A storied rivalry with 1st place on the line. It had all the makings of
a terrific regular season contest and both the Habs and Bruins didn’t
disappoint. Montreal, buoyed by a pair of 3rd period goals by struggling
snipers took the game 3-1. P.K. Subban scored what technically was his
first career goal on the powerplay, but Zdeno Chara tied it later in the 1st to
send the game tied, all the way to the 3rd.
From there, it was the ‘Killer G’s’ who got the job done. Brian Gionta,
now on a 3-game point streak, scored (also on the PP) which proved to be the
winner while Scott Gomez, playing in his 800th career game, picked up his first
point in 9 games, that goal sealed the deal. Carey Price got the win
stopping 34 of 35 shots, while Tuukka Rask was the hard-luck loser, stopping 38
of 41 Montreal shots.
HW 3 Stars of the Night:
1st Star: Carey Price (34 saves on 35 shots, 1.00 GAA)
Despite the shutout in his last game, this may very well have been
Price’s best outing of the season, all things considered. His positioning
was near flawless, as was his rebound control, and even his communication with
the D and puck handling were much improved.
2nd Star: Brian Gionta (1 goal, -1 rating, 4 hits, 19:53 TOI)
Whenever he sees big number 33 for Boston, he almost always has a strong
outing and tonight was no exception. He drove the net hard and
consistently, which led to the PPG in the 3rd and the eventual winner.
3rd Star: Mike Cammalleri (2 assists, -1 rating, 5 shots, 18:22 TOI)
He still isn’t scoring but suffice it to say, he did the next best thing
tonight, directly setting up both powerplay tallies. He and Gionta are
slowly finding some chemistry; that, coupled with strong play from Plekanec
potentially has the makings of a pretty solid front line.
Honourable Mention: Mathieu Darche (2 shots, 4 blocks, 11:18 TOI)
I’m not giving him this for his offensive prowess this game but rather
the shotblocking (where he led the team). His blocked shot on Tyler Seguin
really ramped up the tempo and intensity for Montreal and they never looked back
after that.
Stats of the Night: The Habs’ 41 shots on goal tied a season high (41 vs
Florida two Saturdays ago) and beat their road season high by 7 (they had 34 at
Ottawa on Oct. 23). It’s also worth mentioning that every Hab played
double digit minutes in this contest, something that rarely happens. Tom
Pyatt (6 shots) led both teams in shots on goal, another rarity. Price’s
victory was his 10th against the Bruins in his career; this is the first team he
has double digit wins against.