Ann 2Game 64 Review: Canadiens Defeat Bruins 4-1
March 5th 2010 00:27
Darche scores Montreal's third goal
What happened to the Boston Bruins? Last season, they dominated the Eastern Conference thanks to hard work, sheer determination and great coaching. This year, the parts are the same but nothing's working. After winning the Vezina Trophy, Tim Thomas lost the number-one spot to Tuuka Rask while defenseman Zdeno Chara – winner of last season's Norris Trophy - is a mere shadow of himself. The Bruins' collective problems were even more evident against the Montreal Canadiens – another struggling team – on Tuesday.
Despite scoring the first goal of the game – gift-wrapped by Montreal's Carey Price – the Bruins looked slow and tentative, particularly against the Canadiens' grinders who scored three of Montreal's four goals.
With two players returning from injury, some returning from the Olympics and others who were simply resting during the Olympic break, the Habs looked disconnected and desynchronized for most of the opening 40 minutes. Andrei Kostitsyn – who hadn't played in two months - looked the most rusty of the bunch, missing two open nets that he could easily put away when on his game. Thankfully, the grinders had come to play and gave fits to the Bruins' defense who couldn't deal with the forecheck of Montreal's two bottom-lines.
Glen Metropolit scored the visitors first goal early in the third period by re-directing Tom Pyatt's pass in the slot behind Tukka Rask. Five minutes later, Maxim Lapierre gave the lead to Montreal after Rask gave a poor rebound on Travis Moen's harmless shot. Finally, AHL-veteran Mathieu Darche scored his third of the season once again by going the net and cashing in on Metropolit's shot rebound.
Down two goals, Claude Julien decided to remove his goaltender with two minutes to go while the game was still in play. Rask hadn't even gotten to bench when Benoit Pouliot intercepted Derek Morris' predictable pass and proceeded to score the empty-netter thus ensuring Montreal's victory.
There's not much to say about this game since it's basically the team that sucked less who won. It will be a much different story tonight when the Canadiens visit the San Jose Sharks. The good news is that after giving a soft goal, Carey Price was solid for the rest of game but I'm still uneasy watching him when there's a shot coming in from the blueline.
My 3 Stars:
3. Carey Price
2. Tom Pyatt
1. Glen Metropolit
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