Recap: Bruins surge in third period to top Canadiens, 5-2

The Boston Bruins battled back from behind twice, and scored four unanswered goals in the third period to top the Montreal Canadiens, 5-2, at the TD Garden.

Charlie Coyle and Charlie McAvoy netted two goals each. It was McAvoy’s first two-goal night of his career.

As the Bruins’ have struggled with scoring outside of their top line, tonight they saw a much-needed boost of secondary contributions. Nine different players picked up points on the five goals.

The goals were the fruition of a shoot-first mindset throughout the roster. The B’s outshot Montreal 41-29. McAvoy and Taylor Hall led the team with seven shots each. Other shot leaders included Brad Marchand with six shots, Jake DeBrusk at five and Coyle with four. Only three forwards didn’t have a SOG.

It looked like it was going to be another rough start at home, as the B’s first period had plenty of defensive turnovers and missed power-play opportunities.

Jeremy Swayman made crucial saves to keep the team competitive heading into the locker room after the first period and continued to stand on his head with big glove saves throughout the game. He made 27 saves for his fourth consecutive win and fifth win of the season.

Despite trailing to start and end the second period, the Bruins took control of the game’s tempo with better puck management and their offensive-zone presence.

They outshot the Canadiens 20-10 in the second period and that shooting mentality carried over into the third.

“In the second period we had zero puck luck,” Bruce Cassidy said. “In the third, we stuck with it and got lots.”

They finally capitalized on their fourth power play of the night in the third’s opening minutes and rallied from that point on. Four goals on 10 shots. You can’t complain about that.

Here’s a period-by-period breakdown of the goals.

First period:

The Canadiens opened the scoring at 8:09 of the first period.

On the rush after a turnover from a Bruins’ scoring attempt, the Habs went on a three-on-one rush with Joel Armia carrying the puck up ice. Once in the Bruins’ zone and inside the right face-off circle, Armia threw a wrist shot at Swayman that beat his blocker. 1-0 Canadians.

Second period:

The Bruins tied the game at 8:27 of the second period.

Hall fired a wrist shot on net. With traffic out front, McAvoy crashed the net to pick up the rebound in the slot for a quick one-timer past Sam Montembeault’s stick. 1-1 game.

The Canadiens took the lead at 16:25 of the second period.

Michael Pezzetta threw a wrist shot on net which Swayman saved, but the puck bounced off Connor Clifton’s skate out front and then past Swayman’s right skate. 2-1 Habs.

Third period:

The Bruins tied the game at 2:14 of the third period on the power play.

Marchand passed to McAvoy who carried the puck to the high slot and released a wrist shot on net over Montembeault’s glove. 2-2 Bruins.

The Bruins took the lead at 5:58 of the third period.

Off a breakout play, David Pastrnak sent a wrister at Montembeault. Jeff Petry tried to clear the rebound out of the slot and into the corner, but his clear deflected off Coyle’s visor and past Montembeault. 3-2 Bruins.

The Bruins took a two-goal lead at 9:05 of the third period on Coyle’s second goal of the night.

DeBrusk pushed the puck into the offensive zone where Coyle outhustled Adams Brooks to it. Coyle drove the play to the net and coming in close on the short side, put a wrist shot top-shelf over Montembeault’s glove. 4-2 Bruins.

The Bruins sealed the game at 18:02 of the third period with an empty-net goal from Hall. Final score: 5-2 Bruins.

It’s another game-less week for the Bruins, as they don’t have a game until Saturday, November 20, when they face the Philadelphia Flyers on the road at 7 pm.