Hanging on to a 1-0 lead through two periods, the Boston Bruins allowed two goals in the first 51 seconds of the third period en route to a 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens. In the eyes of coach Jim Montgomery, that sequence fell in line with the first two periods.
The Boston Bruins were on the verge of a massive kill. Having already staved off two penalties in the final 5:15 of the second period, Boston needed to kill 33 more seconds at the start of the third period to protect their 1-0 lead.
They fell just short, as Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki fired a wrister from well-behind the right circle to tie it 1-1 with nine seconds left on the penalty.
27 seconds later, Montreal hemmed Boston back in their zone at even strength, and Brendan Gallagher got behind Charlie McAvoy and Mason Lohrei to set up in front of Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman. Gallagher knocked in the puck as he was falling over to create a 2-1 lead, and just like that, a one-goal lead turned into a one-goal deficit for Boston.
“I think the first minute of the third was a microcosm of the first two periods,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery told reporters after the game. “We were lucky to be in the position we were, up 1-0. I think that’s Swayman, again, gets us a point.”
Swayman had 24 saves in his first loss of the season (6-0-1), keeping the Bruins up for over 40 minutes. The Canadiens created five high-danger scoring chances in the second period, while Boston had just one.
While McAvoy had assists on both Bruins goals, and Brad Marchand (one goal, one assists) scored two points himself, Boston’s offense lagged behind.
Marchand’s line with Pavel Zacha and David Pastrnak scored the opening goal, but also allowed Gallagher’s tally. The James van Riemsdyk-Charlie Coyle-Trent Frederic line, which dominated in Boston’s 5-2 win against the New York Islanders on Thursday, outshot (3-2) and out-chanced (1-0) Montreal at 5-on-5, but without much volume after playing just 6:27 together.
“It’s not good enough, though,” Swayman told reporters after the game. “We’re a team that needs to get two points every night, so a lot of learning tonight. Going to the third with a lead, you want to close that out, so I want to have a couple more saves there, and it’s just not good enough.”
The youngsters – Lohrei, Matt Poitras and Johnny Beecher – showed growing pains. Lohrei continued to struggle defensively, Poitras did not do much offensively and also practically set up Montreal defenseman Kaiden Guhle’s winning goal. Meanwhile, Beecher was 2-for-6 (33.3%) from the face-off dot and the Bruins were outshot 5-1 when he was on the ice at 5-on-5.
It’s worth noting Beecher’s line with Jakub Lauko and Oskar Steen appeared to tie the game at 2:04 of the third, but Steen’s redirect goal was called back due to goaltender interference. Shortly after, Marchand took a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, which Montgomery called “inexcusable.”
The Bruins would survive that penalty, and Marchand would redeem himself by scoring the tying goal at 12:58 on the power play, but now all eyes will focus on how the supporting cast comes out when these two teams meet again in Boston next Saturday.
“We have to understand that once we get up on teams, they’re gonna push and try to fight to get back in it,” Marchand said. “And we have to be prepared to elevate our game to another level.”