FINAL: Bruins 5, Canadiens 2 -Frederic's two goals help power B's past Montreal

The Bruins defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 on Saturday night in an Original Six matchup. Trent Frederic helped lead the way with two goals on the night. 

Boston got on the board first at the 7:11 mark in the first period as Charlie McAvoy scored his third goal of the season on the power play. David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand were both credited with the assist, that was Marchand's 500th career assist. The B's added on at the 19:20 mark when  Frederic scored to make it 2-0 Boston.The Bruins outshot Montreal 18-8 in the first period. 

Boston continued where they left off in the second period when Pavel Zacha scored at the 5:18 mark to make it 3-0 B's. Zacha now has a four-game point streak. The Canadiens answered back at the 13:04 mark when Juraj Slafvosky scored which made it 3-1. The Bruins countered at the 15:30 mark to make it 4-1 when Frederic scored his second goal of the night. 

Boston put the finishing touch on in the third period when James Van Riemsdyk scored his fifth goal of the season on the power play. Montreal answered at the 15:29 mark when Jonathan Kovacevik scored to make it 5-2.

Jeremy Swayman finished the night in net with 20 saves. 

The Bruins will be back in action on Monday when they will be in Tampa Bay to face the Lightning with puck drop set for 7p.m. 

THINGS I LIKED: 

• The B's have now scored a power play goal in six straight games. Boston had two tonight, one each from McAvoy and Van Riemsdyk. 
• The Bruins continued to show why they have the number one penalty kill in the entire NHL as they killed six penalties tonight. This will be a huge advantage later into the season and come playoff time. This is now the second straight game where the B's did not allow a goal when they were down a man. Boston has killed 91.5% of its power plays this season.
• Pavel Zacha continues to impress as he is riding a four-game point streak. 
• The TD Garden crowd mocked the Canadiens with the game in control by singing "ole, ole, ole". 

B's RECOGNIZE THE 70 & 72 TEAM

• It was a surreal moment pregame seeing Boston greats, such as Bobby Orr and Johhny Bucyk, walk onto the ice to raise their championship banners, which they did not have the opportunity to do back then.
• The crowd roared to cheers geared towards Orr which capped off a memorable night at TD Garden. 

_____________________________

WHO: Canadiens (7-8-2) at Bruins (12-1-2)
WHEN: 7p.m. 
WHERE: TD Garden, Boston.  
TV: NESN
RADIO: 98.5-FM The Sports Hub

LIVE BOX SCORE

ROSTERS

PREDICTED LINES

BOSTON
Marchand-Zacha-Pastrnak
Van Riemsdyk-Coyle-Frederic
Heinen-Poitras-DeBrusk
Lauko-Beecher-Steen

Lohrei-McAvoy
Lindholm-Carlo
Forbort-Shattenkirk

Swayman 
Ullmark 

CANADIENS 
Newhook-Suzuki-Caufield
 Slafkovsky-Monahan-Ylönen 
Anderson-Dvorak-Gallagher
 Pearson-Evans-Pezzetta

Matheson-Barron
Guhle-Kovacevic
Harris-Lindström

Allen
Montembeault

PREGAME NOTES

The Bruins face the Montreal Canadiens in an Original Six matchup tonight at 7pm. This will be the second time since last Saturday they will face each other, when Montreal won 3-2 in overtime. 

The story of the day is Milan Lucic has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the team after getting arrested early Saturday morning in Boston following an alleged  incident of domestic violence on Friday night. 

The Bruins released a statement saying: “The Boston Bruins are aware of an incident involving Milan Lucic Friday evening. Milan is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team. The organization takes these matters very seriously, and and will work with the Lucic family to provide any support and assistance they may need. We will have no further comment at this time.”

“As an organization, it’s something we take extremely seriously,” said Montgomery. “Looch is taking a leave of absence from the team right now and we support the Lucic family, and we will continue to provide support and help for the Lucic family and out of respect for their privacy, that’s all I’m going to comment on the details right now,” Jim Montgomery told reporters this morning. 

Jake DeBrusk will be appearing in his 400th career game tonight and Brad Marchand is one assist away from hitting  number 500 in his career. The Bruins enter tonight with a record of 12-1-2 on the season looking to win their second straight game. 

The Canadiens have gone on a three game skid since beating Boston last Saturday night north of the border. Sean Monahan and Nick Suzuki are tied on the team for goals with six on the season. Suzuki and Cole Caulfield are tied on the squad with 15 points on the year.