Kalman: Bruins Looking For Some Redemption Tuesday In Montreal
WILMINGTON (CBS) -- More than two weeks after the Bruins were outplayed in every facet of the game in a 5-1 loss to Montreal in the 2016 Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium, the Bruins will have a chance for redemption Tuesday against their archest rivals.
The Bruins visit Bell Centre for a game that comes with both redemptive value and two points that could be crucial in the race for playoff spots. The Bruins and Canadiens woke up Monday as the two Eastern Conference wild cards with 51 and 50 standings points, respectively.
"Obviously we're not happy with the way the Winter Classic went, but at the same time it's a big game in the standings," forward Brett Connolly said after practice at Ristuccia Arena on Monday. "We've talked about the standings and how they embarrassed us. So we're looking to come out with a good effort and play them hard. We beat them in their building before, so there's no reason why we can't go in there and give ourselves a chance. And we're looking to do that."
The Bruins conquered the Canadiens at Bell Centre 3-1 on December 9 to end a seven-game losing streak in that building. It was one of Boston's top 60-minute performances of the season. A few weeks later, in front of a giant New Year's Day crowd both in the stands at the home of the Patriots and on national television, the Bruins reverted to the team that struggled against Montreal for a few seasons in a row.
As much as that game sticks out as a sore spot for the Bruins, it's also a glaring mark on the Canadiens' season because it's one of their few solid performances of the past couple months. The Canadiens are 1-4-1 since that victory. And since December 3, they're 4-15-1. Montreal has played more like a team that's headed toward the lottery rather than the Stanley Cup finals. That might work in the Bruins' favor because Boston recently proved that it could beat teams at the lower end of the NHL standings.
After blowing a third-period lead in consecutive losses to the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers, the Bruins have won two in a row against Buffalo and Toronto – no one's idea of NHL powerhouses this season. However, the quality of opponent doesn't get weighed in the standings and the Bruins have earned four points and proven they learned their lesson from those late-game collapses.
"We've got to put 60 minutes in," forward Landon Ferraro said. "It's a league where it doesn't matter if it's the first-place team or the 30th-place team, if you try and sit back, teams are going to come at you and they're going to score. It's not like it used to be where you could sit on a one-goal lead and hold it for 45 minutes. You've got to keep pushing and that's what our team, when we're at our best, we're pushing and we're using our speed and that's what we've got to be doing for 60 minutes."
If the Bruins can apply the lessons they learned recently with any they learned from their horrible appearance in the Winter Classic, they could manage to make Montreal's recent struggles continue.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
