Don’t look now, but the B’s offense is cooking. And in all facets of the game, too.

Back on Garden ice after a two-game road trip with stops in Montreal and Buffalo, the Bruins extracted some much-wanted revenge against the Canadiens with what was a 5-2 beatdown over their century-long rivals.

It was a win that saw the Bruins land a season-high 44 shots on goal on the Canadiens’ Jake Allen, and hit the five-goal mark for the second straight game for the first time all season. It was also Boston’s third time scoring five goals in their last four games overall, and this one featured a power-play goal from the B’s for the sixth straight contest.

Say what you will about the quality of their opponents, sure, but for the Bruins, the offensive surge is a welcomed sight.

• “I thought we played the right way for 60 minutes,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said of his team’s 13th win through 16 games. “It’s the way we wanna play. Our rush defense was good. It was really good.

  “And we saw what we wanted offensively.”

  It was about as complete a game as the B’s have played this season, and it started with a dominant first-period effort, too. The Bruins hammered 18 shots on goal through 20 minutes of play, and found the back of the net twice in that opening frame, with a power-play goal from Charlie McAvoy and a late-period tip from Trent Frederic. And the Bruins refused to take their foot off the pedal at any point in this contest, with their lead hitting the four-goal point at one point prior to a garbage-time strike from the Habs in the third period.

  With the victory, the Bruins captured their sixth straight home-ice win over the Canadiens.

  Here are the 98.5 The Sports Hub (dot com) 3 Stars from a payback win over the Canadiens…

• No. 3 Star: Hampus Lindholm

  

  Nov 18, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm (27) tries to stop Montreal Canadiens center Jake Evans (71) during the first period at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)

• In line with the offense beginning to wake up and operate at damn close to 100 percent, this was yet another excellent game from the Bruins’ Hampus Lindholm. In fact, it was actually the best — or most comfortable, at the very least — that Lindholm has looked at the offensive end of the rink.

  On the board with a primary helper on the Pavel Zacha goal that made it 3-0 (complete with a shutdown at his own blue line to spark the play the other way), Lindholm finished this game with three shots on goal, and actually had five shot attempts in total by the night’s end. Lindholm had an especially terrific little run in the first period, with back-to-back-to-back shot attempts that all led to high-end chances for the Bruins. Honestly, that sequence probably should’ve led to another goal for the B’s.

  It was yet another positive step forward for Lindholm in the attacking zone, with that assist serving as Lindholm’s fourth point in the last six games, while the three-shot effort was good for his second straight game of multiple shots on goal (the first time he’s done that all season).

  The Bruins also dominated the puck with Lindholm out there, with a 20-6 shot attempt advantage, 14-5 shot advantage, and 2-0 edge in goals during Lindholm’s 16:07 five-on-five sample.

• No. 2 Star: Charlie Coyle

  

  Nov 2, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Charlie Coyle (13) skates during a shootout against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the TD Garden. (Brian Fluharty/USA TODAY Sports)

• It was always going to be just about impossible to replace Patrice Bergeron, but kudos to Charlie Coyle, who is doing about as good a job as you could’ve reasonably asked through 16 games this season.

  Deployed for 18:05 of time on ice in this contest, Coyle put forth an effort that included two assists, along with wins in 10 of his 16 battles at the dot (62.5 percent), for the Bruins. There’s also something to be said for the quality of those faceoff wins; Coyle had a clean win on the faceoff that set up Boston’s 5-on-3 goal in the first period, and ultimately won four of his seven faceoffs in the attacking zone. He also won four of six D-zone draws.

  And with his second multi-point outing of the season, Coyle is now up to five goals and 14 points through 16 games. That has him paced for what would be a 26-goal, 72-point season.

• No. 1 Star: Trent Frederic

  

  Nov 18, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Trent Frederic (11) celebrates after scoring on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen (34) during the second period at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)

• Timely goals are everything. And, boy, did Trent Frederic have a pair of those in this one.

  The first of Frederic’s two goals in this contest came on a tip of a Brandon Carlo shot from the point, and was scored with just under 40 seconds remaining in the first period. The Bruins had dominated the period with 18 shots, but had just one goal to their name to that point. The Canadiens being a mere shot away from tying things up could’ve been an absolute deflater for this crowd, but Frederic’s marker made sure that wasn’t on the table.

  Trent Frederic gets a piece of Brandon Carlo's shot from the blue line to make it 2-0 Bruins late in the first period. Fourth goal of the season for Frederic pic.twitter.com/RC96uJLPWV

  — Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) November 19, 2023

  And in the third period, Juraj Slafkovsky’s strike brought the Canadiens within two, and a Frederic penalty put Montreal on the power play. Again, that’s a potential momentum-building spot for the Canadiens. But the Bruins killed the penalty off, and it was Frederic who stormed out of the box and re-established Boston’s three-goal lead. It was a total deathblow to the Canadiens’ hopes, and saw No. 11 make up for his penalty in the best way possible.

  Trent Frederic fires home his second goal of the game.
  
  4-1 Bruins. pic.twitter.com/1sCfGXlW43

  — Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) November 19, 2023

  With the two-goal outing, Frederic is now up to five goals and seven points through 16 games. It also means that Frederic is still on pace to match — actually, strike that, improve upon — last year’s career-best 17-goal output.

• Also: Here’s this picture. I hope it makes you smile.

  

  Nov 18, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Trent Frederic (11) celebrates his goal against the Montreal Canadiens during the second period at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)

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