One week after dropping a 3-2 overtime decision to the Montreal Canadiens on the road, the Boston Bruins returned home against Montreal for the first time this season on Saturday night (Nov. 18) at the TD Garden and it was a better night for the Black and Gold. Boston jumped out to a 3-0 lead and outplayed their rivals for most of the game in a 5-2 win.
Boston improves to 13-1-2 with the win and now hits the road for two games against division foes, the Tampa Bay Lighting (Nov. 20) and Florida Panthers (Nov. 22), before U.S. Thanksgiving. Before they head South to the Sunshine State, here are three takeaways from their win over the Canadiens.
Bruins Avoid Disaster With a David Pastrnak Injury
Over the last couple of weeks, injuries have been popping up for the Bruins to their forwards. Against Montreal, the Bruns avoided a worst-case scenario with an injury to David Pastrnak. The right-wing went down the tunnel late in the opening period with an injury and missed the remainder of the period. At the beginning of the second period, he emerged from the tunnel and finished the game.
He returned and picked up an assist on Pavel Zacha’s second-period goal for a 3-0 lead. It was his second assist of the night after he picked up one on a Charlie McAvoy power-play goal in the first period. He picked up his third assist of the night in the third period on a James van Riemsdyk power-play goal. Pastrnak finished with six shots on Montreal goalie Jake Allen in the game.
Bruins Fourth Line Played a Strong Game
Even though they didn’t factor in any of the scoring, Boston’s fourth line of John Beecher, Jakub Laukko, and Oskar Steen had a good game. They were relentless on the forecheck, they created scoring chances for each other and Beecher played well on the penalty kill.
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Earlier in the day, the Bruins announced that Milan Lucic is taking an indefinite leave of absence for an incident that happened away from the team Friday night (Nov. 17). He has been out of the lineup with an injury since October and getting closer to a return, but this setback will keep him away for some time. In his absence during his injury, Lauko, Steen, and Beecher have formed a good connection on the fourth line, and keeping them together is the best option. They are not going to light up the scoresheet, but it’s the little things they bring that have been valuable for the Black and Gold.
Trent Frederic Had a Good Night Against Montreal
The Bruins finished with four different goal scorers and the only one to have a multiple-goal night was Trent Frederic. He doubled the Boston lead in the first period when he redirected a Brandon Carlo shot from the point, then in the second period, he had an up-and-down two minutes, but it finished with him adding some insurance.
He was called for a minor penalty, which his teammates killed off. After coming out of the penalty box, he scored on a breakaway for a 4-1 lead and turned all the momentum in the Bruins’ favor. In the third period, he drew a penalty in the offensive zone that led to van Riemsdyk’s power-play goal. Frederic has been good so far again this season through 16 games for Jim Montgomery.
Bruins Quick Takeaways
- Boston appears to have avoided another injury, this time in the second period with Matthew Poitras. He collected the puck just inside the Canadiens defensive zone and Montreal’s Gustav Lindstrom laid him out with a hit. The 19-year-old returned and didn’t miss any time.
- When McAvoy blasted a slapshot past Allen in the first period, Brad Marchand picked up the primary assist and it was the Bruins captain’s 500th career assist.
- Jeremy Swayman again was solid in net for the Bruins, this time a week after his last appearance against Montreal. He made some big saves early on, stopping Josh Anderson in the slot on a Canadiens first-period power play, then in the second period, he stopped Brendan Gallagher on a breakaway. In the second period, he stopped Alex Newhook in close with a pad save. Swayman finished with 20 saves.
- The Bruins’ six defensemen combined for 12 shots on the net in the game, with Kevin Shattenkirk leading the group with four. All six recorded at least one. Even more impressive, Boston finished with 44 shots and every player had at least one.
The Bruins put together a solid and dominating 60 minutes against the Canadiens to secure two more points and they are now up to 28 through 16 games. They will get a test in the next week with games against the Lightning, Panthers, Detroit Red Wings, and New York Rangers. All four are Eastern Conference contenders and it will be a good stretch to tell Boston where they are by the end of November.
