Final, Canadiens 4-3: This is where the Bruins’ third-period magic runs out — for now.
The Bruins can’t come back to tie it or take the lead, and Montreal gets out of Boston with the 4-3 win.
We’ll have much, much more from this one in a little bit.
Third period, 16:59, Canadiens 4-3: The Bruins’ best chance of the third period is turned away by Peter Budaj after Nathan Horton took a pass from David Krejci in the slot. However, Budaj was able to turn it away with a kick save.
Third period, 14:58, Canadiens 4-3: The Bruins almost caught a break when a Canadiens defenseman flipped the puck over the glass in his own zone, but the officials decided against handing out a delay of game penalty.
Down a goal with 5:02 to play, the B’s can use all the help they can get. They’ll get some help with the return of Zdeno Chara, who is back after serving his sentence in the penalty box.
Third period, 12:04, Canadiens 4-3: Now that things have slowed down for a second, it’s worth revisiting the Zdeno Chara fight.
The big captain is still in the penalty box serving his 17 penalty minutes, and the Canadiens have taken full advantage. That’s obviously going to be a huge narrative if the Bruins can’t come back in this game, and it will be interesting to see if they defend the move after the game, even if they don’t comeback.
Third period, 9:17, Canadiens 4-3: The Canadiens are showing some incredible resolve, and they’ve got the lead midway through the third period here in Boston.
Once again, it’s Max Pacioretty’s line that gets the goal, with Pacioretty beginning the play by carrying the puck into the zone. He then left it off for Brendan Gallagher who put the shot on goal. Tuukka Rask made the original save, but he couldn’t control the rebound and Pacioretty kept it alive. That allowed David Desharnais to come down the slot and bang home the rebound to give the Habs the lead.
Third period, 5:31, 3-3: The Canadiens aren’t going away, and the tie game we now have is proof of that.
Max Pacioretty gets the Habs on the board here in the third period, when Max Pacioretty scores on a wrist shot from the top of the slot to tie things early in the third. Give credit to Brendan Gallagher on that one, too, as he created traffic in front.
Third period, 4:49, Bruins 3-2: Shawn Thornton continues his assault on anyone in a white sweater.
This time, it’s Thornton dropping P.K. Subban with a big body check behind the Montreal net. Unsurprisingly, the hit gets a big pop from the Garden faithful.
Third period, 0:30, Bruins 3-2: The third period is under way, where the Bruins will look to protect their lead and get out of here with a win.
Second period reaction: Wow, where do you begin when breaking down the second period?
First, and most importantly, the Bruins have worked their way back to take their first lead of the game. The Patrice Bergeron line has been absolutely fantastic through 40 minutes in all three zones. The two-way hockey from that trio is nothing new, and they’re doing it again in this one. Brad Marchand has a career-high three assists, Tyler Seguin has a goal and an assist, and Patrice Bergeron is working on a 1-2-3 night. The most important thing for the Bruins in the third will be to keep that up, and not get too carried away with everything else and refocus on getting out of here with two points.
All right. On to the extracurriculars First and foremost, Milan Lucic is a monster. He handled his business in a big way with another noted pugilist in Brandon Prust. Lucic has been playing with a mean streak this season, and while you hate to lose him for five minutes, there’s no problem with him stepping up and dropping the gloves to give the club a boost here and there.
Zdeno Chara is going to get an elongated rest for his role in the second period, and again, that’s not something you usually want to see. Chara was sent off with five for fighting as well as the instigator and a 10-minute misconduct. That being said, you don’t hate it, either. Chara was sticking up for Tyler Seguin, as the captain clearly thought Alexei Emelin cheap-shotted Tyler Seguin with a cross-check in the neutral zone. If the Bruins can hold on and win this game, you like the decision even more.
End second period, Bruins 3-2: Whoa. That was quite the period.
The Bruins killed off the Zdeno Chara instigator, and they take the 3-2 lead into the room.
