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Well, they did score: Listless Bruins fall to Habs
By Steve Conroy
MONTREAL - Well, at least the Bruins were able to solve Cristobal Huet.
But just because they snapped the Montreal goalie’s 11-period shutout streak against them, it doesn’t mean the B’s had any more luck in the victory department last night.
Chris Higgins took a beautiful feed from Michael Ryder and beat Tim Thomas with 5:29 left in the third period to break a 3-3 tie, and Aaron Downey added the insurance goal with 4:30 remaining to lift the Canadiens to a 5-3 victory at the Bell Centre, their fourth straight over the Bruins and sixth in seven tries this year.
Patrice Bergeron had two goals and an assist, but if it wasn’t for goalie Tim Thomas, the B’s would have been blown out. They were outshot 47-29, gave the Canadiens 10 power plays (including a 5-on-3 in the third period that allowed the Habs to tie it) and had major problems clearing the puck all game.
Despite being eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday, coach Mike Sullivan expected a better effort.
“There’s a lot to play for,” Sullivan said. “This team has shown resilience to this point. (Last night) we weren’t good enough.”
The only positive words Sullivan had was for Thomas, who made 42 saves despite being hung out to dry most of the night.
“He was terrific,” Sullivan said. “He’s the ultimate competitor.”
As badly as the B’s played, they actually had two separate one-goal leads, only to lose them both. The Bruins finally put Huet’s shutout streak against them to rest at a remarkable 227 minutes and 39 seconds when Bergeron scored 19 seconds into the second period on a power play.
But just seconds later, Mark Stuart took an interference penalty and the Canadiens capitalized. Andrei Markov made a nice pass down to Mike Ribeiro on the right side of the crease. Ribeiro tapped it over to Bulis on the left side and Bulis had a wide-open net to tie the game at 2:22.
The Canadiens then cranked up the heat on the Bruins and Thomas. At one point in the second, they were being outshot 30-14, and it didn’t even seem that close
The Habs then took their first lead of the game at 13:24 after Marty Reasoner took a neutral zone tripping penalty. After the B’s penalty killers couldn’t clear the puck out of the slot area in front of Thomas, Michael Ryder snapped it between the goalie’s pads for the 2-1 Montreal lead.
But as poorly as the B’s played in that second period, Bergeron pulled them even before the period was out on yet another power-play goal, flipping a loose puck off Markov’s leg and in.
Then Marco Sturm broke a 2-2 tie 34 seconds into the third period when he took a drop pass from Bergeron and beat Huet with a harmless-looking wrister through the five-hole.
“I actually liked the fact that we had broken the seal on Huet and then he let in a soft third goal,” Thomas said. “I thought it was ours to take.”
But the Canadiens tied it at 3:48 on a 5-on-3 with Pat Leahy in the box for holding a stick and Glen Murray in for a questionable goalie intereference call. Saku Koivu gathered a loose puck and took it in deep, lifting it over Thomas to tie the game.
After that, it seemed only a matter of time before the roof caved in. And, it most certainly did again.
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