(Boston) With even smaller forces, the Canadian ended up breaking Sunday night at TD Garden.
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Charlie McAvoy and Charlie Coyle scored bros and the Boston Bruins won their first game against the Montreal team in 21 months by a score of 5-2.
Mike Hoffman has been added to the Canadiens’ list due to an upper body injury. Adam Brooks replaced him in training. Jonathan Drouin missed a sixth straight game, while Artturi Lehkonen came into the game despite being an uncertain case.
Goalkeeper Jake Allen was not in uniform, he who was stunned during contact with Dylan Larkin late in the first period on Saturday in the Habs’ possible 3-2 overtime loss to the Red Wings of Detroit.
Against the Bruins, the Canadian made a good effort despite the circumstances, but the cream ended up rising. The more the game progressed, the more the Bruins were in control.
Joel Armia and Michael Pezzetta hit the target for the Canadian (4-11-2), who had collected at least one point in his three previous games (1-0-2). Samuel Montembeault rejected 36 shots and he remains looking for a first victory in his new uniform (0-3-1).
Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist, while Jeremy Swayman stopped 27 shots in goal for the Bruins (8-5-0). Swayman is 8-0-0 during his young career at TD Garden.
It was the first duel between the two rivals since February 12, 2020.
The Canadian will complete his three-game trip by visiting the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
Rewarded perseverance
The Bruins knocked on the door on the power play early in the game, but Montembeault resisted.
Armia finally opened the scoring after 8:09 of play, scoring her first goal of the season. He hit the mark with a good shot in a three-on-one attack.
The Bruins dominated the game early in the second period. Montembeault was alert to stop a Charlie Coyle deviation early in the engagement.
Montembeault was smoking after a little over four minutes. He made a tough save at the expense of Brad Marchand in a two-man attack on the Bruins goaltender.
It was only a postponement for the local players. McAvoy eventually tied the game at 8:27, enjoying a generous return to the enclave. Shots on goal in the second period were 13-3 to the advantage of the Bruins.
Despite the Bruins’ advantage in the second period, they retired to the late 2-1 locker room. Pezzetta was credited with his first NHL goal with 3:35 left on the throw-off, when his deflection into the enclave ricocheted twice before hitting the goal.
Christian Dvorak almost managed to widen the gap moments later. He mocked defenseman Derek Forbort on a one-on-one climb and he had Swayman at his mercy, but his backhand shot went over the net.
The Bruins quickly leveled the score in the third period, on the power play. McAvoy got the strings moving after 2:14 of play with a long shot. Montembeault’s eyesight was clouded by Nick Foligno.
The home side then played luck at 5:58, when they took a 3-2 lead. Wanting to sweep the front of the net, defenseman Jeff Petry sent the disc to Coyle’s helmet and he finished his way behind the goal line.
Coyle returned to the charge 3:07 later, dealing a heavy blow to the Habs. It did not take more for the spectators to start singing “Olé! Olé! Olé! To make fun of Montreal supporters.
Hall closed the books by scoring in an empty net with 1: 58 to go on the clock.