B's Deliver on Emotional Night at TD Garden

BOSTON - There is never a shortage of energy and emotion when the Bruins and Canadiens get together. The teams' nearly century-old rivalry makes sure of that.
But Wednesday night was a bit different.
Just hours after announcing he would retire at season's end, Rene Rancourt belted out the national anthem to an extended ovation. On a day in which he was honored for the 60th anniversary of breaking the league's color barrier, Willie O'Ree came out to thunderous applause to drop the ceremonial first puck.

And midway through the first period, former coach Claude Julien received a lengthy standing ovation after a tribute video marking his return to Boston.
All of that combined to provide a charged, playoff-type atmosphere inside the walls of TD Garden - and one that took some getting used to in the early going.
After falling behind by a goal just 31 seconds into the game, the Bruins responded with four unanswered goals to cruise to a 4-1 victory and extend their points streak to 14 games.
"We knew coming into it, it's a late night game against Montreal, our building will be buzzing every time," said Torey Krug. "I think that first shift obviously, they get one there, pushed us back a little bit, but we did a great job responding and making sure that we were focusing on our game because we knew that there was a lot of time left and we could really dictate the game if we stuck to it. So I thought we did a good job of maintaining that."

Just over six minutes after Jakub Jerebek opened the scoring for Montreal, David Pastrnak struck for his 18th of the year by Carey Price to cap a tic-tac-toe tally that included assists from Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron (two helpers).
Boston never looked back. The B's grabbed the lead for good on Ryan Spooner's backhand bank-shot at the 2:37 mark of the second period, before Brad Marchand (on the power play) and David Krejci (empty-netter) added some insurance in the third.
"Even though they scored first early, they got a bit of a break going to the net, it wasn't like it was this huge breakdown or we lacked passion or energy," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "We responded well and played the type of game we wanted to. I thought we skated well, controlled the pace for the most part, got the goal back fairly quickly, then wanted to play behind their D, get a good forecheck game going, be hard to play against, limit their chances, and I thought we did that."

The victory was Boston's second over the Canadiens in the last five days. The rivals face-off again on Saturday night in Montreal.

More observations from the Bruins' 4-1 victory over Montreal:

Monster kill was crucial: Holding onto a 2-1 lead midway through the second, the Bruins took back-to-back penalties (on Brandon Carlo and Charlie McAvoy) and were faced with a lengthy 1:39 5-on-3 kill.
But some strong shorthanded work by Patrice Bergeron, Riley Nash, Zdeno Chara and Adam McQuaid, who was playing for the first time in three months, limited the Canadiens to just four shots. Chara racked up 2:25 of shorthanded ice time, while McQuaid (1:34), Bergeron (1:27), and Nash (1:24) also ate up big chunks of the kill.
"You can't say enough about those plays, those turning points in the game. I thought we had been the better team, but they found a way to stay in the game on the road, and that was their opportunity to take control of the game, and we did a good job, real good job," said Cassidy. "It doesn't surprise me. Adam is very good on the kill. We've said that all along, that's one area we miss when he is out of the lineup."

McQuaid slides right back in: With Kevan Miller sidelined by an illness, McQuaid returned to the lineup after missing 36 games over three months because of a broken right fibula. The veteran blue liner played alongside Matt Grzelcyk on Boston's third pairing and logged 15 minutes, 12 seconds of ice time, while landing a team-high four shots on goal and plus-1 rating.
"Not too bad. I wasn't sure what to expect, just went with the first shift and then the second and just went down from there," said McQuaid. "I wanted to try to keep things really simple. Grizz made life pretty easy to play with - he played really well. All the guys did, so it was nice to be back, be a part of the win. I'm happy to be back."

Miller unlikely to travel: After the game, Cassidy said he didn't believe Miller would travel with the team to Brooklyn for Thursday night's game with the Islanders.
"We don't want another kind of [illness], what happened before Christmas to go through the plane, so we'll evaluate him," said Cassidy. "If he is ready, then he will come in in the morning, and we will make a decision on the lineup with him tomorrow. Missed a couple days of practice, so right now, I'd say he is questionable. We'll make that decision [on Thursday]."
Julien appreciative of tribute: During the game's second television timeout, Julien received a tribute video and lengthy standing ovation from the TD Garden crowd. Boston's all-time winningest coach was grateful for the gesture.
"It's always something that you kind of dread a little bit because it's a little emotional, and at the same time, trying to keep your emotions intact there so you can coach a game…I appreciate what they did for me," said Julien. "I've got nothing but good things to say about this organization that gave me the opportunity to spend 10 years here.
"At the same time I'm kind of happy it's over so we can move on now, but that doesn't mean you forget what's happened here. It's always going to be with you, but now I'm in another chapter of my coaching career, and I've got to think about that."

Rask extends streak: Tuukka Rask made 22 saves to extend his personal career-best points streak to 15 games (13-0-2).

O'Ree honored pregame: On the eve of the 60th anniversary of his NHL debut, Willie O'Ree - the league's first black player - dropped the ceremonial first puck.
"I love Willie. He is very sharp for his age, very personable, great guy to chat with," said Cassidy. "I don't know if the other guys appreciate retired players as much, having them around, these young guys. I do. I am a huge fan of the game, so I could sit here and talk hockey all night about ex players. For me, it's great, personally. I'm sure the guys enjoy it too. I wish more of the former players would come around, as well."