The Canadian has once again paid dearly for his mistakes, when he ended up breaking after a good effort, Sunday night at TD Garden.
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.
“We played well in the first half. Second, that’s kind of what we talked about earlier. These are the little games that we miss with the puck – decisions, execution – which come back against us, ”noted the Canadiens head coach, Dominique Ducharme.
“We managed to get out of second with the lead. Then they have a power play and tie the score. Then there was a funny goal. We had to react better than that with the lead in the third period, ”he added.
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).
“He was solid, especially in the second half when it was more difficult for us,” said Ducharme of Montembeault. He made some solid saves to keep us ahead before third. “
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 by 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 finally 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 dial.
Cloakroom echoes
Jeff Petry noted that the Canadian paid dearly for his mistakes.
“We didn’t play a horrible game, but like in other games we make costly mistakes. The leaps are not going our way. It’s frustrating. “
Michael Pezzetta wasn’t sure if he scored his first NHL goal.
“I deflected the shot and saw the puck going towards the net. Then she bounced off a rival and she came home. The guys were looking at me, but I wasn’t sure I scored. […] I often practice to deflect pucks. It’s a shame to have lost. It is not such a good feeling. “
Samuel Montembeault defended Jeff Petry for his blunder on the third base.
“Jeff made a good play on this. What are the chances of that happening? I made the save and the defenseman needs to send the puck into the corner. Charlie (Coyle) was in the right place at the right time. He got the puck on the helmet and it hit the goal. It’s frustrating, but there is nothing that can be done about it. It was still 3-2 at that point and there was plenty of time left, but we weren’t able to tie it after that. “