BSJ Game Report: Bruins 8, Canadiens 1 - Pastrnak hat trick highlights blowout win up in Montreal

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 8-1 win over the Canadiens in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

TOP TAKEAWAYS

A drubbing up in Montreal: Something had to give up in Montreal on Tuesday night. The Bruins made the trek up to Quebec looking to extend its win streak to four games, while the hosting Habs — losers of four straight — were fixated on putting a brutal regulation loss to the Rangers on Saturday in the rearview. 

For the first 20 minutes of play, Claude Julien had to be pleased with his club’s effort, right? After all, Montreal held a dominant 12-4 edge in 5v5 shots on goal in the opening stanza, to go along with a 10-4 advantage in scoring chances. 

Well, not really.



Despite the shot totals tilted in favor of the Habs, Boston entered the first intermission with a 3-1 lead — while the visual of hats raining down onto the Bell Centre ice might be the best way to sum up what transpired over the next two periods, as Boston completely tilted the ice in its favor and emptied out a usually raucous barn by way of a 8-1 blowout.

This is just the sixth time in franchise history that the Bruins have managed to tally at least eight goals in a single game against Montreal, and the first time since Oct. 28, 1998. 

The Bruins didn’t completely pepper Montreal in the rout, but they made their attempts count — chasing Carey Price from the game in the second period after cashing in with six goals on just 11 shots. Montreal held a 37-24 edge in shots on goal by the time the clock ran out in the third, but don’t get it twisted, Boston absolutely manhandled the Habs in their own building — even with Patrice Bergeron out of the lineup. With only three players (all defensemen) logging over 20 minutes of ice time, Boston should still have fresh legs Wednesday when they battle the Senators. 

Not just the big guns: Yes, the usual suspects up front all did major damage against the Habs on Tuesday, with David Pastrnak tallying a hat trick through just 29 minutes of regulation play, while Brad Marchand added a goal and two helpers of his own. 

But it was far from another one-line effort at the Bell Centre, with 10 other Bruins recording at least a point in the win, headlined by three-point nights from Sean Kuraly and Charlie Coyle. Shifted up in the lineup as a third-line center and second-line wing, both Kuraly and Coyle provided a shot in the arm to a reshuffled B’s lineup — setting up a pair of power-play tallies in the first and second periods. 

Along with Coyle and Kuraly’s strong outings, David Krejci added two assists while filling in for Bergeron on the top line, Torey Krug added a pair of helpers, while Jake DeBrusk, Anders Bjork and Danton Heinen also all lit the lamp in the rout. 

Studnicka makes NHL debut: Boston’s offensive outburst and Pastrnak’s scoring salvo might have overshadowed the debut of top prospect Jack Studnicka, but the young center still made his mark in the closing minutes of the game, setting up Heinen’s tally off of a strong drive to the net. Studnicka finished with 14:17 of ice time in the win while winning 67% of his faceoffs. Not too shabby. It will be interesting to see if Cassidy opts to roll Studnicka out against a heavier Ottawa roster tomorrow night. He certainly didn’t play himself out of consideration, that’s for sure. 

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FIVE UP

David Pastrnak: Ho hum, that’s the second hat trick for Pastrnak this season, who is now up to 23 goals in 24 games this season. The last player with more goals through his team’s first 24 games was some fella named Lemieux during the 1992-93 season. 

Brad Marchand: With his three-point night, Marchand officially surpassed 600 career points as a Bruins — becoming just the 11th player in franchise history to reach such a mark. Boston is giving Bergeron plenty of time to rest and recover from this injury — a luxury only made possible by the continued production of Boston’s top line. 

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Jaroslav Halak: The night might have been dominated by O-zone brilliance, but Halak was still razor-sharp for most of the night — stopping 36 of the 37 shots that came his way in the win. Even though the Habs still managed to generate 10 high-danger scoring chances in the loss, Halak still found a way to stop nine of them. 

Charlie Coyle: Pressed back into service as a top-six wing, Coyle was a monster throughout the night, tallying a goal and adding two assists while logging 15:29 of ice time. Coyle, who tied for the team lead with a pair of individual high-danger scoring chances during 5v5 play, also helped set up Marchand’s goal by forcing a turnover behind Price. 

Sean Kuraly: After a bit of an up-and-down start to the year, Kuraly broke out in his new role at third-line center — setting a new career-high with three assists in the victory. Along with a nifty feed to DeBrusk in a rare look on the power play, Kuraly set up Bjork’s breakaway tally in the opening minutes of the second period. This should be a major boost for Kuraly’s confidence going forward, while more reps on the third line could be a possibility. 

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ONE DOWN

Lindholm Line: If we have to knock someone from a pretty dominant win, we'll have to focus on the fourth line, which was out-attempted, 12-5, in its 10:03 of 5v5 TOI on the night while landing two shots on goal. 

PLAY OF THE GAME

That’s now six hat tricks for David Pastrnak in his career. 

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His second tally was particularly impressive, with Pastrnak sniping one past Price off of a set play just eight seconds into the middle stanza. 

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PARTING THOUGHT

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LOOKING AHEAD

The Bruins will look to save some goals for the second half of their back-to-back up in Canada, as Boston will head over to Ottawa to take on the Senators Wednesday night. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.