Bruins
Brad Marchand almost put the B’en up one another, coming in on the left.
Brad Marchand celebrates his overtime goal with team-mate Erik Haula. AP
They do not ask how; they ask how much.
Despite their subpar puck management, the Boston Bruins pulled off a 3-2 overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens Monday night at the Bell Center.
Brad Marchand shot twice for the Bruins, including the winner 34 seconds in OT. Connor Clifton lined up the Merchant for the Heroes after shooting his second of the season late in regulation.
It was not long before the Bruins won their 39th victory of the season. Erik Haula hit a late arrival just in the offensive zone with a pass, and the B veteran had a wide open track in front of Montreal goalie Jake Allen. Marchand promptly pushed around the Habs keeper to send B’s home win just 34 seconds into the extra session.
“First place, last place, somewhere between both teams, it’s still a passionate game and I thought it happened tonight,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said. “They were physical early on, had some great hits, and we tried to react to that and play the game out.”
Marchand continued his goal-scoring career on three straight playing moments after coming out of the penalty area for a small outing in the first period. Haula fed the merchant near the far post, and no.
The Canadians leveled the ice in the second period and took advantage of a Bruins defense zone on a tally of David Savard. The Habs’ defender hit the slot uncontrollably and covered a backhander to crack the score to 1-1.
Joel Armia put the Habs ahead 2-1 on a short break early in the third after catching a head-scratching cross-ice pass from Marchand on the blue line.
Despite being 17-5, the Canadiens were the better team in the last 20 minutes. But Clifton’s equalizer with less than three minutes left gave B’s life, which resulted in the Marchand overtime winner.
Here’s what we learned after an ugly Black and Gold victory over the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge:
Sales were plentiful.
The Browns ended the night with 35 presents against the basement Canadiens, with Marchand’s gruesome misplay that cost the B’s almost the game.
“That was a terrible game in my name, of course,” Markand said of his third-period error. “Very happy [Clifton] saved me on that one. “
The Habs were harder to play against in the last 40 minutes, but the B’s also made them much better with their head-scratching puck decisions. Their often blind backhand passes into the middle of the ice, in particular, gave Montreal more chances than it deserved.
“I thought our problem was our puck management, and that gets us down sometimes,” Cassidy said. “We did not perform properly, so you are now forcing players, making soft games on your backhand in the neutral zone. Of course, the second [Montreal] Goal is a careful game. That’s where we got into trouble. “
All Bruins skaters except Taylor Hall and Tomas Nosek ended the night with at least one gift.
Jake Allen gave the Bruins just about everything they could handle.
A 43-yard touchdown run is a solid night for any goalie in the NHL. Even in a losing effort, Allen proved this theory on Monday.
The Montreal keeper gave his team a shot at winning with at least 13 saves in each of the three regulatory periods, including a How-do-You-Do glove on Marchand in the closing seconds of the middle frame.
“He played well tonight,” said Allen’s Jake DeBrusk. “He made some great saves tonight, especially when we were at Powerplay. There was a couple in and around the net, got him credit for that. I thought he gave them a chance to win, just like [Jeremy Swayman] done. “
The Browns went 0-for-4 on the man advantage, while the Swayman struggled through a hard stretch in the middle of the game to pick up the 26-save victory.
B’en on the edge to tear the Habs
With one game remaining against their arch-rivals this season, the Bruins will look to pick up their first sweep against the Canadiens since the 2017-18 season. In the three wins this year, the Bruins outscored the lower Habs by 13-5.
The Canadians have not beaten the Bruins since November 5, 2019.
The original Six Enemies meet for the last time on April 24 in Montreal.
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