Bruins Live Blog: Canadiens Win In Shootout, Ending Boston's 12-Game Winning Streak
Final, 2-1 Canadiens (shootout): It's over -- the Canadiens win in the fourth round of the shootout, and the Bruins' 12-game winning streak is O-V-E-R.
Here's how the shootout played out:
Boston, Patrice Bergeron, NO GOAL: Bergeron pulled to a stop at the top of the dots and eventually tried to sneak a forehand through the five-hole, but it was closed.
Montreal, Thomas Vanek, NO GOAL: Vanek swept into the zone and aimed gloveside high. Rask was there.
Boston, Jarome Iginla, NO GOAL: Iginla skated in with speed down the right wing and tried to beat Budaj to the short side. No dice.
Montreal, David Desharnais, NO GOAL: Desharnais actually went with a full fake shot, but Rask didn't bite, making the save on the eventual forehand shot.
Boston, Brad Marchand, NO GOAL: Marchand snaked his way slowly toward net, but he couldn't bury a backhand.
Montreal, Daniel Briere, NO GOAL: Briere deked to the forehand and ran out of room.
Boston, David Krejci, NO GOAL: Krejci flew right down the slight and sent a wrister to the blocker side. Budaj kicked it away.
Montreal, Alex Galchenyuk, GOAL: A series of dekes opened up a forehand opportunity, and Galchenyuk delivered the game-winner.
End of overtime, 1-1: Marchand missed high on a last-second attempt, and we're heading to a shootout.
Overtime, 1:09, 1-1: As far as OTs go, this is pretty exciting. David Krejci missed just wide on a redirect of an Iginla feed, and Brad Marchand just worked some magic in the offensive end to find space and nearly end this one.
Overtime, 3:41, 1-1: Tuukka Rask covers up a bouncing puck that very easily could have crept past him. That was a tricky one off the stick of Desharnais.
End of third period, 1-1: There were some wild moments in the closing minutes, but this game is heading to overtime.
The Canadiens have to be kicking themselves for going penalty-crazy in the third, taking four minors and giving the Bruins one too many chances to come back. Meanwhile, the Bruins have to be feeling somewhat satisfied to have gotten here, as they spent most of the night outplaying Montreal but had nothing to show for it.
Third period, 2:12, 1-1: Old pals Marchand and Subban just spent a minute getting reacquainted with one another behind the Montreal net, with Marchand simply lying on top of the Habs D-man for quite some time right in front of the ref. No call there ... as a strange officiating night continues.
Third period, 5:05, 1-1: Correction -- that goal goes to Bergeron, who got his stick on the shot as it made its way toward net.
Hamilton's rub-your-finger-slowly-along-the-ice-before-fist-pumping celebration still happened, though.
Third period, 5:26, 1-1: Finally, the Bruins come through on a power play. It took nearly the entirety of the advantage, but Dougie Hamilton sent a long wrister from the blue line toward net. It bounced off a Montreal body and deflected past Budaj. This game is tied.
Third period, 7:24, 1-0 Canadiens: If the Bruins lose this game, it won't be lack of opportunities. They're heading on their fourth power play of the night after Boillon caught Bergeron in the face with a high stick.
Third period, 9:19, 1-0 Canadiens: Another Bruins power play, and another Montreal kill.
The Bruins had two chances on this one. The first was a pass to Loui Eriksson's blade that wouldn't settle, costing him a chance to bury what might have been an easy one. The second came moments later, when Bergeron's shot from the doorstep caught the crossbar and deflected to the glass.
Tough break for Boston, but it's still just a one-goal game.
Third period, 11:21, 1-0 Canadiens: That was an improved power play from the Bruins, who were able to generate a few chances on some chaotic sequences around the net, but no goal.
However, Julien sent out the fourth line late in the power play, and Gregory Campbell's net drive forced Brendan Gallagher to take a hooking call, and the B's are back on the man advantage.
Third period, 13:34, 1-0 Canadiens: The Bruins are heading back on the power play, and it's thanks to some extra effort by Soderberg to keep the puck in the offensive end. The Sweded extended to stop the puck on the blue paint and then sent it into the opposite corner. Chris Kelly chased after it and was grabbed and spun around by Douglas Murray.
Murray slammed his stick on the ice in protest, but that was a pretty obvious penalty there.
B's power play gets another chance, and they need this one.