Second period, 15:01, Bruins 3-2: Zdeno Chara got an instigator penalty on the fight. He appeared to take exception to a cheap shot from Emelin to Tyler Seguin.
Add a 10-minute misconduct as well.
Second period, 15:01, Bruins 3-2: Business has picked up, everyone.
The gloves have started to drop, including a big-time scrap between Milan Lucic and Brandon Prust.
Less than a minute later, Zdeno Chara feeds Alexei Emelin a ton of right hands in the second fight of the evening.
Second period, 14:05, Bruins 3-2: All penalty kills are big, but some are bigger than others. The Bruins just killed off two big ones.
They were able to kill the 5-on-3 with some great hustle and a great effort from Tuukka Rask.
The kill really started with Zdeno Chara winning a faceoff against Tomas Plekanec after the linesman tried to steal the show by kicking Patrice Bergeron out of the dot. That certainly set the tone for the kill.
Second period, 11:51, Bruins 3-2: The penalty-killing job will get much more difficult, after Andrew Ference is sent off for cross-checking. It’s a 5-on-3 for about a minute.
Second period, 11:01, Bruins 3-2: The Bruins will try to right the ship on the penalty kill. Adam McQuaid was just sent to the box for interference.
Second period, 9:10, Bruins 3-2: The TD Garden is rocking in a big way right now after rookie Dougie Hamilton scores his first goal in Boston.
Brad Marchand did a great job of keeping the play alive with a wonderful individual effort, and he went to put a shot on goal, but it was blocked with a Montreal stick. However, the ricochet went right to Hamilton who had skated around the net and was camped at the lower left circle, and he one-timed it by Peter Budaj.
Just a few seconds later, we got our first “Dougie, Dougie” chants since the kid’s breakout game against the Islanders on Jan. 25.
Second period, 7:53, 2-2: So much for that Boston power play. Milan Lucic gets called for holding just 5 seconds later. It was a questionable call to say the least.
Second period, 7:47, 2-2: Still plenty of action in the second period, and Tuukka Rask is the reason it’s still a tied game.
Another poor turnover in the Boston zone almost hurt the Bruins, but Rask stoned Travis Moen to keep it 2-2.
A couple of shifts later, Brad Marchand and P.K. Subban almost threw down once again, but they thought better of it. They were certainly close to dropping the mitts, though.
The Bruins will get a power play, though. Lars Eller just got called for a cross-check.
Second period, 4:06, 2-2: The Canadiens had a couple of real impressive shifts to open the period, but the Bruins withstood those, and they have now tied the game.
Brad Marchand made a great play finding Tyler Seguin out of the Boston zone, and that started an odd-man rush for the B’s. Seguin walked in, danced around Alexei Emelin and pushed a backhanded pass across the slot to Patrice Bergeron. The forward stopped the puck with his skate and eventually jammed it by Peter Budaj for the tying goal.
Second period, 0:01, Canadiens 2-1: The second period is under way. Here’s hoping it was as good as the first.
First period reaction: The first period lived up to expectations in the latest meetings of these two longtime rivals. The first was played with a pretty wild pace, which was highlighted by all three goals being scored in a 1:06 stretch midway through the opening period.
The action was limited to that 1:06, though. While the Habs are outshooting the Bruins 14-9 through the first, the Bruins are getting their chances. You could recite a handful of them, even after their first goal, when looking back at the first period. The Patrice Bergeron line has been fantastic, and the David Krejci line has done its job as well, despite not putting a goal on the board yet.
I also like what I’ve seen from Shawn Th0rnton. The Boston enforcer has made it clear that he doesn’t like sitting out, and he’s doing all he can to make sure it doesn’t happen again. During his limited ice time, the forward has been hitting everything that moved, including challenging the entire Montreal bench following a stoppage late in the first. He had (officially) two of the Bruins’ 15 hits in the first period, and that doesn’t even tell the whole story.
