BSOTON – As it turns out, it was a “Classic”, a classic case of a team missing star players and not being able to generate goals, momentum, or a win. With 67,246 fans in attendance at the home of the NFL’s New England Patriots, the Boston Bruins could not overcome the loss of David Krejci and Brad Marchand.
Photo by Don Haas
At no point did the Montreal Canadiens waiver in their dismantling of the Bruins at Gillette Stadium. Just 1:14 into the game with the majority of Bruins fans just settling in, David Desharnais, scored with assists from Dale Weise and Alexei Emelin. The Bruins really needed to get off to a solid start but the Canadiens took the wind out of the sails in less than two minutes.
Montreal dominated time of possession and seemed to be in the Bruins end all period. At 8:42, the crowd came alive with a skirmish between the B’s Torey Krug and Desharnais, along with Adam McQuaid locking up with Weise. Krug and Desharnais each got four minutes for roughing. Weise and McQuaid simply exchanged New Year greetings.
Montreal had three power plays in the period but failed to cash in on their opportunities. The play of Tuukka Rask in net prevented the Canadiens from turning the game into a romp in the opening stanza. The period ended with a 1-0 score, but in this case the shots on goal told the story. Montreal not only outplayed the Bruins, they garnered nearly every loose puck, won every puck battle, and ended the period with a 14-3 shots on goal advantage.
The second period began in a similar fashion, Paul Byron, scored at the 2:00 mark to give the Canadiens a 2-0 lead. The shots continued to pour in on Rask but he held the fort. Boston did have a goal waived off around the halfway point. Coach Julien said he was not given an explanation for the call, the play was reviewed but no change in the call was made.
Photo by Don Haas
Whereas the Bruins are missing stars, Montreal got one of theirs back today. Brendan Gallagher returned to action and made his presence felt from the drop of the puck and scored with 2:40 left in the second to give the Habs a 3-0 lead. The Bruins did outshoot the Canadiens 14-11, but could not find the back of the net. Both teams were 0 for 3 on their respective power plays to this point.
The third period was the Bruins best period and they got the crowd back into it after a long wait in the cold stadium. The best Bruin today was Matt Beleskey; he scored at 3:56 of the final period to narrow the lead to 3-1. The B’s were now within striking distance and feeling the momentum changing. The Bruins had a great opportunity at the 6:30 mark, the puck was free on both sides of goaltender, Mike Condon, during a big scramble but they could not bury the biscuit. That good feeling was short lived however, as Massachusetts native, Max Pacioretty, scored about five minutes later to take another three goal lead with about eleven minutes left in the game. Some fans began to fill the aisles, heading out to the parking lot to get ahead of the impending traffic jams.
The Bruins did show some fight in the third period, as another Massachusetts native, Jimmy Hayes sort of pummeled Lars Eller to the ice about halfway through the period. Each player received double minors for roughing, though Eller’s penalty was more for receiving punches. None of the shenanigans resulted in any change of the demoralizing loss. In fact, with just 1:32 left in the “Classic”, Paul Byron scored his second goal of the game to finish off the Bruins 5-1.
Photo by Don Haas
The loss of two of your top scorers spelled doom for the Bruins, despite their brave front leading up to the game. Claude Julien in his post comments stated that “We have to play better as a group, probably a little harder and more determined.” I believe that goes without saying. The players that were called on to replace Krejci and Marchand cannot replace them; in fact Alex Khokhlachev only saw the ice for a total of 6:01 in the whole game. Seth Griffith and Frank Vatrano both played around the same amount of time as “Koko” and combined for zero points and a -5 plus/minus.
“Next Man Up” is a catchy phrase but in reality, star players cannot be replaced, that’s why they are stars. The Bruins will have to find their way through this period of discontent, for they will be in a battle all season to get back to the coveted playoffs.
The three stars of “The Winter Classic” were goaltender, Mike Condon, Matt Beleskey, and the number one star, in his return to the ice was Brendan Gallagher. It was a triumphant return for both the slumping Habs and for Gallagher as well. Good night from Gillette!
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