Third period, 14:19, 1-0 Canadiens: Calling that Bruins power play awful would be an understatement. Boston hardly had control of the puck for the entire two minutes, and that man advantage goes by the boards.
Third period, 19:17, 1-0 Canadiens: Tomas Plekanec hit Brad Marchand from behind in the corner, leading to a penalty for boarding. Might have been sold a bit by Marchand, but that's easy for me to say.
Bruins are going on the power play, looking to tie things up.
Third period, 20:00, 1-0 Canadiens: Here we go, even strength to start the third.
End of second period, 1-0 Canadiens: OK, so going back to the Boychuk-Subban situation...
Subban carried the puck into the zone along the left boards. Boychuk tried to land a hip check, but Subban had enough room to step around it. Boychuk made minimal contact and then appeared to catch Subban with a leg whip. It wasn't called a penalty, because really nobody can say for sure what a penalty is tonight, and the two fell into the boards. Subban then delivered a shot to Boychuk's back, which Boychuk obviously did not appreciate.
Boychuk dropped his gloves and was ready for a fight, but Subban backed off and skated away, raising his hands to the ref as if to say he didn't do anything. The ref, seemingly confused about the rulebook tonight anyway, called nothing. Subban then leaned back into Boychuk, thinking Boychuk wasn't expecting it. But he was, and Boychuk grabbed Subban and tackled him to the ice.
The crowd, which has roundly booed Subban every time he touches the puck, roared, but Boychuk came away with a roughing penalty.
It may fall in the no harm, no foul category, as the penalty was killed, but that's now three undisciplined Boston penalties tonight, and that's a dangerous way to live.
Second period, 20.3 seconds, 1-0 Canadiens: The Bruins survive the two-man kill (thanks to Gallagher whiffing on a would-be empty netter).
Second period, 2:48, 1-0 Canadiens: Things are getting wild in the Garden, and it's the Canadiens who are benefiting.
It's costing them a bit of pain, as P.K. Subban goaded Boychuk into losing his cool and slamming him to the ice, but it now results in a two-man advantage for Montreal for 44 seconds. Bruins are shooting themselves in the foot right now.
Second period, 4:04, 1-0 Canadiens: A frenzied stretch of play sees a Bruins power play (on which Lucic was robbed by a diving shoulder save from Budaj) wiped out by a goaltender interference penalty on Carl Soderberg, and then another Bruins penalty -- this one an Iginla tripping penalty -- take place in the moments that followed Soderberg's exit of the box.
The extended power play time gave the Canadiens some time to finally set up in the Boston end of the ice. The ice has leveled a bit in recent minutes.
Second period, 9:30, 1-0 Canadiens: The Bruins were unable to score on the power play, but they came close. Dougie Hamilton unleashed a blast from the high slot on net, and the puck made its way through traffic and off Budaj. The puck bounced high into the air and when it came down, Bergeron gave it a whack. It looked like the puck nearly got caught up in Budaj's right arm, but it ended up bouncing out and going wide of the post.
Minutes later, Daniel Paille got caught looking back over his shoulder, and Mike Weaver absolutely crushed him at the Boston blue line. Paille, who's twice missed time this season due to a concussion, is still on the bench, but he got clobbered with a high hit there.
Second period, 13:16, 1-0 Canadiens: Rene Bourque goes to the box for a ticky-tack hooking penalty, and the Bruins get their first power play opportunity of the night.
Second period, 13:43, 1-0 Canadiens: The Bruins killed the penalty and actually spent much of the final minute in the Montreal end of the ice.
The Bruins continue to apply pressure, leading in shots 5-2 this period and leading in shot attempts 31-21 total. Yet they haven't forced Budaj to make more than one excellent save, sending most of the rubber right into the netminder's chest.
Second period, 16:51, 1-0 Canadiens: The Bruins kept the pressure on to start this period, but Marchand got his stick up high on Subban after an offensive zone faceoff, and Montreal goes back on the power play.
Second period, 20:00, 1-0 Canadiens: Second period has begun in Boston.
End of first period, 1-0 Canadiens: On the strength of that power play goal, the Habs own a 1-0 lead, but the Bruins dominated play in the second half of that period, as the puck rarely left the Montreal end. Patrice Bergeron's attempt to bat home a rebound went just wide, perhaps even catching the outside of the post after deflecting off Budaj's glove.
