Bruins celebrate 100th birthday with win over rival Canadiens
A year-long celebration of a century of Bruins hockey hit its finale Sunday afternoon at TD Garden.
And as far as Dec. 1 birthdays go, the gift to those in attendance was better than any cake or anything you could wrap for America’s oldest NHL franchise, as the Black and Gold tagged their rivals from Montreal for six goals in a winning effort on home ice.
Boston’s scoring was led by a Charlie Party, too, with a pair of goals from both Charlie Coyle and Charlie McAvoy, and with Coyle’s third-period marker coming as the club’s first third-period goal in their own building since their home opener back on Oct. 10.
Both players were also part of the B’s first-period explosion that saw the club hammer Canadiens netminder Cayden Primeau for three goals in a 70-second span.
The three-goal outburst in the opening frame not only brought the Garden crowd back to life after they had been sitting for almost 90 minutes, but it also continued what’s been a notable trend of sorts since the Bruins made the switch from Jim Montgomery to Joe Sacco.
For Boston, it was their fifth time scoring first in six tries under Sacco, with the only time they did not score first coming in the club’s shutout loss to the Canucks last Tuesday. The Bruins had done that just seven times in 20 games under Montgomery this season, and those sluggish starts had been noted as an area for improvement when the Bruins talked about some of the things they had to adjust in the post-Montgomery era in town.
McAvoy continued that push in the middle frame, too, this time with a shorthanded breakaway that he buried under Primeau for the B’s fourth goal of the evening, and the club’s first shorthanded goal from a defenseman since Connor Clifton accomplished the feat back on Mar. 2, 2023.
A second tally from Coyle pushed the Boston lead to four in the opening moments of the third period, but quick Montreal strikes from Emil Heineman and Cole Caufield in a 4:10 span brought the Canadiens back within striking distance ahead of a Boston penalty against Brad Marchand.
But with the B’s down a man, Jeremy Swayman played the role of fireman, with multiple covers to keep the Canadiens from gassing Boston’s killers and earning higher-quality looks on goal.
Swayman finished with 26 saves for his seventh win of the season.
Up front, Marc McLaughlin jumped back into the lineup for his second appearance of the season. Playing in a fourth-line role, McLaughlin finished this contest with two hits and two shots in 9:34 of action.
With McLaughlin on the fourth line, the Bruins moved Mark Kastelic up to their third line, while Tyler Johnson sat as the B’s healthy scratch up front.
On the backend, Jordan Oesterle rejoined the lineup for his fourth NHL outing of the season, and his first since Nov. 18. The veteran Oesterle, whose return sent Parker Wotherspoon to the press box as a scratch, finished with one assist and a plus-2 rating, and logged a season-high 19:19 of time on ice.
The Bruins are back in action Tuesday night when they play host to the Red Wings.
