Losing hurts, so does winning, according to head coach Martin St-Louis.
Kaiden Guhle scored at 2:13 of the overtime period and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
Guhle took advantage of a loose puck in the slot to fire into an open net after a nice feed from Josh Anderson.
The 21-year-old defenseman stood out early in the game, blocking two point-blank shots from David Pastrnak during a two-Bruins power play.
“Winning hurts,” St-Louis noted after the game. Do you want to win? you will suffer »
Nick Suzuki and Brendan Gallagher scored early in the third period for the Canadians (7-5-2), who ended a 10-game losing streak against the Bruins (0-9-1). Samuel Montembeault stopped 25 shots.
“There is no magic trick or special pill that will make you win,” St-Louis recalled. It is work, commitment, team effort, being organized. There are many details in hockey. »
“We played a good game, but we also made some mistakes. Be part of a party. You need your colleagues to support you if you make a mistake. The goalkeeper corrects the last mistake and Montembeault was excellent tonight”, he added.
For the Bruins (11-1-2), Brad Marchand collected a goal and an assist, while Pavel Zacha also moved the ropes. Charlie McAvoy had two assists and Jeremy Swayman stopped 24 shots.
Forward Rafaël Harvey-Pinard returned to the Canadiens lineup after missing three games with a lower-body injury. Joel Armia gave way to him.
The Habs, however, lost the services of defenseman Jordan Harris in the second period. He suffered an upper body injury and his condition will be re-evaluated in the coming days.
The Canadian will play again on Sunday evening, when the Vancouver Canucks are the visitors to the Bell Centre.
An entertaining ending
Zacha scored just 36 seconds into the game, pleasing the many Bruins fans in the stands. He scored his fifth goal of the season by deflecting a shot from McAvoy.
The Canadian had a few chances to respond quickly, but often missed the target.
For his part, Gallagher hit the post on a return near the middle of the period, following a shot from Sean Monahan during a two-on-one attack.
Monahan also hit the post with less than four minutes left in the first period, moments after Bruins forward Jake DeBrusk also hit the post at the other end of the ice.
The second period was less animated. Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson made a lucky play, deflecting Marchand’s shot out of harm’s way with the handle of his stick as the Bruins forward thought he might dive into an open cage.
The tide turned in the Canadian’s favor early in the third period when the show finally got going.
Suzuki first beat Swayman on the near side on the power play 24 seconds into the game. Gallagher came back 27 seconds later, grabbing an opening comeback while falling.
Oskar Steen thought he had answered for the Bruins at 2:05 for a moment, but St-Louis prevailed on a challenge. Replays confirmed that the Swede had committed obstruction against Montembeault.
The door was opened again for the Bruins when Alex Newhook and Gallagher were punished in the same sequence. Guhle and Johnathan Kovacevic sacrificed their bodies blocking shots. Montembeault also frustrated McAvoy and Marchand during the long five-on-three sequence.
“It hurts even more when the puck ends up in the back of the net,” insisted Guhle. You have to do your best to block the shots. It hurts, but it’s also a good feeling. »
It was just a reprieve for the Bruins. Marchand tied the game 2-2 with 7:02 left on another power play. A shot from David Pastrnak to the front of the net deflected off James van Riemsdyk and then off Marchand’s left skate before ending up in the net. The goal was confirmed after a brief video review.
Guhle allowed the Canadian to have the final say by cutting overtime.
To see on video
