Montreal Completes Boston Sweep with 3-1 Win
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Mike Schultz
The Montreal Canadiens gave the Boston Bruins an early exit in the 2014 NHL playoffs, but the Bruins opportunity to retaliate in one of hockey’s most heated rivalries went unanswered in the following regular season. Last night, the Habs completed the 4-0 sweep of the Bruins at the TD Garden, winning 3-1.
Carey Price put in another outstanding performance, narrowly missing the shutout against Boston. Price ended the game with 33 saves, allowing only a single goal at the hands of David Pastrnak with just 4:31 remaining in the third.
Both Dale Weise and Max Pacioretty had a goal and an assist to their credit. Weise scored on what appeared to be a broken play that sent the puck careening across the crease, bouncing off the boards and landing on Pacioretty’s stick. Pacioretty fired the puck back on goal, where Wiese settled it and tapped it in for an easy score as Boston’s Tuukka Rask was in poor position trying to play the initial shot.
Pacioretty netted his own goal a minute into the third quarter on a breakaway after Bruins defenseman Zdeno Charra turned the puck over in Montreal’s zone. Weise collected the puck while on his knees and managed to find Pacioretty streaking up center ice for the breakaway goal.
Andrei Markov added an empty net goal with 31 seconds remaining in the third to ice the 3-1 victory. Tuukka Rask made 31 saves on the night but ultimately dropped to 3-13-3 against Montreal for his career. The Bruins have only been able to beat Montreal once in the last 11 meetings between the two teams.
“In order to beat this team, our best players have to be our best players and we didn’t have that tonight,” said Bruins head coach Claude Julien. “I don’t think we made Price’s night real hard.”