Canadiens 2, Bruins 1: B's Put Up a Fighting Chance, But Can't Come Out With Win

The Bruins loss to the Montreal Canadiens was almost staggering. Despite only losing 2-1, they actually never touched the puck that went into the net.

No, that's not an exaggeration.

The one goal credited to Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron actually never touched his stick or any part of his hockey equipment. It was a lost faceoff in the Montreal end for Bergeron, and Habs center Tomas Plekanec used his bankhand to draw the puck back to his goaltender. Unfortunately for them, Canadiens netminder Carey Price "Bill Bucknered it" and let the puck slip right through his five hole to give the Bruins an early and much needed first goal.

So while it was credited to the Bruins, and as a power play goal, there is still much more work to be done for the staggering Boston unit. 

Montreal on the other hand finally was able to place back-to-back wins and knock the Bruins down to last place in the conference, sitting right with the New York Islanders.These two teams match up again on Saturday--this time back in Montreal at the Bell Centre--and the Bruins will have to start from square one yet again.

Perhaps they could learn a thing or two from tonight's game.

After the Bruins took the early lead, the Habs came back in the second period, with a goal just halfway through the period. Jaroslav Specek skated through the zone and fired a shot from just above the red circle. Erik Cole, screening Tim Thomas in front of the net, deflected the shot up and over Thomas' shoulder to tie the game at one.

Montreal completely dominated the second period, putting up 18 shots in the second frame alone. Granted, the Bruins were responsible for a number of penalties, but after being held to just six in the first period, the Canadiens' defense suddenly sparked and provided just enough.

Meanwhile, Brad Marchand and P.K. Subban tried to create their own momentum, attempting to fight three separate times before the refs just stopped trying to step in. The first two times, the couple was charged with a minor holding penalty followed by delay of game. The third time, the two threw off the gloves and entertained the crowd with a couple punches to their faces.

"I’m not a very good fighter, so, I guess you could say I was going for the knockout, but it was a pretty bad attempt," Subban said. "So I don’t know, I’m probably better to keep my gloves on most of the time."

The back breaker came in the third period, when Plekanec knocked a puck towards Adam McQuaid who fumbled at it with his feet. Plekanec gathered the puck back up, past the defense and put it past Thomas, making the Habs nation forget the early goal blunder. That goal was enough to give the Canadiens the lead and the win, and their third victory of the season.

According to Price, the little things they do are what seem to matter and so far, at least the last two games, they seem to be getting a lot of things right.

"Well we’ve got a lot of character in this room," Price said. "We all said it before--we weren’t in any panic, we knew we had the talent in this room to win hockey games. Right now we’re just getting back to the basics--it’s kind of cliché, but it’s true. We just keep things simplified out there and it’s been working out for us."

As for the Bruins, finishing seems to be the key to their success. Captain Zdeno Chara pointed out that they had the chances to win tonight, but without burying the puck, those chances don't seem like much. Claude Julien said the same thing but added execution to the mix and not doing things fundamentally right.

"We can sit here and look at those things and think it’s great, but when you really look at the game itself, our team is not playing the way it should be or can play through the whole 60 minutes," Julien said. "I need to look further than just missed opportunities. If we want excuses, they’re out there for us, and the one thing it won’t do for us is get us going in the right direction.

"I think what we have to look at is, what is the issue. Yes, we’re not scoring, that’s certainly one of them, but it’s only part of the problem right now. The execution is not there. We’re not moving the puck from the back end to the front end and making plays like we know we can, so there’s more to the issue that just not scoring enough."

P.K. Subban Vs. Brad Marchand Fight Video From Bruins-Canadiens Game in Boston

The Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens went to war on Thursday night (Oct. 27, 2011) at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

And P.K. Subban and Brad Marchand were on the front lines.

Things got ugly late in the second period when Subban, who skated in at an even six feet and 206-pounds, threw a wild overhand right that sent him — not Marchand — crashing to the ice. That kind of thing can happen when you swing and miss.

Fortunately for him, the Boston forward, who’s 5’9" and 183-pounds soaking wet, was unable to capitalize on his downed opponent and the Canadiens defenseman was able to spring right back to his feet.

What followed can only be described as the NHL’s version of shaken baby syndrome, as both players grabbed a fistful of jersey and played tug of war for the next minute or so.

Sure, a few intermittent punches were exchanged, but hardly anything that would be constituted as "fighting." They eventually relinquished their grips and skated off in exhaustion.

Oh, and the Bruins lost by a score of 2-1. Find out how by clicking here.

Bruins Vs. Canadiens Final Score: Montreal Tops Boston 2-1

Thursday night’s match-up between the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens, which emanated from the TD Garden in Boston, Mass., has come to a close.

So too, has any hope of the Bruins getting out the funk they’ve been mired in since last weekend’s loss to the San Jose Sharks. So much for the vaunted "mental break" we heard about earlier this week.

Boston got on the board late in the first period after a power play goal scored by Patrice Bergeron, who wristed one in after taking advantage of Petteri Nokelainen’s penalty for interference.

Montreal’s Erik Cole (assisted by Jaroslav Spacek and David Desharnais) was able to tip one in midway through the second to make it even at one apiece before Tomas Plekanec (with a little help from Brian Gionta and Josh Gorges) snapped one in during the final frame to put the Canadiens up for good.

The Bruins drop to 3-6-0 with the loss while Montreal improves to 3-5-2.

