Bruins Rally Late, But Fall to Habs in OT

BOSTON - The Bruins were riding high as they entered the overtime period on Monday night. David Krejci's power-play goal with Tuukka Rask on the bench for an extra attacker in the final minute of regulation had the B's believing they were poised to cap off a comeback by collecting a second point.
But, with the bounce of a puck, momentum can shift suddenly in overtime.
On the first shift of the extra session, Montreal jumped at their lone chance when Jeff Petry batted home a rebound out of midair to clinch the Habs' 3-2 win over the Bruins at TD Garden in the rivals' final meeting of the regular season.

"Clearly, right now it sucks, especially when it happens that quick. It's a pretty straight-forward rush," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "We folded instead of challenging the puck carrier, so that started a domino effect, and we lost coverage in front. Got a good save, but we've been down this road earlier this year when we lost in overtime in a hurry.
"We lost the draw and then all of a sudden, we never touch it, so it's a little disappointing that we didn't defend the rush better, give ourselves a chance to win the game."

The Bruins had sent the Garden faithful into a frenzy just moments earlier when Krejci notched his 10th of the season with 38 seconds left in the third period. Krejci took a feed from Brad Marchand and fired a wrister from the top of the right circle that beat Carey Price (41 saves) through traffic to knot things at 2.
"We got one [point], Krejci got a big goal there late to get us that point," said Marchand. "It's not the finish we would've liked, but we definitely outplayed them, we just made some costly mistakes."
Marchand, who was denied on a breakaway early in the opening frame, got things started when he took a Patrice Bergeron feed and ripped a wrist shot past the glove of Price as he cruised down the left wing to put Boston up, 1-0, with 5:51 remaining in the first period.
The Canadiens responded just over four minutes later when Brendan Gallagher tied the game at 1 off a Montreal faceoff win, tipping one past Tuukka Rask (19 saves), who had his five-game winning streak snapped. Bergeron was thrown out of the draw and replaced by Marchand, who was beaten by Phillip Danault.
"No," Bergeron said when asked if he was given an explanation for being ejected from the faceoff. "It is [frustrating], but it is what it is."

Falling Short

While the Bruins cashed in on the power play with Krejci's last-minute tally, Boston once again got itself in trouble on the man advantage. The B's went 1-for-3 on the power play, but surrendered yet another shorthanded goal when Paul Byron struck with 2:51 remaining in the second period to put Montreal ahead, 2-1.
It was the 10th shorthanded goal the Bruins have allowed this season, the most in the NHL.
"We're just kind of roaming a little bit right now on the power play, we've got to be a little bit more structured," said Marchand. "If we do that then we'll get more pucks back and we'll be in a little better position defensively. Definitely comes down to respect and we've got to play both ends of the rink. When we don't have it on the power play we've got to make sure we're working position to get it back and make sure we don't give opportunities up."

Shifting Gears

In an effort to jumpstart the offense, Cassidy once again tweaked his middle two lines by flipping centers Krejci and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson. Krejci took shifts with Danton Heinen and Ryan Donato, while JFK skated alongside Jake DeBrusk and David Backes at times throughout the night.
Krejci also saw time with DeBrusk on his left and either Donato or Heinen on his right.
"Messages, mixing it up," Cassidy said when asked what he's looking for when switching up lines. "Krejci as an example, I think he's played really good hockey for us this year, whoever's been on his wings, so you don't want to lose him if, say his linemates aren't going well. So, we mix someone else in there.
"Then you get behind and you think, 'Well, maybe you have to use more offensive-minded.' Donato, who's scored some goals…so, it's a bit of the thought process in there. And then if we feel like a guy's just not committed then that's a message usually to a younger guy."

Rivalry Renewed

Kevan Miller dropped the gloves with Nicolas Deslauriers late in the first period in what may go down as the most spirited fight of the year. The two tangled in front of the benches, before Miller was spun around and began hammering away with his left hand. The two went toe-to-toe for several punches before Miller took Deslauriers down to the ice.
It was the second time that the two fought, with the other bout coming on Oct. 18, 2014 in Buffalo, during which Miller suffered a dislocated right shoulder.
"He just asked and I said yes," said Miller. "It's just survival mode, trying to do my best…shoulder feels great - no issues with that, haven't had any issues with that since."