BSJ Game Report: Bruins 5, Canadiens 2 - Charlies lead way in win over Habs

Everything you need to know from the Bruins' 5-2 win over the Canadiens with BSJ insight and analysis:

Box Score

SHORT SHIFT

It was the Charlie Show on Sunday night at TD Garden — as both Charlie McAvoy and Charlie Coyle lit the lamp twice to pace the B’s to a 5-2 win over the Habs in the first meeting between the Original Six foes in 641 days.

Taylor Hall added an empty-netter and nine different B’s skaters recorded at least a point in the victory, while Jeremy Swayman stopped 27 of the 29 shots that came his way.

Despite being granted three stints on the man advantage, Boston struggled to cash in during the opening period — generating three shots on goal in 4:36 of 5v4 ice time. The results were even more disheartening at 5v5 play — with the B’s just generating one scoring chance in 14:23 of ice time against an unproven netminder in Sam Montembeault. 

Down the other end of the ice, Montreal struck after a poor pinch down low by Connor Clifton led to an odd-man rush — with Joel Armia snapping the puck past Swayman to put the Habs ahead at 8:09 in the first.

Boston tilted the ice in its favor for most of the following frame, with McAvoy knocking home a rebound off of a Hall shot at 8:27 to knot things up at 1-1. But a lopsided shot total in the period (20-10 in favor of Boston) didn’t change the B’s fortunes, as a tumbling puck found its way past Swayman at 16:25 to put the visitors on top again. 

The B’s power play finally clicked in the final frame — with McAvoy rifling home a shot from the point that beat Montembeault to tie things up once again at 2:14.

A fortunate bounce allowed the B’s to take the lead for good, with a failed clearing attempt from Jeff Petry clanging off Coyle’s head and into the Habs’ net to make it a 3-2 game at 5:58. 

Coyle’s second goal wasn’t another gimmie, with the B’s second-line pivot roofing the puck over Montembeault’s shoulder to make it a 4-2 contest just a little over three minutes later. Hall added the coup de grace via the empty-netter at 18:02 to close out the win.

With the win, the Bruins improve to 8-5-0 on the season.

THREE UP

Charlie McAvoy: Stop if you heard this before, but McAvoy once again put forth a truly dominant performance out on the ice Sunday. Over 23 minutes of ice time, seven shots on goal, three hits and of course, two goals. The Bruins have to be doing backflips that they got McAvoy to ink that contract when they did. 

Charlie Coyle: Sure, the first goal might have been a fluke, but his second tally sure wasn’t. After scoring just six goals all last season (51 total games), the Weymouth native is now up to five goals over 13 games.

Jeremy Swayman: Another steady showing from Swayman — who has now relinquished two goals or fewer in each of his last five games. Swayman is now 8-0-0 in his career at TD Garden, becoming just the fourth goalie in NHL history to start his career with a win in each of his first 8+ regular-season appearances at home.

ONE DOWN

Clifton-Zboril pairing: Not the best night at the office for Clifton — whose bad pinch down low in the opening period jumpstarted the sequence that led to Armia’s opening tally. The breakdown in the second period that resulted in Michael Pezzetta’s goal was the byproduct of Jakub Zboril going for a big hit, but Clifton also knocked that tumbling puck past Swayman to put the Habs ahead once again. 

LOOSE PUCKS

Secondary scoring picks up

Given this roster's track record, it's not very often you see the Bruins snag two points out of a matchup in which Patrice Bergeron is kept off the scoresheet and both David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand fail to light the lamp. 

The Bruins haven't magically solved their secondary-scoring woes off of beating down a pretty woeful Habs team, but it was still good to see a couple of other contributors (Jake DeBrusk, Oskar Steen and Brandon Carlo) all record at least a point in this win. Boston didn't re-invent the wheel in the O-zone against Montreal  — but sticking to simple hockey (getting pucks on net, planting themselves in Grade-A ice) yielded positive results.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Whatever works, right?

PARTING THOUGHTS

QUOTE OF NOTE

"In the second period we got zero puck luck, but we stuck with it and then in the third period we got lots." - Bruce Cassidy

LOOKING AHEAD

After wrapping up this 4-in-6 slate, the Bruins will not play another game for … *checks calendar* five days. Woof. The B’s next matchup is set for Saturday night, when they will travel down to Philly to take on the Flyers. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.