Bruins 5, Canadiens 3: Patrice Bergeron scores twice.
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Give the Canadians credit for fighting to the end.
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But a third-period rally that produced a power-play goal by Mike Hoffman and Nick Suzuki’s team-leading 21st goal wasn’t enough Sunday as the Boston Bruins defeated the Canadiens 5-3 at the Bell Center. It was the ninth consecutive loss for the Canadiens, who appear destined to finish last in the NHL standings.
Sam Montembeault had a strong start in goal for the Canadiens but Patrice Bergeron broke a scoreless duel when he scored at 15:03 of the first period. Brad Marchand did the heavy lifting on the goal as he fought off a check from Jeff Petry behind the net and set up Jake DeBrusk in the slot.
Montembeault stopped DeBrusk but Bergeron buried the rebound. It was the 396th goal of Bergeron’s career, moving him ahead of Raymond Bourque for fourth place on the Bruins’ all-time goals list.
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Erik Haula made it 2-0 before the period ended when he scored on a penalty shot. Hoffman lost the puck in the offensive zone, giving Haula a breakaway. Haula was awarded the penalty shot when Hoffman gave chase and chopped the stick out of Haula’s hands. There was a false start when Haula lost the puck as he took his first steps but he circled back to retrieve the puck and made no mistake as he beat Montembeault through his pads.
Trent Frederic took a dumb unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as the period ended and Montreal started the second period with a 5-on-3 advantage for 52 seconds. The Canadiens failed tp score with the two-man advantage but Frederic was still in the penalty box when Josh Anderson scored his 19th goal on the rebound of a tip-in attempt by Brendan Gallagher.
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Haula restored the Bruins’ two-goal lead when he scored his second goal at 4:04, and Charlie McAvoy added a goal late in the period.
Fans got some hope when Hoffman and Suzuki scored in the first half of the third period to make it 4-3, but Bergeron scored an empty-netter with seven seconds left.
It proved to be a lost weekend for the Canadiens, who dropped a 6-4 decision to the Senators Saturday in Ottawa.
The Senators grabbed a 5-1 lead when they scored three goals in a 69-second span in the second period, and the Canadiens played catchup the rest of the way.
Rookies Rem Pitlick and Cole Caufield were the offensive standouts for the Canadiens. Pitlick scored two goals and Caufield notched his 20th from him to become the first Montreal rookie to score 20 goals since Chris Higgins had 23 in 2005-06.
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Carey Price gave up six goals on 24 shots — that’s a .750 save percentage — but you can chalk up several of the goals to mistakes on defense. The Canadiens announced Sunday that they would rest Price until the season finale Friday against the Florida Panthers.
Cayden Primeau was an emergency recall from Laval. and backed up Montembeaut Sunday. He’ll take Price’s seat on the charter flight to New York for Wednesday’s game against the Rangers.
The game was preceded by a video tribute to Guy Lafleur, the Hall of Fame sniper who died Friday after a two-year battle with lung cancer. The fans chanted his name and broke into a chorus of Ole, Ole. The nine-minute ovation delayed the start of the game while public address announcer Michel Lacroix tried to call for a moment of silence for the legendary scorer.