For more coverage from tonight’s Bruins game, skate on over to our team page and Stanley Cup of Chowder blog by clicking here and here.

Bruins vs. Canadiens: Bruins Show Some Fight, Tied 1-1

Well, last period was the story of penalties for the Habs, and this time around, the Bruins had their fair share, especially at the beginning of the period. Two quick penalties from the Bruins resulted in a 5-on-3 for the Habs less than five minutes in. The Bruins were able to kill those off, but the Canadiens eventually found a way through Tim Thomas.

10:27 into the period, Erik Cole deflected a shot from Jaroslav Spacek and put it over the shoulder of Thomas, tying the game at one a piece. Montreal also managed to put up 18 shots that period, while holding the Bruins to just nine.

But the story of the period came when Brad Marchand and P.K. Subban attempted twice to get into a fight, and it wasn't until the third time that they had success. They were put into the box for the first time for "holding" followed by a "delay of game." The third time however, no ref tried to stop it. Both men went away for fighting, and the third period ended.

The shots after two periods are 24 for the Habs and 19 for the Bruins.

Bruins vs. Canadiens: Patrice Bergeron Starts Things Off Right For Bruins, 1-0

Once again, the Bruins couldn’t get out of the period without trying out their power play unit. Fortunately for the Bruins, they were able to capitalize on one of extra-man advtanges, courtesy of, well, mostly Montreal goaltender Carey Price.

The faceoff was to the right of Price, after Petteri Nokelainen was called for interference. Bergeron stepped up with Tomas Plekanec and ended up breaking his stick as soon as the puck dropped. However, Plekanec made a routine backhanded draw to Price, who was caught sleeping, letting the puck hit the inside of his skate and in through his five-hole.

That goal marked the only goal of the period, though the shots were more evenly distributed. The Bruins had that advantage as well, putting up 10, while the Habs had six.

Bruins vs. Canadiens Preview: TV/Radio Info, Time, Location And More

Event: Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens
Date/Time: Thursday, October 27, 2011 - 7 p.m. EDT.
Location: TD Garden (Capacity: 17,565), Boston, MA.
Broadcast Info: Tuesday's game between the Bruins and Canadiens will be broadcast live on NESN, as well as the NHL Network and RDS in Canada. The game can also be heard on the 98.5 the Sports Hub Radio Network, with Dave Goucher providing play-by-play, and Bob Beers providing analysis.
Last Time Out: This will be the third time this season the Bruins have played against a team that played another game the night before. The Canadiens went head-to-head against the Philadelphia Flyers last night where they came out on top 5-1. The expectations have grown for the Habs, even after that one game--their second win of the season.

As for the Bruins, they haven’t seen game action since Saturday when they played against the San Jose Sharks. They lost that game and took a "mental break" these past four days to try and get back on track. According to Bruins forward Shawn Thornton, while it will show on the ice whether the break was helpful, he feels good and ready to play.

"I can only speak for myself, but I’m feeling good," Thornton said. "We got rest when we needed and worked hard when we needed so hopefully we’re all refreshed for this big weekend."

Storyline: For the first time since March 8, players were ready to put the Max Pacioretty and Zdeno Chara incident behind them. They, as well as head coach Claude Julien said they are very happy he is healthy, and now that he is, they want to put it behind them and move on. But still, it will be the first time Chara and Pacioretty will meet since the incident.

Just in time to talk about another player with connections to Montreal.

Former Habs forward Benoit Pouliot will be playing in his first game against his former team, and will still be looking for his first goal of the season. Pouliot said it’s always exciting to play against a former team, and while he is anxious to get out there, knows that he has to keep his emotions in check.

"I think there is obvious motivation when you play your former team," Pouliot said. "You obviously want to prove to them ‘Hey you don’t want to keep me, I’ll show you.’ But no, it just pumps you up even more.

"You don’t want to run around and try to hit everyone and be out of position all the time obviously keep playing the way the Bruins are supposed to be playing. I’m not going to be doing that, I’m just going to play my game. If the hit’s there, the hit’s there, and I’ll just try to help my teammates out as much as I can."

Adam McQuaid has been cleared by doctors and the likelihood of him playing is "probably very good." According to Claude Julien, he will skate seven defensemen in the warmup just in case, but it looks like McQuaid will be a go.

Players To Watch: While the Bruins are seemingly over the Pacioretty/Chara incident, it’s tough to say if the Habs are or not. Keep an eye on the Habs leading scorer, Pacioretty and watch for any overly physical play. If the Canadiens think it too rough, and the Bruins are just playing their game, expect some repercussions, and things could get a little ugly. Pacioretty has nine points this season (4 goals, 5 assists), which is saying something due to the lack of performance from the Montreal team anyway so far this season.

The third line for the Bruins--David Krejci, Pouliot and Horton should also be fun to watch. Not only because Pouliot’s on that line, but because watching the dynamic of those three together could be interesting. Krejci and Horton have already had success together, and adding a pumped up Pouliot to the mix could make that third line a force to be reckoned with.

Prediction: This is going to be a great first game between the two teams. Though they have many more this season, you will want to tune in to see this one. Final Score: Bruins 3, Canadiens 2.

Bruins Vs. Canadiens: Bitter Rivals Meet For First Time This Season

Bitter rivals meet for the first time since Game 7 of the 2011 conference quarterfinals as the Boston Bruins host the hated Montreal Canadiens at 7p.m. EDT on Thursday night in the first of a home-and-home series (TV/Radio: NESN/98.5 FM).