Charlie McAvoy and Trent Frederic gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead against the Montreal Canadiens after one period of play Saturday night in Boston.
Jeremy Swayman, who had a career record of 6-0-1 against the Canadian before the match, made a few important saves, but was not really threatened after 20 minutes.
Veteran Jake Allen stopped 17 shots in a first period dominated 19-8 by the Bruins in terms of shots.
Hampus Lindholm received the first penalty of the match at 3:29, but the Canadian was unable to take advantage despite two good scoring chances.
The Bruins then had 1:47 of five-on-three power play time. McAvoy went with a powerful shot that beat Allen into the top right corner. Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak had an assist on McAvoy’s goal.
The Bruins generated a lot of traffic around Allen’s net to start the game, not being afraid to take shots from all over the offensive zone, with one player, sometimes two, positioned in the semi-circle to harm the guard.
All that pressure finally paid off. With 40 seconds left in the first period, Brandon Carlo shot from the point, and Frederic deflected the puck into the net. Charlie Coyle was also an accomplice in the Bruins’ second goal.
Before the start of the game, the Bruins paid tribute to their Stanley Cup winning teams of 1970 and 1972. Unsurprisingly, Bobby Orr was the one who received the most cheers.
For the occasion, the Bruins wore their old uniform from those years, while the Habs were in red.