Talking Points: Bruins, Habs get nasty with Moore netting winner

Share

It was a night of first for two Bruins players Saturday night at the Bell Centre, as Boston got a huge two points over its archnemesis. Here are my talking points from the Bruins' 3-2 win in Montreal:

GOLD STAR: Give John Moore credit for being the hero with the late third period game-winner for the Bruins on a power play goal after a scramble in front of the Montreal net shook him loose for an open shot. It was Moore’s first goal as a member of the Bruins in his 20th game with the team and was really appropriate for him to get some credit after he played mammoth, big minute games in both ends of the back-to-back against Pittsburgh and Montreal this weekend. Moore finished with 25:11 of ice time on 29 shifts, had the game-winning goal and finished with three shot attempts and four blocked shots in a gritty performance for the Black and Gold. This was probably his first real standout moment for the B’s and he picked a very good time to do it.

BLACK EYE: Jonathan Drouin played a really good game for Montreal, was engaged throughout all three periods and finished with a goal, a plus-1 rating and a game-high seven shots on net while playing some very competitive hockey. But he also took a selfish, frustrated third period high-sticking penalty against David Backes that was pretty unnecessary and ended up giving Boston the power play they needed in order to win the game. It really tarnished the rest of Drouin’s night and took away all the good things he did leading up to it. It also left the Bruins with two points in a tough divisional game against their arch-rivals. It wasn’t just Drouin, though, as David Pastrnak was having his own issues with it. But the nastiness of the game got the better of Drouin in this one.

TURNING POINT: Credit the Bruins for weathering the storm in the third period as the home team Habs threw everything they had at the B’s, and Boston withstood it with their injury-plagued lineup and got the last laugh with the PP game-winner late in the third. The B’s were outshot 12-9 in the period, and the Habs had all the momentum after scoring a pair of goals that tied things at a Bell Centre that was suddenly rocking. But the B’s young players never buckled while perhaps skating in that kind of an atmosphere for the first time. Instead they responded and a couple of veteran guys in David Backes and John Moore led the way in Bruins victory.

HONORABLE MENTION: David Backes is the other guy that deserves some credit after scoring his first goal of the season as well, and looking in the last few games like he’s finding his game after a tough start to the season. Backes scored the game’s first goal when he stripped Jesper Kotkaniemi of the puck at the Montreal blue line, and then smoked a wrist shot past Carey Price’s glove hand for a goal that was a no-doubter. It arrived one day after NHL video review took away what would have been his first goal of the season, but it’s clear it was only a matter of time given the chances he was getting. Backes finished with a goal, two points and a plus-1 rating in 14:43 along with five shot attempts, one blocked shot and 4-of-8 face-off wins.

BY THE NUMBERS: 7 – the number of points out of a possible eight points that the Bruins have earned in the four games without Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron since both key players went down with injuries.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “There was a lot of scrapping, some hitting and a lot of slashing. It was…you know…good old time hockey. That’s what people want to see. It was an entertaining game.” –Tuukka Rask, on a Bruins/Habs game on Saturday night that perhaps for the first time in a few seasons actually lived up to the storied NHL rivalry.  

Click here to download the new MyTeams App by NBC Sports! Receive comprehensive coverage of your teams and stream the Celtics easily on your device.

NBC SPORTS BOSTON SCHEDULE

Contact Us