Recap: Marchand OT winner caps Bruins’ comeback in Montreal

Text!

Fresh out of the penalty box and onto the scoresheet! Brad Marchand caps a chaotic sequence with a crease tap-in to make it 1-0 Bruins in the first period.

The Bruins scored around nine minutes into the first, and Montreal scored around nine minutes into the second when David Savard followed a nifty deke with a nice backhand over Jeremy Swayman to make it a 1-1 game.

After a brutal turnover by Marchand, Joel Armia decides to finish the 2-on-0 shorthanded break by himself, beating Swayman to make it 2-1 Montreal early in the third period.

Down a goal late in the third, Connor Clifton manages to whack a bouncing puck past Jake Allen to make it a 2-2 game.

Marchand atones for his earlier error with an outstanding move to win it early in overtime. 3-2 Bruins win!

Game notes

• This game certainly won’t earn a spot in the Bruins-Canadiens hall of highlights, as it was a pretty sloppy game (particularly for the Bruins) for the most part. Still, first game post-deadline, missing your #1 center, end of a road trip...a win is a win.
• After an uncharacteristically bad play that led directly to Montreal’s go-ahead goal, it was nice to see Marchand win it in overtime. Poor Jake Allen, who made a number of great saves earlier in the game, never really stood a chance.
• Speaking of the game-winner, Nick Suzuki is not going to want to watch much tape on that play. The Habs’ forward started the play with a half-hearted stick wave, then dropped his stick, then casually skated back just in time to have a perfect view of Marchand’s goal.
• With the Bruins adding Hampus Lindholm and Josh Brown, there’s not going to be much space on the blue line. Connor Clifton did his best to keep his name in the mix tonight, with a goal and an assist.
• Erik Haula had himself a nice game as well, with two assists. His pull up/slam on the brakes and patience to find Marchand on the game-winner was a very smart play.

That’s that! The Bruins will have a couple of days off before hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday — with Lindholm and (hopefully) Patrice Bergeron in the mix.