MONTREAL -- The Bruins were left with familiar laments when all was said and done up in Montreal Tuesday night.
They outshot the Canadiens by a 43-23 margin, they tied the game with a big David Pastrnak goal in the third period to mute the raucous home crowd, and they put together a commendable effort on the second night of back-to-back in a tough situation against a Habs team off to a great start this season.
CANADIENS 4, BRUINS 2:
- Highlights: Montreal Canadiens 3, Boston Bruins 2
- Talking Points: Price the No. 1 star for Canadiens
- McIntyre, Bruins lose hard-fought game to Canadiens, 3-2
But none of that was enough as the Bruins allowed a heartbreaking Paul Byron goal with just 62 seconds left in the third period for a disappointing 3-2 defeat at the Bell Centre. For all the good things the Bruins did in dominating long stretches of the game, they couldn’t solve Carey Price (41 saves) nearly enough.
“I thought we deserved obviously much more than what we got tonight,” said Claude Julien. “It was disappointing in a way, but encouraging in another that we played so well on a back-to-back game in this kind of situation. I think if we keep this right kind of attitude and focus then we’ll win more than we’ll lose.
“We had some opportunities, we moved the puck pretty well in their end and we had some chances. But when you end up playing against probably the best goaltender in the world [Price], it takes perfect shots and a lot of hard work to score on those guys.”
Boston Bruins
While Julien was waxing poetic about the greatness of the Montreal goaltender, the truth was that Boston’s tough schedule this week was a big factor in the loss. Rookie Zane McIntyre was pushed into duty in the second of five games in a seven-day stretch, and while he played well he ultimately coughed up a rebound in the game’s final minute that quickly morphed into Byron's game-winning strike.
Which meant that, in the end, it was another night of frustration for the B's against the Canadiens.