Mike Matheson returned to the lineup on Thursday as the Montreal Canadiens flew into TD Garden to face their divisional leader and chief American rival, the Boston Bruins. In a week where an icon of both franchises was inducted into the Hall of Fame, both teams stared down the other and knew they could very well be playing in a seven-game series in May. Marco Sturm has had his team firing on all cylinders during a season that many pundits thought would be the beginning of a long-term slide in New England.
Montreal earned their second 4–0 lead this season in the second period, but the game never felt out of reach for the Bruins. Fans experienced what must have been only a thimble of anxiety compared to the coaching staff that watched them blow the same lead last week after both of Boston’s goals. This season, nothing is certain until the final box score is posted by the NHL office. Montreal was indeed able to close out their win without giving away any more muffins into their own slot, and Jacob Fowler was not rattled as the Bruins pushed. Undisciplined penalties led to an unceremonious end to a great game, and the Bruins were serenaded by Habs cheers and chants as the visitors handily took two points away from the division leader with a 5–2 victory.
Habs Lineup
Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky
Chris Kreider – Jake Evans — Josh Anderson
Zachary Bolduc – Phillip Danault – Alexandre Texier
Alex Newhook – Oliver Kapanen – Kirby Dach
Kaiden Guhle – Mike Matheson
Lane Hutson — Noah Dobson
Arber Xhekaj – Alexandre Carrier
Jacob Fowler
Game Points
– Both teams sported beautiful alternate jerseys, the “Hometown Remix” variant of the Bruins a callback to the 1920’s Boston colours and theme. Jeremy Swayman and Jacob Fowler would make their first meaningful saves of the game moments apart on Oliver Kapanen and David Pastrnak, respectively, as the two teams traded rush chances early in the first. Fowler kicked Pastrnak’s cut-back shot away for his defenceman to get the rebound, then the puck was sent up the ice quickly. Kirby Dach put it off the boards to Alex Newhook, who gained the zone before dropping to Arber Xhekaj cornered between the blueline and boards. Xhekaj hit the trailing Dach in the slot as he entered the zone, and Dach brought the puck around the circle, behind the net, and tucked the wraparound behind Swayman.
– It would be Dach again who drew the first penalty, toe-picking inside the Bruins’ blueline as Hampus Lindholm defended. Apparently, the official saw Lindholm’s stick make enough contact with Dach to justify the call, and Boston fans experienced a similar frustration to Habs’ fans on Tuesday night. Boston’s penalty killing units played a tight defence and cleared the zone once Montreal’s shots were blocked or deflected to the boards. Montreal was able to enter with the help of Suzuki and Newhook, but their passing plays were missing an extra modicum of zip to finish and add to the early lead.
– Not long after play returned to even strength, Josh Anderson would get body position on Mason Lohrei and finish off his rush with a rebound goal through the legs of Swayman. Jake Evans’ forecheck led to a turnover and he passed to Anderson in the slot. The winger’s shot went wide, but he retrieved the puck and sent it along the boards to Matheson at the point. Evans got a tip on the following shot from Matheson, and Anderson was in perfect position to bat in the rebound.
– Fowler answered Boston’s first pushback after the two goals with a glorious stretching save to get back into position while the net stood empty. In the latter half of the first period, the ice opened a fair bit; Montreal’s speed and backchecking continued to yield turnovers and time spent outside the defensive zone. The top line would not be denied their opportunities, however, as a long shift resulted in Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson getting caught against Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy. Hutson was eventually called for a holding penalty against McAvoy, and Kaiden Guhle’s shot block from seconds earlier sent him to the dressing room. He had been able to get on the ice after a neutral zone clear to briefly relieve the pressure.
– Jake Evans won the opening faceoff and the Habs were able to fight off over a minute of power play time with zone entries and grinding along the boards. Fowler made a good stop on Matthew Poitras, and another faceoff win by Phillip Danault facilitated a return to even strength. The final minute and a half of play involved frantic saves by Fowler on the Lindholm’s and another massive block by Guhle before the horn sounded and Montreal were able to take their breather in the dressing room.
