The Montreal Canadiens failed to spoil the Boston Bruins’ centennial celebration, falling 6-3 to the home team on Sunday afternoon at TD Garden.
Cole Caufield scored twice in the losing effort. Nick Suzuki had two assists.
For the winning side, Charlie McAvoy and Charlie Coyle each scored twice.
Cayden Primeau started in goal and made 24 saves. The Habs have now allowed four or more goals in 13 of 24 games this season.
The Canadiens fought their way back toward the end, but things unraveled pretty quickly in the first period. The Bruins scored three times in a span of 1:10. McAvoy, David Pastrnak and Coyle were the goal scorers.
Instead of coming out in the second period with gusto, the Habs conceded a shorthanded goal to McAvoy 38 seconds in.
Montreal finally got on the board. Arber Xhekaj was originally awarded his first goal of the season, but they switched it to Caufield during the second intermission. 4-1 Bruins.
There was a little rock ’em sock ’em hockey befitting the two rivals later on in the second period when Xhekaj and Mark Kastelic were each given 10-minute misconducts after a Lane Hutson hit gathered a crowd.
Montreal again came out sputtering in the third period. Coyle scored his second of the night just 21 seconds into the frame. 5-1 B’s.
The Habs responded twice to pull to within two goals. The usual suspects did the damage on offence: Emil Heineman scored his sixth and Caufield reached No. 16. Suddenly it was 5-3 with time left on the clock.
Alas, 5-3 was as close as Montreal would get. With Primeau pulled for an extra skater, Cole Koepke put the game away with an empty-netter.
It was an up-and-down game. One experiment the club may not continue with was pairing Hutson and Mike Matheson on the blue line. Matheson especially did not look at ease and ended the night at -4. The impact card from Hockey Stat Cards was not kind.
As for the liveblog commenters who survived the hour-long centennial pregame celebration, they saw the Canadiens lose to an Original Six rival for a second consecutive afternoon. The rivalry has lost some of its lustre, though, since the Habs have failed to beat the Bruins in regulation in their last 16 contests.
There was a lot of discussion in the comments about Michael Pezzetta once again sitting. He’s been in the lineup only three times in 24 games this season, and at this point it just seems like a needless distraction to keep him glued to the pressbox. Is it really that hard to find 8-10 minutes every couple of games for him? Especially against more physical clubs?
3. “Habs couldn’t handle the Bruins’ forecheck. Matheson struggled and Primeau caved. Once the pressure was off they played better. Typical, of an immature lineup where your vets are not good or tough enough to hold things together. Primeau might be done too. Just not ready for the NHL.” — Derrek Cauchi
2. “Too slow, too soft, too weak in our own end. Again.” — Bob Taylor
1. “A very tough weekend of hockey. Where do we go from here? I have lost any shred of confidence in Cayden Primeau. I think he would clear waivers at this point.” — KeithH MacCausland