BSJ Game Report: Bruins 5, Canadiens 4 - Boston pads lead in record book with 65th win in regular season finale

Everything you need to know from the Bruins’ 5-4 win over the Canadiens, with BSJ insight and analysis…

BOX SCORE 

HEADLINES

Bruins shred record book in regular season finale: The Bruins extended their newly-minted wins and points records with their 65th victory, a raucous 5-4 result over Montreal in the regular season finale.

David Pastrnak and Dmitry Orlov each had a goal and an assist for Boston (65-12-5). Jeremy Swayman made 30 saves. The B’s tied an NHL record with their 31st road win.

Michael Pezzetta had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (31-45-6), and Sam Montembeault made 21 saves. 

Lucas Condotta opened the scoring when he batted in his own rebound for his first NHL goal 3:27 into the game.

Trent Frederic tied it with a tap-in at the backdoor from Connor Clifton midway through the period, and Jake DeBrusk scored from a sharp angle 5:21 later to make it 2-1.

Nick Suzuki redirected Joel Edmundson’s shot from the point early in the second to make it 2-2, and Pezzetta made it 3-2 just 1:08 later. In a comedy of errors, a bad bounce got by Pastrnak at the point, Swayman raced to beat a streaking Pitlick and lost before Pezzetta put it in the open net.

Orlov picked the top left corner in tight to tie it, 3-3, with 6:02 left in the second. 

Justin Barron scored shorthanded just over a minute into the third to restore the Habs’ lead, but Charlie Coyle went upstairs for a pretty goal to tie it, 4-4. 

Pastrnak finished a back-post feed from Orlov with nine minutes left for the 5-4 final and his 61st goal of the year. 

THREE UP

Dmitry Orlov: Orlov came up huge when the Bruins were most in need of a spark. In a wide-open second period, Orlov scored a beauty for the equalizer. He activated in the rush and set up Pastrnak for the game-winner. Boston outscored Montreal, 3-0, with the Russian on the ice at 5-on-5.

Charlie McAvoy: McAvoy was active offensively for most of the night, doing what he does best on the flank and down low in the offensive zone. Like Orlov, McAvoy was on the ice for a 3-0 goal differential, and led all B’s defensemen with a 62.5 percent share of 5-on-5 shot attempts when he was on the ice. He led the rush and disrupted the Habs below the goal line to keep the play alive before DeBrusk's first-period goal.

Trent Frederic: Frederic had another solid audition at center, slotting in on the fourth line. He still has work to do on face-offs, going 0-for-4 at the dot, but the Bruins held a 6-3 edge in high-danger scoring chances with No. 11 on the ice at 5-on-5. Did a good job finding space on the offensive zone on his 17th goal to add to his career-high. It was his first in 13 games.

THREE DOWN

Brad Marchand: No. 63 was loose with the puck, tied for the most giveaways on the B’s with two. Montreal outchanced Boston 7-5 with Marchand on the ice (4-3 high-danger). The power play wasn’t exactly stellar in this one, and Marchand forcing passes and plays that weren’t there didn’t help. 

Health: The Bruins said Patrice Bergeron (upper-body) didn’t return after the first period due to precautionary reasons. Like Linus Ullmark the other night, it’s hard to not be even a little bit concerned with the playoffs now here. Jim Montgomery told reporters postgame that Bergeron is fine.

"He wanted go go back out. I said no," Montgomery said.

The third line: The lines at 5-on-5 were in a bit of a blender after Bergeron left the game, but Hall-Coyle-Lauko was together for the most 5-on-5 time and were out-attempted, 11-10, and outshot, 6-2. It didn’t hurt Boston, as they outscored the Habs, 1-0, but it was uncharacteristic of a typically reliable unit.  

PLAY OF THE GAME

What a shot by Orlov here. Good lord.

LOOSE PUCKS

Good on the UMass-Lowell product, Condotta. Worked pretty hard to get to this point and made the most of it.

I'm probably the only one that noticed this. Maybe advanced stats are getting out of hand.

LOOKING AHEAD

With the regular season in the rearview mirror, we await an official first-round schedule. 

After the Carolina Hurricanes knocked off the Florida Panthers, 6-4. With the loss, Florida finishes as the second wild card, and will meet Boston in the first round. The expectation is Game 1 will be Monday.