The Bruins may have started slowly on Sunday night at the Garden, but finishing was the biggest issue for them going into the weekend. And for the second day in a row, the B’s finished off their opponent in winning fashion.
This time they were facing the Montreal Canadiens for the first time in nearly two years and they needed to overcome a one-goal third-period deficit. But they did so convincingly, scoring three times in the first 9:05 of the period before gliding into a 5-2 win.
It was a good night to be named Charlie, as Mr. McAvoy and Mr. Coyle each had two goals to pace the B’s to the victory. It was quite a weekend for McAvoy, who had 2-3-5 totals and was plus-5 in the back-to-back 5-2 wins over New Jersey and Montreal.
Jeremy Swayman (27 saves) improved to 8-0 at the Garden and got his first taste of the Boston-Montreal rivalry. And it did not matter that the Habs came into the game with a 4-10-2 record. It had been 641 days since the two teams had met and there was an extra buzz in the building.
“It’s special,” said Swayman, who played both ends of the back-to-back in a rarity. “You don’t really understand it till you’re on the ice playing in it. Our leadership group made a point of it, that this is an Original Six matchup. They don’t come in here and bully us. That was a fun game to be a part, definitely one I’ll remember for a long time and obviously happy to get the win.”
One of he more promising aspects of the win is that they did not need a single goal from the top line. The trio did play a part, of course. David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand each picked up helpers on the night. They also drew three different penalties, including the one that Pastrnak forced Jeff Petry to take in the third period that led to McAvoy’s game-tying goal. But the top trio’s usual heavy lifting was not as necessary as it usually is.
“For us as a team, I think when other people are on the scoresheet, it’s always good for the room, good for morale, for the guys,” said coach Bruce Cassidy. “It’s good for everybody to know ‘Hey, we can beat you different ways.’ We want to be that team.”
Trailing 2-1 early in the third, the Bruins tied it up for the second time in the game after Pastrnak’s cut into the slot forced Petry to haul him down for the penalty.
On the advantage, McAvoy’s high wrist shot deflected off Christian Dvorak out high and beat goalie Sam Montembeault at 2:14. It was McAvoy’s second goal of the game (2,3) — the first multi-goal game of his NHL career. The defenseman does not always think to shoot it first, but no one had to tell him twice on Sunday. He fired seven shots, all of which landed on —or in — the net.
“That’s something I’m trying to do more,” said McAvoy. “I feel sometimes I’ll have a game where I’ll reflect on it and afterwards I’ll think ‘Hey, you’ve got to shoot the puck more.’ Then I’ll try to make it my focus the following game to just shoot, not force anything but really just have a shot-first mentality. So I think the onus is on myself to continue to do that.”
The B’s then took their first lead of the game at 5:58 on a very fortunate break. Pastrnak ripped a shot from the right side of the slot that Montembeault stopped. Petry pounced on the rebound and tried to clear into the corner, but he chipped right off Coyle’s visor at the side of the net and the puck dropped behind the netminder for the 3-2 Bruin advantage.
“I’ll take more of those to be honest,” said Coyle. “Sometimes you get a little lucky. You try to play the right way and you get bounces going your way. I happened to get a really good bounce there. It was a big goal. I think anyone would take those.”
Coyle then gave the B’s a little breathing room 3:07 later, in a more conventional fashion. Jake DeBrusk took a hit to chip the puck into the offensive zone, Coyle gathered it in stride and beat Montembeault with a pretty roof shot for his fifth of the year.
Finally, Taylor Hall, on his 30th birthday, was given a nice little present from Pastrnak for the empty net goal on a 2-on-1.
The Bruins had not played the Habs in 641 days and, in that time period, it seemed the B’s had forgotten something about their ancient rival to start the game. The Habs had the better of the play in the first period and took a 1-0 lead off a Joel Armia goal on a 3-on-1.
The B’s tied it up in the second when McAvoy crashed the net to follow up a Hall shot off the wing, but Michael Pezzetta pushed the Habs ahead again with a pinball goal late in the second, deflecting a shot that Swayman stopped but the rebound ricocheted off Connor Clifton past Swayman.
But the Habs, outshot in the second and third periods by a 30-17 margin, were no match for the B’s in the third and now the B’s can ease into a five-day break having won two in a row and three of four. But wins over the Canadiens are a little bit more special than all the others, no matter what their record is.
“It’s not one of 82 when it’s Montreal,” said Cassidy. “It isn’t to me, anyway, and it shouldn’t be to anyone who knows anything about the Boston Bruins.”
