mark in Monday’s win.
After being a black hole for most of the year, Boston’s bottom six is starting to round into form, with the fourth line of
Sean Kuraly, Noel Acciari
and
Chris Wagner
once again putting on a forechecking clinic, while the “College Line” of
Danton Heinen, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson
and
Ryan Donato
also held a 6-4 edge in 5v5 shots on goal while out on the ice together.
Add in a fantastic outing from the
Colby Cave
line (two goals), and this mismatched, patchwork Bruins roster looked pretty effective in all facets of the game up at the Bell Centre.
FIVE UP
Colby Cave:
Have yourself a game, kid. The 23-year-old center picked a good time to tally his first career NHL goal, beating Price
with 26 seconds left in the second period to give Boston some breathing room. Cave benefited from some great feeds from Pastrnak
and
Charlie McAvoy
on his tally, but the pivot also picked up an assist earlier in the matchup when he picked off a lazy Habs pass in the slot — eventually leading to
Joakim Nordstrom’s
strike just 2:21 into the matchup.
Jaroslav Halak:
He wasn’t taxed very often in Monday’s win, but Jaroslav Halak stepped up when his club needed him to. Even with just 22 shots on goal, Montreal did manage to compile six high-danger scoring chances around the Bruins’ net — all of which Halak was able to thwart, highlighted by a fantastic stop on a breakaway chance by
Kenny Agostino
in the second period. Make that three shutouts on the season for Boston’s backup goalie.
Fourth Line:
They were unable to get on the scoresheet, but the new combination of Kuraly-Acciari-Wagner put together yet another dominant showing, especially on the forecheck against a line with some firepower in
Max Domi, Andrew Shaw
and
Jonathan Drouin
. During the 7:36 5v5 TOI in which Acciari was out on the ice against Shaw, Boston held a 4-1 edge in shots on goal.
Krejci Line:
Noticing a trend here? Just about every line was impressive on Monday, with Boston’s top trio taking over in the third period off of goals from
David Krejci
and
Brad Marchand.
The triumvirate finished with four points on the night, with Krejci extending his point streak to seven games. Marchand’s power-play tally also gave
Torey Krug
his 199th career assist, tying him with
Mike O’Connell
for the most assists by a US-born player in team history.
Charlie McAvoy:
After a rough outing on Sunday against Buffalo, McAvoy put together one of his finest performances of the season, notching two assists and dishing out six hits in 19:47 TOI.
ONE DOWN:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hard to find too many weaknesses in a performance like tonight. Dominance from the B’s in a much-needed win.
PLAY OF THE GAME:
PARTING THOUGHT:
Join the club,
Steven Kampfer.
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Bruins will return home for a matchup against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. One thing to keep tabs on is Wednesday’s morning skate, with
Patrice Bergeron
expected to rejoin the club after sitting out the last four weeks due to a rib/sternoclavicular injury.
