Habs fall to Bruins in Game 3 at home

 

David Krejci, Nathan Horton and Rich Peverley gave the Boston Bruins a three-goal lead and the team held on for a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night at the Bell Centre.

Chris Kelly added an empty-net goal with 26 seconds left to put the game out of reach and secure the win, cutting the Canadiens series lead to 2-1.

Andrei Kostitsyn and Tomas Plekanec each had their first goals of the post-season for the Canadiens and brought the team back into game.

Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas stopped 23 shots on the evening, while Habs netminder Carey Price made 32 saves.

BOXSCORE

Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was back in the lineup after missing Game 2 due to dehydration and it was his first game at the Bell Centre since he drove Max Pacioretty into a stanchion on March 8. His presence was clearly not welcomed as Canadiens fans loudly booed him every time he touched the puck.

Krejci opened the scoring at 3:11 in the first period. It was the first lead of the series for the Bruins and they never looked back. The goal came after a sloppy play by Montreal at the end of its power play, as Patrice Bergeron skillfully kept the puck on the boards before sliding it over to Krejci, who scored on Boston’s first shot of the game.

Horton received the puck from Chara before bouncing it off Price for a 2-0 lead at 14:38 in the first.

The Canadiens suddenly found themselves unable to play the game that had previously made the series 2-0 in their favour. They needed to open the game up and attack, instead of sit back and wait for the break.

Peverley collected the puck Price attempted to clear but instead hit Mark Recchi, and knocked it into the empty net, making the game 3-0 for the Bruins at 2:02 in the second.

Four minutes later, Michael Cammalleri grabbed the puck on a break and dropped it back to Kostitsyn, who caught Chara standing still as he drove to the net and slipped the puck inside the near post, making it 3-1.

Price was not rattled by Boston’s early three goals, as he appeared to settle down in the second period, looking more like the goalie from the Canadiens’ first two games.

The Habs looked like they were done for the night when the Bruins went up 3-0 but nobody told them they couldn’t win in Game 3. Needing a big third period, the Canadiens turned the momentum on Boston with a sizzling pace.

Their pressure paid off as Plekanec nailed one past Thomas to bring Montreal within one at 4:08 in the third.

The atmosphere was deafening and the crowd bursting, barely even able to keep quiet during the national anthems.

NOTES:  The Bruins have lost their last four trips to the Bell Centre and hadn’t won in Montreal in 14 months … Price has stopped 65 of the 66 shots he has faced during the post-season… Boston now 0-11 on the power play.

About this article

By: Lauren Millet
Posted: Apr 18 2011 11:59 pm
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Filed under: Hockey Sports Stanley Cup Playoffs
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