The Boston Bruins earned a hard-fought two points Monday night with an exciting 2-1 overtime win in Montreal against the Canadiens.
Ryan Spooner’s slick overtime goal sealed the victory for Boston, who ended a three-game skid with the victory. Tuukka Rask shined in net, turning away 30 of 31 Montreal shots.
Here’s how it all went down.
FIRST PERIOD STALEMATE
The game remained scoreless after the first period. The teams shared an equal amount of scoring opportunities, as the Canadiens narrowly outshot the Bruins, 8-7. The B’s were fortunate to keep the game scoreless, as they were able to successfully kill two penalties. As expected in a matchup between these teams, it was a very physical first period. Montreal laid 13 hits on the Black and Gold, while the Bruins connected with nine of their own. In a rare occurrence, Torey Krug found himself in a fight, this time with Brendan Gallagher. Gallagher scored a quick takedown and the two continued to bark at each other while being separated by officials.
BRUINS STRIKE FIRST
With just over a minute remaining in the second period, Austin Czarnik, on his birthday, lit the lamp for the B’s, beating Habs goalie Carey Price high, stick side.
The second period mirrored the first, as both teams had nearly equal scoring opportunities. The Bruins edged the Canadiens in shots on goal by a margin of 13 to 12 and were also able to kill off two more Montreal power plays. B’s goalie Tuukka Rask continued to be solid in net and posted an impressive pad-stacked save that denied Tomas Plekanec of an easy goal.
CANADIENS TIE IT UP LATE
With just over three minutes remaining in regulation, Paul Byron found a loose puck in front of the net and fired home a backhander to knot the score 1-1. Aside from the goal allowed, Rask kept the Bruins in the game, turning away nine of the 10 shots on net in the third period. The Bruins offense was relatively stagnant in the period, only able to get seven shots on target.
OVERTIME DRAMA
One minute into the overtime period, David Krejci appeared to put home the game winner for the Bruins. However, upon review, the officials disallowed the goal due to David Pastrnak making contact with Price. With a little more than two minutes remaining in sudden death, Spooner and Krug executed a nifty give-and-go with Spooner beating Price five-hole to give the B’s an overtime victory.
UP NEXT
The Bruins will return to the ice Wednesday night when the team travels to Pittsburgh to face Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. ET
Thumbnail photo via Jean-Yves Ahern/USA TODAY Sports Images
