Photo Credit: Charles Krupa (AP Photo)
By: KG Follow me on Twitter: @kgbngblog and on FanCred at K G
PREGAME NOTES
The Bruins are facing Montreal for the third time in 8 days after Claude Julien had some aggressive words following their loss on Wednesday. The Bruins are playing their best hockey of the season in the past month, and are looking to add to their 15 game point streak, while the Habs try to make it two straight wins after their win last night in Washington.
What I Am Looking Forward To
It’s always interesting to see how a team plays against their former coach, but I’m more interested in how Montreal tries to shut down the 63/37/88 line. They have been incredibly dominant lately, and dominant is the only word to describe them.
PERIOD ONE
The Bruins were great on the defensive pressure, forcing Montreal to recoil in their end and try to re-exit their own zone multiple times. The Bruins started to step up on the Montreal defensemen at their blueline, causing them to cough up the puck. One thing I noticed was that Carey Price was pretty aggressive when he played the puck in the first. Bergeron stopped a 2-1 on the power play on a great hustle play. Both goalies looked good in the opening period.
Scoring
BOS – N/A
MTL – N/A
PERIOD TWO
Boston seemed to be more on their heels at the start of this period. This resulted in a Max Pacioretty goal mid-way through the period after a costly McAvoy turnover. But the Bruins answered back by popping a quick one a couple minutes later off of a Pastrnak shot from the corner that banked off of Price’s skate and in. Then Boston started to get some momentum and ended up getting another one from Krug on a great shot that phased Price. The Bruins looked solid on both the power play and the penalty kill
Scoring
BOS – Pastrnak (Krug, Bergeron), Krug (Pastrnak, Marchand)
MTL – Pacioretty (Byron)
PERIOD THREE
Montreal had struggles trying to fend off the aggressive forecheck of the Bruins but the Canadiens were still able to get some quality shots on Rask. After the Petry penalty, it had seemed as though Bergeron had scored to make it 3-1, but as it turned out, the play was called offside after Boston’s old bench boss Claude Julien challenged the play. After some back and forth where it looked like the Canadiens were taking the momentum, Boston came back and scored off of a Krug shot rebound from Pastrnak, his second of the night. Julien was forced to pull his goalie with less than two minutes left in the game to attempt to tie it, but this just ended up giving Riley Nash his 6th goal of the season, giving the Bruins a 4-1 victory over their bitter rivals.
Scoring
BOS – Pastrnak (Krug), Nash (Backes, Marchand)
MTL – N/A
POSTGAME
The Bruins are currently playing up to their potential. They have a great roster and an even better gameplan. They have figured out what works and will try to continue to take opportunities when given to them.
KG’s Three Stars Of The Game
1st: David Pastrnak – It was a great game for Pastrnak offensively. He had two goals and an assist. Neither one of his goals were pretty as they usually are, but they all count the same on the score sheet. He contributed to defense as well, something that he’s been doing more since joining Marchand and Bergeron’s line.
2nd: Patrice Bergeron – Bergeron has been great all season, but even better during this streak. He has really been doing well, being so effective on both offense and defense.
3rd: Torey Krug – Krug had a great night offensively, making good, solid passes and taking high-percentage shots, as well as playing a big portion of the power play. He did have one big turnover that I can remember, but he had way more good plays than bad plays tonight.
MUP (Most Under-Appreciated Player): Tuukka Rask – Tuukka has been one of the biggest factors in this hot streak that the Bruins have been on. And tonight wasn’t any different. Even though he only needed to face 25 total shots, he needed to stop them all late when the Habs tried to make a comeback. Solid game for him.
BIRDHOUSE – Round-up of the best Tweets during the game
NEXT GAME
Tuesday, January 23rd in Boston vs New Jersey
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