The Boston Bruins took over fourth place in the Atlantic Division on Monday night.
Boston came out hot and played a solid 60 minutes of hockey, thumping the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 at Bell Centre.
Colby Cave tallied his first-career goal in the second period, while David Krejci, Joakim Nordstrom and Brad Marchand all added tallies of their own. Charlie McAvoy accounted for two assists and was one of three players that had two points for Boston.
Jaroslav Halak was spectacular in net, stopping all 22 shots.
The B’s outplayed the Habs all night, outshooting their rival 35-22 while keeping them off the board during their three power plays. Montreal also had an abysmal 24 giveaways.
With the win, the Bruins improved to 18-12-4 on the season, while the Canadiens fell to 17-12-5
Here’s how it all went down:
NORDSTROM NETS IT
It took the Bruins just 2:21 after the puck dropped to take the lead after a Montreal turnover proved costly.
Michael Chaput’s pass was intercepted in his zone and resulted in a nice passing sequence from Cave to David Backes, who then slid it over to Nordstrom, with the winger beating Carey Price.
The Canadiens twice had the man-advantage in the opening 20 minutes, but were unable to capitalize. The B’s took a slight one-goal lead into the second, but it could have been worse for Montreal as it had 14 giveaways in the first period.
CAVE GETS HIS FIRST
Cave doubled Boston’s lead with the first NHL goal of his career with help from David Pastrnak and McAvoy.
It was a dazzling sequence, as Pastrnak sauced a pass to McAvoy, who then dropped the puck back to a wide-open Cave. The center finished off the give-and-go with a goal to give the Black and Gold a 2-0 lead with 25 seconds remaining in the second.
Montreal once again could not take advantage of the power play and were heavily outshot by Boston by a 13-7 margin.
KREJCI EXTENDS POINT STREAK
Krejci extended the Bruins’ lead just 46 seconds into the third.
The center floated a wrist shot over Price after a wild sequence in front of the Canadiens’ net to extend his point streak to seven games and give Boston a 3-0 lead.
MAKE IT FOUR
Both teams struggled on the power play most of the night night, but that changed for Boston in the third.
The Habs drew a roughing penalty and the B’s made sure to not let the opportunity slip away. Marchand netted his 11th goal of the season 5:06 into the final period with help from McAvoy and Torey Krug to give the visitors a 4-0 edge.
UP NEXT
The Bruins return home Thursday to welcome the Anaheim Ducks to TD Garden. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET.
The Bruins Wrap is presented by Plainridge Park Casino.
