It’s always a battle when the Bruins and Canadiens get together, and Tuesday was no different.
Boston ultimately fell to Montreal 5-4 at Bell Centre in the first meeting of the season, but the loss didn’t come without some controversy.
Charlie Coyle appeared to have given the B’s their first lead of the night in the third period, but Habs coach Claude Julien challenged the goal, stating it was offsides. After a lengthy review, the goal was reversed, the game remained tied and the Canadiens went on to snap the Bruins’ six-game win streak.
After the game, Bruce Cassidy didn’t seem all that pleased with the officials ruling.
“You could argue it was possession play. Listen, my beef with that, some are going to go your way, some not, ours are not going our way lately,” he said on “NESN Sports Today.” “But I assume that they will straighten out over the course of time. The rule was put in place specially for egregious (calls). They’re over there for three minutes, you think, ‘Well what is the purpose of this rule?’ Either you find something or you don’t. Three minutes, now you’re looking for something for it to be offsides. You know it’s going to go the other way and it did and thats where my beef comes from. You always want to get it right. … it was a big part of the game, didn’t go out way, thats the way it goes sometimes.”
Well, he certainly has a point. Coyle’s goal was the fourth disallowed tally of the season with two getting ripped away against the Colorado Avalanche (offsides and goaltender interference) on Oct. 10, one against the Toronto Maple Leafs (offsides) on Oct. 22 and one again Tuesday (offsides).
And if the officials can’t find something egregious within, let’s say, 30 seconds, then was it really all that conclusive to overturn the call?
Here are some other notes from Tuesday’s Bruins-Canadiens game:
— David Pastrnak extended his point streak to 13 games with a power play goal in the first period. The winger now has 15 goals in 15 games, good for the league lead, and is the first Bruin to do so since Peter McNab in 1976-77, per NHL Public Relations.
— Zdeno Chara played in his 1,500th career game Tuesday night. The 42-year-old defenseman received quite the ovation from the Bell Centre when he was recognized for the achievement.
“I really appreciate that, it was very classy and it’s something that I will definitely remember,” Chara said after the game of his ovation, per the Bruins.
— Tuukka Rask had a tough night between the pipes, surrendering five goals in the loss.
“It’s one of the those nights where you feel like instead of a hockey puck it’s a golf ball out there,” he said after the game.
— Connor Clifton notched his first regular season NHL goal in the second to make it 3-2 Canadiens.
— Anders Bjork led all Bruins with six shots. He also accounted for a goal, his second of the season, in the loss.
