Bruins Close Homestand with 6-2 Loss to Canadiens

BOSTON –– Despite a fiery start, the Boston Bruins lost their footing in the third period and ultimately fell 6-2 to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday at TD Garden.

“Even after the first period, guys came ready to play today. They were very excited, so it was good,” head coach Marco Sturm said. “But the goals we gave up – for me, it’s a lot of individual mistakes, fatigue. Guys were just mentally not sharp.”

​Sammy Blais put the Canadiens ahead 1-0 at 11:08 of the first period, but the Bruins soon earned the lead.

Mason Lohrei kept the puck in the zone and carried it down the left side before hitting Marat Khusnutdinov with a cross-crease pass, which he one-timed past Montreal netminder Jacob Fowler at 12:25. Khusnutdinov’s fifth goal of the year made it 1-1 and extended his point streak to three games.

Alex Steeves potted a last-minute tally for the 2-1 lift while on the power play. David Pastrnak dished the puck over to Steeves in the right circle, where he sniped it home at 19:42. It was Steeves’ eighth goal of the season, and first PPG of his NHL career. The loss overshadowed that for the forward, though.

“It’s terrible, it stinks. Really, this whole homestand, going into break, it’s unfortunate,” Steeves said. “But I think it’s moments like these where you find out how tight the group is. I know we have a tight group, and I know we’ll bounce back from this and we’ll be stronger because of it. Stings for now.”

Viktor Arvidsson – who played in his first game since Dec. 11 after working through a lower-body injury – picked up the secondary assist on the scoring play. The forward was back on the second line with Casey Mittelstadt and Pavel Zacha.

“It was nice to be back and skating again and battling and stuff and be on the bench,” Arvidsson said. “Be with the guys. It felt good.”

Ivan Demidov found the 2-2 equalizer with a wrist shot to open the second period at 1:58.

The Bruins’ penalty kill came up big to close out the second, defending off a four-minute minor and keeping things even going into the third.

“I think a lot of games this year, there’s been penalty trouble, and I think that’s got to stop,” Arvidsson said. “We’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror and be better at that and stay out of the box. We’re not going to go anywhere if we keep taking that many penalties every game.”

Montreal took over in the final frame. Zachary Bolduc made it 3-2 at 7:04 before both Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki scored on 5-on-3 man advantages for the 5-2 standing by the 10:09 mark. Juraj Slafkovský’s slapshot at 12:22 closed out the contest at 6-2.

​“It seems maybe a little bit of mental fatigue these last couple games. A lot of mental mistakes that cost us the game,” Pastrnak said. “Hopefully, everybody can spend a couple days with the family and come here recharged. Because it’s not going to get any easier, the second half of the year.”

​The Bruins now have three days off for the Christmas break before they open a five-game road trip on Saturday with a matchup against the Buffalo Sabres.

“It’s disappointing to lose four in a row at home. It is disappointing. It’s not what we want to show our fans,” Nikita Zadorov said. “We have three days break, we have to get it together. We’re still there.”