Bruins vs. Canadiens 9/18/17 Preseason RECAP: Bruins open with a 3-2 win!

Well that was a pleasant way to start!

First Period:

The story of the game was both teams exchanging some form of boneheaded penalty, compounding it with another dumb penalty, and the ensuing 5 on 3 being kind of fruitless (except for one but we’ll get there.). And period one didn’t necessarily change anything about it. Thankfully, Boston took near complete control of the period and pelted the Habs with shots. They finished the period with a shot lead, 11-7, but no score.

Second Period:

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the way this period started for the B’s that things went very off the rails, with the first goal of the game being an Alex Galchenyuk tip from right in front of Subban, giving the Habs a 1-0 lead, then followed up with the defense temporarily imploding, with Jeremy Grigoire crashing the net, getting a weird bounce, then slapping it in. 2-0. But it’s preseason so, you can just sit back and say “Oh well, next game, right?”

WRONG.

The B’s got on the board with Jesse Gabrielle being fed a near perfect pass from Riley Nash right out front, thanks to Joe Morrow temporarily forgetting how to defense.

The Bruins tied it up not too long after with one of those aforementioned 5 on 3’s that kept happening, only the key being the Bruins capitalized. Spooner, Nash and Bjork all combined some slick passing so that Anders Bjork could get his first preseason goal as a Bruin! 2-2!

The goaltenders switched, Boston got yet another penalty to kill and Tim Schaller was up to the task, getting a shorthanded bid...

...and promptly made Zach Fucale look like a chump on his first shot. Whoops. 3-2!

The period ended with some chicanery but not much else.

Third Period:

Really the only thing you need to know is that the Habs had multiple opportunities to score due to a lot of slashing penalties that were called...and they didn’t.silly

Also, human garbage scow Andrew Shaw at the very end of the game tried to pick a fight with Kevan Miller. I thought we’ve had a discussion on fighting Boston’s defense and what not to do. Specifically, fight them.

So yeah, Boston takes game one of preseason, they get a win over the Habs, and everyone comes back home tomorrow for a game against the Red Wings at 7 EST.

Game Notes:

• When Subban wasn’t being screwed up by weird bounces, he looked like a perfectly fine goaltender. It doesn’t help that they came in similar areas, but net-front defense will almost certainly be a point of emphasis come tomorrow’s practice.
• McIntyre was just as good, and benefited from more than a few off-the-post shots. Both were perfectly adequate goaltenders tonight, and won’t likely see much in the way of a challenge in the next game. We might be wondering if they’re actually as good as they are until Game 3.
• Anders Bjork was an absolutely ruthless talent with Ryan Spooner. Both fed off of each other very well and that goal was the fruit of a very promising set of labours between those two.
• Jesse Gabrielle’s got a SHOT on him. Al Montoya was square to him and he still got the puck through.
• The line of Schaller-Cave-Senyshyn was pretty solid all night. Only one of them got on the score sheet, but they kept the Habs pinned down and when the Habs were in Boston’s end they disrupted plays.
• Remember when Zach Fucale was like some kind of kid phenom? Glad that’s over.
• No, seriously. Don’t fight Boston’s defense. You’re gonna lose.

See you tomorrow for Detroit!