A breakout night from Sean Kuraly was the most encouraging development from a blowout win in Montreal

The final tally on the scoreboard at the Bell Centre Tuesday night was a stark departure from what usually transpires whenever the Bruins and Canadiens resume their Original Six rivalry. 

For the first time since Oct. 28. 1998, the Bruins lit the lamp at least eight times in a single matchup against their rival — emptying out most Montreal’s barn before the start of the third in what was a dominant 8-1 trouncing.

The disparity on the box score might have been startling, but the method in which Boston besieged the Habs was far from a surprise.

Yes, secondary scoring chipped in throughout the night, with the likes of Anders Bjork, Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen all tallying goals in the drubbing. But once again — Boston’s big guns did plenty of the heavy lifting. 

As superhuman as such a feat might be, yet another hat trick seemed like an expected causality based on the David Pastrnak’s sustained, high-end play this season, with the B’s winger now up to 23 tallies through 24 games — the most for a player through his team’s first 24 games since Mario Lemieux potted 26 through 24 back in 1992-93. 

Even without Patrice Bergeron, the rest of Boston’s top line didn’t sputter. David Krejci, slotting in as the top pivot, posted a pair of helpers, while Brad Marchand added a goal and three total points of his own — giving the winger a casual 42 points through 24 matchups. 

Extremely positive developments, to be sure. But, fair or unfair (probably the latter), such production is starting to become the norm when the conversation focuses on some of the key cogs up in the top six.

No, if we're looking for real surprises from Tuesday's beatdown, most of the focus should be shifted to the man in the middle of a reshuffled third line. 



For as much as Sean Kuraly has established himself as the line-driving pivot of Boston's fourth line over the last two seasons, the 26-year-old forward hasn't had much to show for his hard-working shifts as far as offensive contributions go.

Often tasked with slowing down the opposition more than generating offense down the other end of the ice, only 28.99% of Kuraly's faceoffs during 5v5 play this season have come in the offensive zone. And yet, despite the unfavorable starts, the center has still managed to generate quality looks whenever he's hopped over the boards — with his 10 individual hi-danger scoring chances ranking only behind Boston's scoring aces in Pastrnak, Marchand, Bergeron, Charlie Coyle and Jake DeBrusk.

Not too shabby. But, much to Kuraly's chagrin, those quality looks haven't led to points on the board. Entering Tuesday's matchup in Montreal, Kuraly was limited to a single goal and three helpers through 23 games.

Kuraly didn't alter his game all that much against the Habs, but his surroundings were a bit different. With Bergeron's absence and Jack Studnicka's arrival forcing Boston to put Coyle in at the wing, Kuraly was bumped up to the third-line pivot spot, giving him a bit more firepower to work with in Bjork and Heinen.

Kuraly took full advantage of Bruce Cassidy's latest tinkering, with his active stick, tenacious forecheck and impressive wheels finally rewarded with a three-assist night — a new career-high for the forward.

Most of it was a byproduct of Kuraly's regular efforts on a shift, although an upturned B's lineup also gifted the center with favorable ice at times.

Kuraly has rarely appeared on Boston's power play this season, but with the final seconds ticking off the clock on Boston's first man advantage of the night — Cassidy ushered him over the boards, more as the first man in for the Bruins' once 5v5 play resumed.

He picked a good time to make his move, as Kuraly raced over the blue line and managed to corral a puck sent back out from Charlie McAvoy along the boards. Keeping the 5v4 shift alive in the Habs' zone, Kuraly fed the puck back out to Krejci at the blue line before skating in on Carey Price.

As Kuraly drew defenseman Ben Chiarot out of the crease, Kuraly tapped a feed from Krejci back out to an uncovered DeBrusk in the slot, who ripped the biscuit past Price to put Boston on the board at 8:03 in the first.



His second helper was a tried-and-true Kuraly move, with a timely stick check quickly creating something out of nothing for Boston. With Montreal in the midst of a line change, Jeff Petry attempted to fire the puck up into Boston's zone. But the defenseman whiffed thanks to Kuraly's efforts in front of him, separating the Montreal skater from the puck in the neutral zone — with numbers quickly in Boston's favor.

Without hesitation, Kuraly lofted the puck ahead by way of a backhand feed, allowing an unchecked Bjork to skate in alone on Price. The winger did not miss, giving Boston a 5-1 lead less than 22 minutes into the game and chasing Price from the contest.



"His bread and butter here is going to be defending, playing against the other team’s top lines, hard to play against, penalty kill, face-offs, all those things that maybe don’t always show up on the scoresheet," Cassidy told reporters postgame in Montreal. "But tonight, he got moved up a little bit, play more with guys that want to attack and it worked out for him."

Now, a three-point night is not expected to be the norm for Kuraly this season, nor should one expect him to be a regular contributor on Boston's man-advantage — given some of the other personnel that Cassidy can go to.

But on a night in which most of Boston's lineup managed to land a punch or two against Montreal, Kuraly's breakthrough showing very well could yield the most positive results going forward, especially if more and more of those Grade-A chances start getting cashed in.

"He gets one more chance to make a play, takes advantage of it and it probably gave him some confidence," Cassidy said of Kuraly's power-play shift. "He’ll be in my office tomorrow, asking for more time. But I’m happy for him. Listen, he’s a kid that does a lot for us, he works hard. Offensively, it hasn’t happened for him this year, so maybe this will be a game he looks back on where it kind of turned the corner for him."

Stats and graphs via Natural Stat Trick.