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Photo Courtesy Of NHL.com


By: Garrett Haydon | Follow Me On Twitter @thesportsguy97

Pre-Game Notes

Home: Montreal Canadiens (11-7-5)
Away: Boston Bruins (15-3-5)
Arena: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec

Montreal’s Lineup

Forwards

Tatar-Danault-Gallagher
Lehkonen-Domi-Suzuki
Hudon-Kotkaniemi-Armia
Cousins-Thompson-Weal

Defense

Chiarot-Weber
Mete-Petry
Reilly-Fleury

Goalies

Price
Kinkaid

Boston’s Lineup

Forwards

Marchand-Krejci-Pastrnak
DeBrusk-Studnicka-Coyle
Bjork-Kuraly-Heinen
Nordstrom-Lindholm-Wagner

Defense

Chara-McAvoy
Krug-Carlo
Grzelcyk-Clifton

Goalies

Halak
Rask

First Period

Both team appeared to be very engaged right from the start with good skating and good body contact. Jaroslav Halak was relatively busy early on but made a couple of key saves to keep the Bruins in the game. The B’s seemed to be very sloppy in their own end in the opening moments of the game but got a gift when David Pastrnak was tripped in the defensive zone, resulting in a power play with under 14 minutes left in the period. With just seconds left in the man advantage, Jake DeBrusk buried a chance in front of the net for his fifth goal of the season to give Boston the early lead.

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Following the goal, both teams started to settle in defensively and lock up the neutral zone. The Canadiens however, broke free in the neutral zone just four minutes after the goal as Shea Weber scored on a rebound to tie the game.

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The Bruins would go back to the man advantage very soon after the tying goal as they looked to regain the lead with over six minutes to go in the period. Pastrnak made it two power play goals in the period as he buried a one timer off a great feed from Charlie Coyle less than a minute into the man advantage to give Boston a 2-1 lead.

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Immediately following the goal though, Charlie McAvoy was called for tripping as the Habs looked to even the score once again. The B’s killed off the penalty as the Canadiens failed to get any significant chances on Halak. The Bruins made it 3-1 as Brad Marchand took full advantage of a terrible Montreal turnover in the final minute of the period.

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Score: 3-1 Bruins

Second Period

Just eight seconds into the middle period, Pastrnak buried his second of the night off a set play as the B’s opened up a three goal advantage on the Habs.

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Anders Bjork made it two goals in just over a minute after another Montreal turnover to make it a 5-1 Boston advantage with still 18:50 left to go in the period.

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The Bruins continued to play hungry after the quick goals with a couple of solid shifts in the offensive zone. Montreal responded with some good shifts of their own but Halak denied a number of great chances to keep them at bay. Pastrnak completed his hat trick off of a deflection in front from a shot by Brandon Carlo with less than 11 minutes left in the period to make it 6-1 Boston.

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The Habs picked up their second power play of the night with 7:17 to go in the period as they looked to stop the bleeding and get back into the game. The Bruins killed off the man advantage as the Canadiens failed to get any shots on net.
Score: 6-1 Bruins

Third Period

The Bruins continued their good habits in the final period, skating well and limiting the Habs offensive zone chances. The Canadiens continued to get scoring opportunities but the B’s defense and Halak held up with good defensive efforts. Coyle made it a six goal game with his fifth of the season with about 11 and a half minutes to go in the game.

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Jack Studnicka picked up his first career point on an assist as he fed an open Danton Heinen in front of the goal to make it 8-1 Bruins.

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Final Score: 8-1 Bruins

Three Stars Of The Game

First Star: Pastrnak. The Bruins winger continued his torrid scoring pace with his sixth career hat trick in this one and at certain points was the best player on the ice.
Second Star: Marchand. Fresh off being named the NHL’s First Star Of The Week, Number 63 turned in another multipoint game.
Third Star: David Krejci. The B’s top center at least for this game continued his strong play with a multiple assist night.