Boston Bruins beat rivals Montreal Canadiens 2-1 – NHL Update
Boston Bruins gave their best shot to beat one of their greatest National Hockey League (NHL) division rivals, Montreal Canadiens, 2-1, at the TD Garden, on Thursday, January 12, 2012.
Bruins’ veteran goalie, Tim Thomas, made 33 saves and played a vital role in the victory.
Boston's coach, Claude Julien, was jubilant after the victory and stated that Thomas was the difference between the two sides.
"[Thomas] bailed us out. He's done that in the past, and it's something we've gotten used to, but not that we want to play that way too often. Tonight, he came up big and bailed us out in those sloppy moments. Like I said, you can't just be happy with wins.
You've got to be happy with the way you play. And sometimes you lose, and you play hard, and you can come up here and say, you know what, we gave it a good effort, and the team played a little bit better, and they were good. Tonight, I'd have to say that we
didn't play well. Not well enough”.
During the game, Canadiens surprisingly sidelined Mike Cammalleri, who was reportedly traded to Calgary for Rene Bourque.
Canadiens’ general manager, Pierre Gauthier, informed after the game that he was working on this trade deal since the past several weeks.
A couple of days earlier, Cammalleri passed some remarks about his team that fuelled controversy.
He, however, asserted a day later that his intentions were not negative. The GM also clarified that the trade was not based on the remarks.
Bruins got an early lead rather luckily. In the second minute of the first period, Johnny Boychuk sent the puck into Montreal’s red zone.
Canadiens' goalie, Carey Price, moved at the back of the net to collect the puck, which unexpectedly rolled in front of the net where Jordan Caron was present to send it through in the undefended net.
For the rest of the period, no scoring move was made.
The same was the case with the second period, which went goalless. However, the Bruins extended their lead early in the third period.
In the fourth minute of the period, David Krejci sent the puck to Nathan Horton who was present behind the net.
Horton found Milan Lucic in the zone and sent a pass towards him. The puck was slightly deflected off a Montreal player, forcing Lucic to use backhand and score his 15th goal of the season.
After around nine minutes, Bruins’ Andrew Ference was sent off for two minutes after roughing P.K. Subban.
Taking advantage of the power-play, the Canadiens grabbed an opportunity to score a goal and reduce the deficit.
The game became anxious and the Canadiens repeatedly targeted the Bruins’ net, but Thomas stood rock solid till the end to give Boston a victory.
Bruins are now going to take on Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, whereas the Canadiens, who got their second straight defeat, will face Ottawa Senators on the same day.
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