Montreal @ Boston 4-3 2OT - Round 2 Game 1
A barrage of 98 shot attempts by the Bruins wasn't enough to stop the Canadiens from winning Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second
Round on Thursday. Carey
Price made 48 saves before defenseman P.K.
Subban's power-play goal 4:17 into the second overtime gave
Montreal a 4-3 victory at TD Garden and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7
series. Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday (12:30 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC,
RDS) at the Garden. Boston defenseman Matt
Bartkowski was sent off at 4:10 of the second OT for hauling down
Montreal forward Dale
Weise. Off the draw, Danny
Briere got the puck to Andrei
Markov, who found Subban, his defense partner, for a straightaway
blast through a screen that beat Tuukka
Rask cleanly for the win. It was Subban's second power-play goal
of the game; he didn't score during Montreal's first-round sweep of
the Tampa Bay Lightning. He finished the night with 33:49 of ice time
in a game that the Canadiens won despite being unable to hold leads
of 2-0 and 3-2 in the third period. The Bruins outshot Montreal
51-33, a total that would have been higher had the Canadiens not
blocked 30 shots. Rask finished with 29 saves and heaped much of the
blame for the loss on his play. Boston trailed 2-0 after two periods
but came out roaring to start the third. Forward Reilly
Smith made it 2-1 when he scored on a seeing-eye shot from the
outside right hash mark with Patrice
Bergeron screening Price at the right post at 2:44. Defenseman
Torey Krug
tied the game 2-2 at 6:30. After Milan
Lucic gained the zone he passed across the ice to Krug, who
stopped the puck and beat Price with a slap shot from just about the
left dot. The Bruins' goals came on consecutive shots and were two of
three shots on Price in the first 6:30 of the period. Montreal coach
Michel Therrien responded to the goals by calling his timeout.
Defenseman Francis
Bouillon put the Canadiens back in front at 12:09. Brian
Gionta set him up with a pass from the goal line for a one-timer
from the top of the left circle that beat Rask high to the glove side
after the Canadiens were buzzing around Boston's net for several
seconds. Boston defenseman Johnny
Boychuk answered Bouillon's goal with a straightaway blast from
just inside the blue on that beat Price high through a screen with
1:58 left in regulation to tie the score 3-3. The Bruins outshot the
Canadiens 14-6 in the third period and again in the first overtime.
Carl Soderberg
had the best chance when he redirected a Kevan
Miller shot off the end wall through Price's five-hole, and the
puck slid wide of the far post. The Bruins won the territorial battle
and outshot the Canadiens 13-10 in the opening period of the 34th
Stanley Cup Playoff series between the teams. But Montreal won the
special-teams showdown and took a 1-0 lead into the first
intermission. With Bartkowski off for tripping, the Canadiens spread
the Bruins' penalty-killers wide and Subban beat Rask with a wrist
shot from the blue line through traffic at 11:23. The Canadiens'
offensive efficiency continued in the second period, when they were
outshot 9-7 but scored the lone goal. Boychuk's cross-ice pass at the
Boston blue line proved too hot to handle for Krug and the Canadiens
turned it into a 3-on-1. Lars
Eller hit Rene
Bourque with a pass at the blue line, and Bourque beat Rask with
a snap shot from the right circle high over the short-side shoulder
at 3:28. Boston's first power play included several opportunities,
including a Dougie
Hamilton shot off the right post, but Price remained perfect on
22 shots faced through two periods. Like the Detroit Red Wings in the
first round, the Canadiens managed to win the first game on the road
against the Presidents' Trophy-winning Bruins.
No comments:
Post a Comment