NHL Preseason Recap: Boston Bruins win 4-2 against the Montreal Canadiens despite being the away team
Both the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens appeared in their first match of the 2010 preseason on Wednesday 22nd September 2010. A huge attendance of 21,273 was at the Montreal Canadiens home, the Centre Bell. The game immediately saw the
away team dominate the proceedings though the home team had huge support.
The Boston Bruins came up with two potentially goal scoring shots through Blake Wheeler and Ryan Spooner. However, thanks to the Canadiens goalie they were stopped. The dominance of the Bruins continued and they constantly looked to pour shots through the
Canadien’s defence. The Montreal Candiens managed to get past the opposing goalie when they scored within the first two minutes of the match through a spectacular shot by Nathan Horton from 32 feet.
The Bruins after scoring regrouped and their hunt for another goal could be seen from the level of hard work they were putting in. The determination and hard team work resulted in the Bruin scoring again with 13:32 at the clock. This was a result of long
range 57 feet shot by Johnny Boychuk. Before the Montreal Canadiens were seen to settle, the Bruins scored again. This goal was a result of an excellent backhand shot by the centre Patrice Bergeron after he was picked by Daniel Paille in a good position. The
shot from the 9 feet went past the opposing goal keeper like a bullet and he stood there helplessly.
Though the end of the first period saw the Canadiens end with 11 shots but none managed to get inside the goal. One the contrary, the Bruins managed 6 shots out of which they netted three. The score line at the end of the first period was 0-3 in favour of
the Boston Bruins. The end of the period saw the Montreal Canadiens goalie a little low.
Patting his back the coach Jacques Martin said “though he hasn’t been able to come up with a good performance up till now, the team is behind him. And if you are a Canadien fan then I expect you to back him and not boo him like the fans here who are
trying to boost his morale sky high.”
When the second period began, the Montreal Canadiens seemed to be strong with good amount of shots within in the first 2 minutes. Again, one piece of brilliance from Patrice Bergeron saw him score from 7 feet with 2:17 into the second period.
However, unlike the first period the Canadeins managed to continue the regular shot at the Bruins goal that resulted in them scoring twice during the course of the 2nd period. The first came from a 6 feet shot by Maxim Lapierree on 12:04 and second
came at the end of the second period with 40 seconds remains by Tomas Plekanec. The excellent piece of play was netted from a distance of 12 feet ending the period on a score line of 4-2 in favour of the Boston Bruins.
The third period saw both teams not being able to score. This was a result of the fact that Bruins were content not to let their lead slip so concentrated on defence. In addition, the lock down defence they formed meant that the Montreal Canadiens couldn’t
get past them. The match ended with score as it was at the beginning of the third period, 4-2. The Bruins were less in terms of shots made during the period, that were 4 and the Canadiens managed to come up with 7 shots.
At the end of the match the second overall draft pick in 2010, 18 year old Tyler Seguin said
“though I know I was little shaky at the start but was mainly due to the fact that it was my very first game. But as the match progressed I felt better and was comfortable around with the players.”
Claude Julien, the Boston Bruins head coach after the win said “though we won at the moment, but we should concentrate that we carry this form into the regular season and then look to win the Stanley Cup.”
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