QUEBEC CITY, Quebec — The Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on Sunday in the B’s fourth preseason game to improve to 2-2 thus far in exhibition games. Michael Ryder and Chuck Kobasew lit the lamp for the Bruins and goaltender Tuukka Rask had another impressive night between the pipes, stopping 25 shots for his second win this preseason. The Bruins unloaded 18 shots on Habs goalie Jaroslav Halak.
The Bruins and Canadiens treated the NHL hockey-starved fans of Quebec to something they’ve longed for since 1995, live NHL hockey at Le Colisee in Quebec City. The Nordiques left for Colorado that year and there hasn’t been an NHL team there since.
“That was really cool,” said Bruins veteran forward Mark Recchi, who played in Quebec City many times over his career. “I got to be part of the Habs-Nordiques rivalry and that was amazing. The passion is still here, that’s for sure!”
As for the game, Bruins head coach Claude Julien wasn’t necessarily happy with his team’s performance, but he did like what he saw from Rask, his potential backup goalie.
“I can’t say enough about the way he’s playing right now,” Julien said. “He played extremely well. He was just as solid as you want him to be. He kept us in the game when we needed him to and he deserves a lot of credit for this win.”
But that’s where Julien’s approval stopped, because he felt the Bruins played carelessly and were lucky to get out of Quebec with the win.
“I found it really sloppy and obviously they took it to us in the third period but maybe we’re hitting the training-camp blues,” Julien said. “We pushed the guys hard in the first week and now maybe they’re tired, but they need to find ways to get it going, so we’ll see.”
The Bruins are at Columbus against the Blue Jackets on Tuesday night and then face the Habs again on Thursday at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
