The last battle of the season between the Canadiens and the Bruins resembled the first and not the two that were contested in Boston.
Jake DeBrusk scored 25 seconds into overtime and the Bruins defeated the Montreal club 2-1 on Thursday night at the Bell Centre.
The Canadian won the first match between the two teams on November 11, winning 3-2 in overtime at the Bell Centre. The next two matches went less well for Martin St-Louis’ troops, who lost 5-2 and 9-4 in Boston.
This time the match once again required a tiebreaker. DeBrusk scored the game-winner after receiving a pass from Brad Marchand during a two-on-one attack.
Despite everything, the Habs looked good against one of the good teams in the Eastern Association. However, both teams had difficulty generating scoring chances for long periods of the game.
Nick Suzuki scored for the Canadian (25-30-11). Samuel Montembeault stopped 21 shots.
Danton Heinen scored in regulation time for the Bruins (39-14-15). Linus Ullmark made 18 saves.
Forward Colin White was back in the Canadiens lineup after a four-game absence due to an upper-body injury. Defender Jordan Harris was also inserted into the lineup. Michael Pezzetta and Jayden Struble were left out.
The Canadian will play his next five matches abroad. His first stop will be in Calgary, where he will face the Flames on Saturday.
Far from a classic
The Bruins threatened early in the first period. Heinen deflected a shot from the point and Montembeault made the save. Pavel Zacha wanted to take advantage of the return, but his throw hit the post.
It was only a postponement for the visitors, who opened the scoring after 4:49 of play. Heinen scored on a return after a powerful one-timer from David Pastrnak. Heinen managed to push the puck into the opening even though he was jostled by Juraj Slafkovsky.
The Bruins took eight of the first nine shots on goal of the game. The Habs’ only shot during this sequence was a long clearance from Josh Anderson.
The Canadian then managed six of the last seven shots on net in the first period.
Suzuki tied the game 1-1 with 5:23 left. He collected an errant pass in Bruins territory and attempted a shot, which was partially blocked by defenseman Hampus Lindholm. The puck went to Slafkovsky, who sent it back to Suzuki. The captain only had to shoot into an open net.
The Bruins generated a few dangerous shots during a power play early in the second period, but Montembeault closed the door.
The rest of the engagement wasn’t particularly interesting. Both teams were unable to get a shot on goal for more than 10 minutes of play.
During this sequence, Pastrnak escaped, but the Bruins sniper barely missed the target after beating Montembeault with a beautiful backhand feint.
Slafkovsky was unable to get a shot on goal during a two-on-one attack early in the third period.
The Canadian successfully spent just under three minutes on the penalty kill late in the third period, after Suzuki was guilty of a high stick move that clipped defenseman Charlie McAvoy.
DeBrusk finally played the hero in overtime.