Boston Bruins capture top spot with win over Montreal Canadiens 3-2 -NHL Update
It was the third meeting of the Eastern Conference rivals, Boston and Montreal, in the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season which
the Bruins dominated and edged the Canadiens, 3-2, to capture the top spot in the region on Monday night, December 19, 2011, at the sold out TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
Boston leads the series in the regular season by having won two of their past three matchups so far and have two left to go which still gives Montreal
the chance to take the lead.
Montreal might be way down in the standings but Boston never takes it easy against their rival team which showed on Monday that they actually did
have to fight for the victory.
"We can talk about depth all we want. But if we can't prove it or show it, it's not really depth, right?" said Bruins coach, Claude Julien. "This
is what's been going on here the last little while. We've been challenged with some injuries, and obviously tonight a suspension, and our guys keep stepping up. And whoever's replacing or the rest of the team just keeps going and we don't change our game,
we don't change our game plan, we just try to play the same every night no matter who you've got in the line-up. Again, that's just the simplicity of our hockey club."
Rich Peverley won the face off in the Montreal defensive end a little over the halfway point of the opening period and found Benoit Pouliot open in
front of the Canadiens’ goalie, Carey Price, who fired it in a point blank range for his sixth of the regular season.
Montreal did not stay behind for long as Tomas Plekanec potted his seventh of the season nearly a minute later.
David Krejci gave Boston the go ahead goal in the opening three minutes of the second period while Brad Marchand made the game-winner with Tyler Seguin
finding him open on their offensive end with the player firing a backhander before losing his balance in high speed.
Erik Cole added his 13th of the season and first of the night with less than two minutes remaining but it was not enough for them to level
the match.
Boston will certainly be looking for a sixth straight win when they host Florida Panthers on Friday while Montreal will be visiting the Chicago Blackhawks
on Wednesday.
David Krejci
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