Tuukka Rask has been a little shaky when tested, and while he did make 12 saves, there’s certainly the case to be made that he should have stopped at least the first Montreal goal. It looked like he might have been thrown off by how hard the puck was coming at him, but it’s a save that he usually makes.
Buckle up, though. This one is probably only going to get better as we go.
End of first period, Canadiens 2-1: A very exciting first period comes to an end with the Bruins’ power play failing to get a shot off before the final horn. That will not please those overserved individuals in the balcony who like to scream “Shoot!” for the entirety of each and every Boston power play.
First period, 18:50, Canadiens 2-1: The Bruins will get their first power play of the night after Brendan Gallagher gets sent to the box for charging.
First period, 17:35, Canadiens 2-1: The goal scoring has slowed after we saw those three goals in 1:06, but the Bruins are really doing their best to tie this up before the period ends.
Tyler Seguin and Patrice Bergeron just worked a 2-on-1 almost to perfection, as the only thing missing was a goal. Seguin fed Bergeron who put one on goal, and then Bergeron gathered his own and returned the favor. Unfortunately for the Bruins, Peter Budaj was up to the task on both shots.
First period, 11:03, Canadiens 2-1: The Bruins needed 50 seconds to respond to the first Montreal goal, but the Canadiens needed only 16 seconds to take the lead back.
David Krejci turned the puck over in the Boston end, and the Habs made the B’s pay dearly. David Desharnais dishes it across the slot to Max Pacioretty, and the forward scores the goal with his skate.
The play was reviewed, but it was determined that Pacioretty didn’t kick the puck past Tuukka Rask.
First period, 10:47, 1-1: It doesn’t take the Bruins very long at all to respond, and they tie the game just 1:12 after the Habs score the first goal.
Montreal won a faceoff in its own end, but Brad Marchand was able to win the puck battle against Brian Gionta, and he then threw it in front to Tyler Seguin, and the young forward beat Peter Budaj to tie the game 1-1 midway through the first.
First period, 9:57, Canadiens 1-0: Andrew Ference gets the game’s first penalty, and the Canadiens make the B’s pay right away.
Tomas Plekanec gets a goal just 22 seconds into the power play, walking into the slot, taking a pass from Michael Ryder and beating Tuukka Rask with the shot. It didn’t look like Plekanec got all of the shot, and that might have been just enough to throw off Rask.
First period, 7:06, 0-0: Really good pace so far to this one, so good that we’ve had two, maybe three whistles in the game’s first seven minutes.
The Bruins had a wonderful chance a few minutes ago, and it was all started by Milan Lucic’s physicality. The big forward planted Francis Boullion with a big check in the corner, which allowed the Bruins to gain possession in the Montreal end. Nathan Horton had a couple of chances to score on the doorstep, but couldn’t quite jam it home, with one puck trickling through crease.
bFist period, 0:01, 0-0: We’re under way from a very loud TD Garden.
7:25 p.m.: I’m really looking forward to the pregame ceremonies for this one. Not only will the Garden crowd be rocking pretty good with the Canadiens in town, but there’s also going to be a pretty special ceremony prior to this game.
Natalie Hammond, who is the lead teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., will be on hand to drop the ceremonial first puck. It’s probably safe to say she’ll get quite the welcome from Bruins fans.
7:19 p.m.: The Bruins have indeed confirmed that Chris Bourque will be a healthy scratch for this one.
7:08 p.m.: It looks like Claude Julien may be shuffling the lines yet again.
First of all, there’s no sign of Chris Bourque on the ice right now for pregame warmups. That’s a little odd considering guys like Lane MacDermid and Aaron Johnson — who haven’t got much run at all lately — are out there.
It appears that Shawn Thornton will be back in the mix for this one. He was skating on the fourth line alongside Gregory Campbell and Jay Pandolfo. With the Canadiens’ ability to draw penalties (95 power plays this season), it makes to sense have a guy like Pandolfo in there for his penalty-killing expertise.
