Call ’em the Canadiens or the Maroons, but for the Bruins, beating Montreal will always be sweet.
Especially when it’s on the Black and Gold’s birthday, as it was with Sunday’s 6-3 victory at TD Garden coming on the 100th anniversary of the B’s first ever game. And on a day like that, with countless legends brought onto the ice and into the building for a pregame ceremony celebrating a century of Bruins hockey, there’s no denying that a win was by all means mandatory for those involved.
“We wanted to make the fans [and] we wanted to make the players of the past that are here now, we wanted to make them proud of our effort more than anything,” Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco said after the victory. “The score usually takes care of itself when you do that, so I thought our guys did a pretty good job of that.”
Third Star: Cole Koepke
Dec 1, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Cole Koepke (45) scores on an empty net in the third period against the Montreal Canadiens at the TD Garden. (Natalie Reid/Imagn Images)
It’s been tough sledding for Bruins winger Cole Koepke of late. After starting off so hot on Boston’s fourth line, with seven points in his first nine games, Koepke came into Sunday’s contest with just one goal and zero helpers over his last 15 outings. But Koepke needed just 11:49 of action on Sunday to turn things back in the right direction for his game, with an empty-net goal and an assist in the third period of Boston’s 6-3 victory.
In addition to his two points, Koepke also recorded two hits and a blocked shot, and was the elder statesman on a Boston fourth line that featured Johnny Beecher and Marc McLaughlin and put forth a strong showing that constantly pushed pace the other way despite beginning the majority of their night outside the offensive zone.
Second Star: Charlie Coyle
Dec 1, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; The Boston Bruins starting lineup stands for the national anthem before a game at the TD Garden against the Montreal Canadiens. (Natalie Reid/Imagn Images)
A native of Weymouth, Mass., Bruins center Charlie Coyle knows what it means to wear the Boston sweater. So perhaps it was no surprise that Coyle turned in one of his better performances of the season on the franchise’s birthday, with two goals and a team-leading two takeaways in 17:24 of play.
After scoring Boston’s only goal in a Black Friday loss to the Penguins, Coyle now has goals in back-to-back games, and has three goals in his last two games overall. (How about those math skills!) It’s the first time this season that Coyle has put up points in back-to-back games since a three-game point streak in Apr. 2024, and the Bruins are going to need more of that as Coyle tries to inch himself closer to last year’s career-best numbers.
First Star: Charlie McAvoy
Dec 1, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy (73) celebrates a goal against the Montreal Canadiens during the second period at the TD Garden. (Natalie Reid/Imagn Images)
When Charlie McAvoy is feeling it, my goodness, are the Bruins a difficult team to beat.
As we’ve discussed again and again, McAvoy is probably never going to win a Norris Trophy because he’s not a 70-point defenseman in an era where for better or worse you almost have to put up number like that to get Norris votes. (McAvoy would’ve been a perennial finalist in the 2005-2012 era of hockey, man.) But when he is the three-zone threat he was on Sunday afternoon, there’s no denying his value to the Bruins.
Deployed for 23 minutes, McAvoy finished Sunday’s win with two goals, including one on a shorthanded breakaway, a plus-4 rating, and two hits and three blocked shots.
“When [McAvoy] plays like that, we become a hard team to play against,” Sacco said. “He kept the game in front of him, which I thought was the most important thing… everything was in front of him, nobody was behind him.
“And so he had a huge impact in the game today.”
With McAvoy on the ice at even strength, the Bruins outshot the Canadiens 11-8 and outscored them 3-0.
