Bruins break out goal sticks, shutout Canadiens

By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com

The Bruins had themselves a get-right game against the Canadiens on Monday night, scoring four goals and providing Jaroslav Halak enough defensive support for the ex-Hab to stop all 22 shots thrown his way in a 4-0 win at the Bell Centre.

They made it look even easier than it sounds, too.

Bottom-six staple Joakim Nordstrom put the Bruins on the board just 2:21 into a first period that was all Boston, with the B's outshooting the Canadiens 13-to-5, and with the Canadiens completing incapable of tilting the ice, even when the Bruins took two rather preventable penalties in the opening stanza.

The second period provided more of the same for the all-effort Black and Gold, as they once again outshot the Habs (13-to-8 this time). But most importantly, this period came with a backbreaking goal in a typically-unfriendly arena, as Colby Cave connected for the first goal of his NHL career with less than 30 seconds left in the frame.

Bruins center David Krejci extended the B's lead to three just 46 seconds into the third period, and Brad Marchand scored the fourth and final goal of the night with a power-play strike tallied just 4:20 after that.

Each goal featured the Canadiens simply clueless in their own zone, and saw the Bruins capitalize on space from in tight.

Up front, it was the Krejci line with Marchand and David Pastrnak on the wings that dominated once again, combining for two goals and four points and dominating from a possession standpoint in the victory, while the Matt Grzelcyk-Charlie McAvoy pairing shined, with the Bruins outshooting Montreal 11-to-5 with that duo on the ice.

Halak, meanwhile, had a relatively stress-free night in his crease.

Montreal's best chance seemingly came on a partial breakaway look for Kenny Agostino, but Halak turned that aside with a little help from the post, and from there never appeared to be anything close to pressured by the Habs attack. The 22 saves were enough for Halak's third shutout of the season, and actually makes him the only goaltender in league history to post a shutout both against and for the Bruins in Montreal in the history of the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry.

The Bruins get back to work Thursday night with a home game against the Anaheim Ducks.