The Bruins own a 10-5 shot advantage, and if they continue to plat the way they did in the final 12 or so minutes of the first period, they'll be all right.
The Canadiens lost Weise and Moen early, and they didn't return, so perhaps fatigue played somewhat of a factor for the dropoff in the second half of the first period. Still, those aren't exactly huge ice time eaters, so that's no excuse.
First period, 5:32, 1-0 Canadiens: The Bruins have finally been able to create some sustained pressure in the offensive end, but Peter Budaj has been up to the task.
The one thing that's clear so far is that both teams placed an emphasis on playing a physical game tonight. The most recent thuds have come from white sweaters, with Douglas Murray planting Carl Soderberg to the ice in the corner, but both sides have put forth a focused effort on throwing their bodies around tonight.
First period, 13:21, 1-0 Canadiens: The Habs make the Bruins pay, with Alexei Emelin sending a long wrister from the blue line that beat Tuukka Rask to the glove side.
A sizeable group of Canadiens fans let out a loud roar, and Emelin had a bit of an emotional fist pump all alone in the neutral zone, and Montreal leads it 1-0.
Rask wasn't screened on that one, but he might have trouble picking up the puck off the stick, as Kelly was out at the top of the slot.
Briere and Gionta pick up assists.
First period, 15:10, 0-0: Montreal is unable to even get a shot on net during the power play, but they'll be heading on another PP. But I don't think this home crowd minds all that much.
Kevan Miller dumped Dale Weise into the corner boards with a questionable cross-check, sending Weise crashing hard.
Miller was then challenged straight up by Travis Moen, and Miller delivered an absolute beatdown. That's a kid who came out of absolute nowhere and turned out to be a beast. He actually knocked Moen down to the ice after just one punch, but the officials allowed them to get back up and continue. That was most certainly bad news for Moen, who looked to not even know where he was as he was helped off the ice by two teammates.
Moen was unable to serve the penalty in the box, instead opting to head to the room.
Shawn Thornton is in the box to serve Miller's minor cross-checking penalty.
First period, 18:41, 0-0: The Canadiens get an early power play, thanks to Zdeno Chara losing his cool and hitting Alexei Emelin from behind in the neutral zone. Emelin had just hip-checked Milan Lucic, and Chara apparently didn't like it.
That was an undisciplined mistake, and the Canadiens have been able to do that in the past.
First period, 20:00: Patrice Bergeron wins the opening faceoff, and we're under way here at the Garden.
7:40 p.m.: As Ray Bourque heads to center ice for the ceremonial puck drop, here are the starting lines:
Montreal
Thomas Vanek-David Desharnais-Max Pacioretty
Francis Bouillon-P.K. Subban
Peter Budaj
Boston
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Reilly Smith
Zdeno Chara Dougie Hamilton
Tuukka Rask
7:30 p.m.: The warmups are all over and we're just about 10 minutes away from game time here at the Garden.
For the Canadiens, it'll be Peter Budaj and not Carey Price in net, which is interesting.
For the Bruins, it looks like Andrej Meszaros will be the healthy scratch on defense. That puts Dougie Hamilton with Zdeno Chara on the Bruins' top defensive pair.
The B's are in their alternate home jerseys tonight.
6 p.m.: Good evening and welcome from the TD Garden, where the Boston Bruins will be gunning for their 13th straight victory tonight.
They'll be up against the visiting Montreal Canadiens, who always make for interesting house guests whenever they hit the Hub.
The Habs enter tonight's game on a hot streak of their own, albeit a more modest won. They've won four of their last five games, a stretch that includes a 6-2 win over Colorado and a 4-3 win at Toronto on Saturday night.
Yet it was the Canadiens who really helped the Bruins launch themselves on to this current run. The Bruins, winners of five straight at the time, flew to Montreal on March 12 and rolled over the Habs by a 4-1 margin.
Now, with a chance to inch closer toward tying the franchise record 14-game winning streak, the Bruins will obviously hope to keep the good times rolling. They'll also hope to avoid a repeat of the most recent Montreal visit to Boston, when the Habs chased Tuukka Rask in a 4-1 win.
Puck drop tonight is a little later than usual at 7:30 p.m., so I'll have all the updates you need from warmups leading up to then, and check back throughout the game for updates, analysis and commentary as the B's try to make it a baker's dozen tonight on home ice.
Read more from Michael Hurley by clicking here, or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