– They would prove to need that breather, since the Bruins came out on the attack and skating downhill. Montreal spent the first four minutes defending in their zone, Boston nearly evening the shots at 15 as they peppered Fowler and extended Cole Caufield and Dobson into two-minute shifts. The final blocked save by Fowler was clearly redirected to Anderson standing in front of him led to Evans being sprung for a breakaway. Evans tucked his backhand under Swayman’s pads after beating out Mason Lohrei on the rush, a gut punch to a crowd building energy from their team’s encouraging start. An eerie chatter settled over the arena for the next few minutes, disturbed only when Boston missed their pass and then again when Caufield sent a laser beam wrist shot past Swayman on another breakaway. That would be the end of Swayman’s night, with Michael DiPietro replacing him.
– Hutson took an enthusiastic high stick from Tanner Jeannot as the two tangled in front of Fowler during a Bruins possession midway through the game. Given their performance against Winnipeg, perhaps the most important-feeling power play a team can have while riding a 4–0 lead played out with a remarkable lack of urgency. A low-event game played in the doldrums was in Montreal’s best interests, but most importantly would, in fact, be another goal. Zach Bolduc, Danault and Alexandre Carrier would come up with that for the Habs. Carrier cut off an outlet pass at the blue line and got the puck back to Bolduc in the slot. Danault was across the zone, slapped his stick on the ice, and sent the one-timer past the sliding DiPietro.
– Boston was able to answer back quickly after Danault’s second of the season and get themselves on the board (and into the head of the Canadiens players). Nikita Zadorov started the play by clearing a puck from his own zone along the wall and past Arber’s reach along the blue. Elias Lindholm was first on the puck just inside the Habs zone, and hit Casey Mittelstadt streaking into the zone diagonally. Mittelstadt was already behind the defencemen, and Carrier watched as Mittelstadt took Fowler wide along his path then easily put it into the net as Fowler sprawled.
– Boston chipped away at the four-goal deficit with an early strike in the third period off the stick of Mittelstadt again. Hutson failed to pick him up in coverage and lift his stick before the third rebounded shot of the sequence landed at his feet. The commotion around Fowler continued as the Bruins continued to win their battles along the boards and feed pucks to the point like an assembly line of artillery shells. Chris Kreider was taken out by a sliding Mikey Eyssimont lost an edge in the neutral zone after Dobson gave him a blind pass, Kreider’s knee buckling under him. Kreider got up after a few seconds face down and hobbled to the dressing room on his own, but did not return for the remainder of the game. Upon replay, his leg can be seen bending in a concerningly horizontal fashion.
– The neutral zone clears and defending continued for the Canadiens, taking their offence from counterattacks and quick strikes to keep the Bruins defenders to a reasonable gap despite their increasing desperation. With 10 minutes remaining and a 5–2 score, the Habs knew precisely what ought to be required to close out a win and what kind of effort would allow their divisional foe back into the game.
– Hutson drew another undisciplined penalty with his face, this time on Mittelstadt, and Montreal slung the puck around Boston’s zone for the better part of two minutes. Some point shots and a single one-timer from Alexandre Texier was all that came of the man advantage, if you don’t count the two minutes of time Fowler got to rest. Eyssimont was called against for boarding behind the play, shoving him more than checking but getting all of his contact on Guhle’s numbers and all of Guhle’s cheek into the glass. As a result, Montreal was able to wring out the remaining seconds of the game on the power play and enjoy the Ole chants in a rapidly emptying arena.
HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars
1st Star – Jake Evans
Montreal’s Swiss army knife forward may have had a sub-50 % faceoff win rate, but was the most important forward on the ice by far when defending. Danault won many of his matchups and also scored, but Evans was in the passing lanes and doggedly hunting the puck carrier high in the zone on the kills. He scored the game-winning goal as a result of both his vision, scoring touch, and previous commitment to the structure.
Stats: 1 goal; 1 assist; +1; 2 shots; 16:48 T.O.I
2nd Star – Jacob Fowler
Another return to Boston for Fowler saw him make critical save after critical save in all three periods. Shutting the door at the end of each frame was instrumental in erasing any momentum Boston built on offense and his lack of costly rebounds smothered cycles. Moreover, he should have gotten a point for assisting the Evans goal, his blocker save was clearly directed to give the puck to Anderson.
Stats: 30 SV; 2 GA; .938 SV%
3rd Star – Josh Anderson
Anderson was all over the ice in the first two periods and helped jump-start the ethos of the game itself with his goal. Two points and ZERO minutes in the penalty box translated into a performance that should keep the ‘A’ on his jersey no matter where he plays next season.
Stats: 1 goal; 1 assist; 1 shot; 1 block; 3 hits; 12:43 T.O.I