Daniel Paille is back on the third line alongside Chris Kelly and Rich Peverley. He was there on Saturday as well, and he assisted on Rich Peverley’s goal in the second period.
7 p.m.: Good evening from TD Garden where we’re about 40 minutes from getting under way in this clash of longtime rivals.
Unsurprisingly, the Canadiens were heartily booed upon taking the ice for their first trip to the Garden this season.
As expected, Tuukka Rask led the Bruins out meaning he’ll be in net, and Peter Budaj will be between the pipes for Montreal.
3:30 p.m.: As we mentioned a little earlier, Sunday marks Michael Ryder’s return to the Garden, and he’ll be doing it in the familiar colors of the Canadiens. Ryder spent the first four seasons of his career in Montreal, and he was actually really good for most of his time there. He actually had a career-high 63 points in his rookie seasons with the Habs, and scored 30 goals in his second and third seasons before dropping off in the fourth.
He’s played two games since returning to Montreal, and he’s yet to register a point and is a minus-2.
“Everything’s happened pretty fast the last three or four days for me,” Ryder said Sunday morning, according to ESPN.com. “It’s pretty interesting. It’s the first time getting traded for me and back to Montreal, then going to Toronto and playing at home and now back in Boston again. It’s different to be back on the other side this time. It is what it is and I’m excited to be with Montreal. It’s going to be a big game tonight for first place. I’m excited.”
2:45 p.m.: The Canadiens also played Saturday, and it was a wild one. The Habs fell 7-6 in overtime to the Pittsburgh Penguins, as the Pens torched Carey Price in the process.
That, plus the short turnaround, paves the way for Peter Budaj to make the start in goal for the Habs against Boston. Montreal head coach Michel Therrien revealed Sunday morning that Budaj will be in goal for the big clash with the Bruins.
Tuukka Rask is expected to be back in net for the Bruins after Anton Khudobin earned the win Saturday against Tampa Bay.
2:35 p.m.: The Bruins held a morning skate, but there was limited participation. According to the team’s website, only 11 B’s took the ice for the skate, with the majority of the participants fourth-liners and/or players who have been healthy scratches as of late. Nathan Horton also took the ice for the morning skate.
Bruins coach Claude Julien didn’t offer any sort of indication whether or not Shawn Thornton would return to the lineup. The enforcer was a healthy scratch Saturday afternoon, with Julien opting to put Jay Pandolfo in the lineup. That worked out pretty well, too, considering Tampa Bay’s power-play prowess. Only the Flyers have drawn more penalties this season than the Canadiens, so it might make sense to leave Pandolfo in the lineup. What that means for Thornton or anyone else in the lineup, we’ll have to wait a little while longer for some more information.
11 a.m. ET: The Bruins have hit the busiest part of their schedule, and so far, they’ve passed the test with flying colors. But that stretch is just beginning. With many tests along the way, they get another tough one on Sunday night in Boston.
The Montreal Canadiens are in town to write the latest chapter of the storied rivalry, and as is usually the case when these two teams meet, there’s a lot on the line. The two clubs enter Sunday night’s tilt at the Garden tied for first place in the Northeast Division, and first in the Eastern Conference.
Montreal has been red-hot as of late, going 7-0-3 in their last 10 games, trying to prove their impressive start wasn’t a fluke. They appear to be going for it, too, as they’ve already made one move to improve their team when they traded under-performing forward Erik Cole to Dallas in exchange for Michael Ryder. The former Hab is back in Montreal where he started his career, and the Canadiens are hoping he can continue to find the scoring touch that made him the Stars’ leading points man at the time of the trade.
The Bruins, on the other hand, continue to truck along. They come in riding a season-high six-game win streak, and they are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. They’ll be up against it on Sunday, however, playing the second half of a back-to-back after defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at the Garden. The B’s won the first meeting between the two teams on Feb. 6 coming from behind for a 2-1 win at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
Puck drop for the rare Sunday night start is scheduled for 7:30 at the Garden.
