If it's possible, tonight's Bruins-Canadiens game didn't have the requisite hype, even though Milan Lucic was suspended for the contest and Montreal had fired head coach Jacques Martin over the weekend. I blame Tim Tebow fatigue.
Whatever the case, Boston (22-9-1) got the job done at TD Garden with a 3-2 win over Montreal (13-4-7). It was the fifth straight win for the B's who took a two-point lead over idle Philadelphia for first-place in the Eastern Conference (not that we're scoreboard watching quite yet).
The victory also evened up the season series at 2-2 with a game remaining in both January and February. After losing the first two, the Bruins have captured the last two against their biggest rival.
After a few sluggish minutes to start the action, the Bruins drew first blood thanks to a fantastic play by Rich Peverley.
After the Habs iced the puck, Pevs won the faceoff forward through former Bruin Petteri Nokelainen's legs before finding Benoit Pouliot (6th of the season) in the crease. The former Hab beat Carey Price (28 saves) stick side on a shot that the Garth Brooks mask wearing goalie had no chance on at 12:13.
After a furious Bruins shift, the Habs evened the game at one as Bruin killer Michael Cammalleri found thomas Tomas Plekanic (7th of the season) down low, who buried the beautiful feed at 13:26. Travis Moen clearly hooked Patrice Bergeron in the Bruins zone to set up the odd man rush but it was to no avail.
The second period was a pretty tame one but the Bruins were able to retake the lead when David Krejci took (kicked) a pass from Andrew Ference past Price, his sixth of the year at 2:42. It was reviewed by the officials and upheld but it seemed like he kicked it in. Oh well, too close to call I guess.
One of the prettiest plays of the year was a product of the Bergeron line with 5:46 left in the third. Bergeron forced a turnover and expertly kept the puck in the Bruins' zone before finding Tyler Seguin. Seguin held the puck just long enough, pulling the defense out of position just enough to find Brad Marchand (12th of the season), who lifted a backhand past Price to extend the lead to 3-1.
Eric Cole (13th of the season) trimmed the lead to one with 1:14 left when his backhander beat Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (33 saves; 16-5-0). Montreal kept the pressure up with some tying bids but Thomas was able to stop all of them and Boston hung on for two points.
The Bruins host the Panthers on Friday, the rare Friday night game, in their last game before Christmas. Florida is still playing very well and they proved they were legit on December 8 when they blanked the B's 2-0 at the Garden.
***Game Notes***
* If I had a nickel for every time Jack Edwards said that Bergeron is the best defensive forward in hockey, I would be able to afford one of the Fenway Park 100-Year commemorative books. That is IF I wanted one.
* In somewhat of a shocker, Claude Julien inserted Daniel Paille onto the first line alongside Krejci and Nathan Horton. He has used Peverley in that same spot in the past, so it was nice to see Paille get a reward for his hard work and solid play in the past few weeks since returning from his pair of injuries.
* Joe Corvo played in his 600th career game tonight. He had four shots on goal and was a plus one. And yes, the only reason I say that is because he is on one of my fantasy teams. So what?
* Gregory Campbell returned to the lineup today after missing a few games with a foot injury and played pretty well in his first game with Zach Hamill, who has been a pleasant surprise for the Bruins.
* Before the game, I was wondering whether or not Tomas Kaberle was going to elicit any sort of reaction from the Garden faithful. I didn't hear a peep on TV when he touched the puck, telling me that the Garden crowd is going to be indifferent towards him, much like that WWE wrestler who is neither a good or a bad guy, he's just there.
* Rob Gronkowski was interviewed by Dale Arnold during the second intermission, which was every bit as awkward as you would expect. NESN had the brilliant idea of replacing Gronk's name with Christmas movie titles. Genius stuff: The Polar Express became Gronk Express, Home Alone became Gronk Alone and Elf became simply Gronk. I wish I was kidding.
* I don't necessarily agree that the Lucic hit was dirty, but you have to admit that Brandon Shanahan has been very clear in the criteria for what it means to be a suspendable hit, something that Colin Campbell (Gregory's dad) always sucked at.
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