To fully understand the magnitude of last night’s game between the
Bruins and the Canadians, you need to look at a number. $239.00. That
was the price of one nosebleed seat on Stubhub before this heavily
anticipated grudge match. For the Bruins, this was nearly a must win,
having lost 6 of their last 8 contests. The two teams have already
played some classics this season, including an 8-6 Bruins win at the Garden that
saw everything from goalie fights, to a stretch of 7 goals in 6
minutes.
16 days ago the classic rivalry turned ugly when Max
Pacioretty was guided by Zdeno Chara into a turnbuckle sticking out
from the benches. Pacioretty needed to be taken off the ice on a
stretcher with a severe concussion. Although there was no intent on
the hit, Chara was the target in Montreal’s crosshairs going into last night’s heavily anticipated match. During pre-game introductions the garden was earsplitting, both
with cheers for the Bruins and thunderous boos for the Canadians. The only
question was: whose going to fight first?
That question was answered a little later on, but the first goal of
the match came 1:01 into the first on a long distance Johnny Boychuk
laser that found its way behind Carey Price. Brad Marchand had a fast break opportunity with 17:45 to go that Price barely managed to save. Tim Thomas made the night’s first great save on Travis Moen, with a diving attempt with 15:42 to go in the frame. The Bruins did a spectacular job killing a Dennis Seidenberg
tripping call in which the Canadians saw many good cracks at Thomas but
none managed to slip by. After the Bruins failed to capitalize on a Roman
Hamrlik holding call, the teams were back at even strength with 11:19
to go in the period. Chris Kelly had a sure fire goal deflected on a
Canadien’s stick just wide of the net with 7:00 to go. With 6:17
to go, a Gregory Campbell snapshot trickled in off a deflection from
Zdeno Chara behind Price, giving the B’s a 2-0 lead.
Right after the ensuing face-off the B’s had another wide-open chance in front of a
empty net but the shot was taken off balance and went wide. The Bruins received a 4 minute power play on high sticking call on Tomas Plekanec with 5:50 to go in what turned out to be an action packed period. It took 3:18 sends of power play but Nathan Horton managed to net his 22nd goal of the season on a beautiful fake
past Price, giving the B’s a 3-0 advantage. The period was one of the
best for the Bruins in recent weeks. The shots were accurate, the hits were
hard, and Thomas was outstanding. The Bruins outshot the Canadians 18-9 in the
frame.
As of late the B’s have been woeful in the second period but they seem
energized and vibrant in the early going. Patrice Bergeron took a shot
off a centering pass that price managed to barely save with 15:35 to
go. The next 3 minutes were relatively slow until Tim Thomas made two
acrobatic saves on Brian Gionta to keep his shut out in tact. Carey Price made a great standing glove stop on a Gregory Campbell tip in with 10:10 to go in the frame to keep the score at 3-0. With Scott Gomez serving a high sticking penalty, Tyler Seguin
had a near point blank shot at Price, who was able to deflect it away.
The puck never made it out of the Canadien’s defensive zone in the two
minutes. Right after the save, the first real scrapping of the match
took place with Paul Mara receiving a roughing double minor with 7:17
to go for some shoving with Marc Recchi in front of Price.
The play of the night came with 2:35 to go in the period when Dennis Seidenberg
swatted away a loose puck away from Brian Gionta in front of an empty
B’s net, preventing the Habs from getting on the board. The first
fight of the night was an old school throw down between Greg
Campbell and Paul Mara with 16.5 seconds to go in the period. The
scrap was very well fought and ended with no one touching the ice.
After the match Campbell said, “He had a good bout with Recchi in front
of the net, he was doing his job it bring a power play…Recchi is a
leader on this team…it’s important for everyone to have each other’s
backs” The Bruins once again outshot the Canadians in the period, 11-6.
Both teams seemed energized by Campbell and Mara’s fight heading into
the third period. The Bruins managed to kill a Chris Kelly tripping call
in which the Canadians had some close calls, but after the penalty expired
Nathan Horton scored his second goal of the evening on a blazing fast
break off a David Krejci feed. Horton elevated the puck into the top
corner past Price’s shoulder for the scream giving the B’s a 4-0
cushion with 15:57 remaining. David Krejci netted his 3rd assist of
the game on the score. The score wasn’t 4-0 for long. Adam Macquiad
scored in front of the net with 15:31 remaining off a Canadian’s
skate.
The B’s led 5-0 and the Garden crowd was nearing an
unmanageable level of noise when the Canadians finally pulled Carey Price. With
8:33 to go Tomas Kaberle snuck a rebound in past Alex Auld, pushing
the B’s lead to a staggering 6-0. Gregory Campbell scored a short
handed goal on a fast break with 6:25 to go. Montreal, had a two man advantage as well, giving the B’s a 7-0 dominant advantage, his second of the game. After
the game, Shawn Thornton said “everyone showed up. We didn’t have any
passengers tonight. Everyone was going from the goaltending out so it
was a good game. We had some guys step up like Greg Campbell that
usually don’t get all the notoriety that they deserve. It was a good
all around effort.” For a team that had lost 6 of it’s last 8 games,
the B’s looked focused and determined all night, and this blowout win
over a most hated rival, coupled with their recent 4-1 drumming of New
Jersey should tell the fans big things are coming for the B’s.