End of regulation, 3-3: Ladies and gentlemen, we are heading to overtime in Game 1.
Would you want it any other way?
Of course, if you’re a fan, you would have probably preferred an easy, stress-free 3-0 win. Alas, nothing ever comes easy when the Bruins and Canadiens are involved.
What’s funny is that for all the talk about composure and post-whistle activities, it took until the final whistle for any of that to turn up. Lars Eller sent a shot from the neutral zone toward the net after the clock hit zero, and he and Marchand engaged in a mini-tussle. Eller picked up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, while Marchand will go to the box for cross check when overtime begins.
For now — get ready for overtime.
Third period, 1:58, 3-3: Tie. Hockey game.
Brad Marchand flew to a loose puck in the corner, wheeled and fed Johnny Boychuk at the top of the slot. Boychuk teed up one of his patented bombs, and it made its way through a screen in front.
Tie game.
Third period, 2:16, 3-2 Canadiens: Price saved a Krug shot from the right point, but the rebound sat tantalizingly for a couple of seconds just outside of the crease before being taken away to safety.
Third period, 5:06, 3-2 Canadiens: It’s do-or-die time now, as the game heads to its final TV timeout. The Bruins continue to maintain the pressure, but Price continues to turn away shots. He has 28 saves thus far, and he’ll likely need another half-dozen or so to finish off the victory.
The Habs would have had an opportunity, after Bergeron broke his stick attempting a shot from the blue line. Yet Bergeron gathered himself and hip checked Rene Bourque to break up the play, a Selke-worthy play if there ever was one.
Get ready for a wild few minutes in Boston.
Third period, 7:51, 3-2 Canadiens: It was all Bruins to this point, but it only takes one shot to turn it around.
A long breakout pass set up a series of sustained Montreal pressure, and after Rask stood up to a few Montreal shots, Francis Bouillon sent a blast — again, to Rask’s blocker side — and scored the go-ahead goal.
Third period, 9:49, 2-2: The game is tied, but it’s clear the Bruins are absolutely in control right now.
The Bruins have outshot the Canadiens 6-1 thus far, and the puck has rarely even entered the Boston zone for more than 5 seconds at a time. The Bruins have attempted 17 shots, compared to Montreal’s 3.
Of course, as the Canadiens showed earlier, all they need is one opening to capitalize and put one in the net, but if you’re a gambling man or woman, you’d have to like your chances with the Bruins going forward.
Third period, 13:30, 2-2: This game is tied, and this building is going bananas.
Milan Lucic had a takeaway in the neutral zone and led a quick rush into the Montreal end. He fed a pass across to Torey Krug, the playoff scoring machine, and he teed up a blast from the left faceoff dot. Price had almost no chance as Krug’s shot fit inside the far post, and this game is tied.
Montreal has called a timeout to try to settle things down, but it’s only making this building get louder and louder.
Third period, 16:42, 2-1 Canadiens: This place is going nuts now, as P.K. Subban gets called for holding just seconds after the Bruins score their first goal.
Remember, the B’s power play was excellent in its first time out. The equalizer may be on the way.
Third period, 17:16, 2-1 Canadiens: Life.
After another couple of failed chances, Reilly Smith fires a shot from the right faceoff circle and, with Bergeron screening Price in front, he beats Price with a hard wrister. The shot went through the legs of Markov and went top shelf on Price.
Credit Bergeron for the dirty work in front, and Smith for a great shot.
Third period, 20:00, 2-0 Canadiens: Third period underway — time for Boston to get back into this game quick, or they’ll be staring a 1-0 series hole in the face.
End of second period, 2-0 Canadiens: For a while, you could have said it was the Bruins’ fault for not finishing their chances. But after that flurry that Price just stood up to, it’s time to give him credit for owning this game so far.
He’s been solid from the second the puck dropped, and he’s only gotten better as the night has gone on.
After two, the Bruins lead in shots 22-17, and by a huge margin in shot attempts, at 41-29. The Canadiens have blocked 13 shots, which has played a huge factor in limiting the work of Price, but still, he’s taken care of the rest.
Second period, 3:18, 2-0 Canadiens: It’s hard to fire that many shots on net without scoring, but Carey Price just kept the B’s off the board with a brilliant sequence of saves. His best was his first, as he burst left to right to stone Jarome Iginla on what he likely thought would be an easy goal.
Price did get some help from his friend, the left post, on a Hamilton blast from the point.
The Bruins kept the pressure on after the penalty expired, but Price remained strong — as he has all night.
Second period, 5:44, 2-0 Canadiens: The Bruins need a spark, and they’ll look to their power play to get it.
Josh Gorges goes off for holding just after a missed redirect attempt from Florek on a feed from Soderberg. The puck possession is there, it just hasn’t led to any goals. Now, at least, it’s led to a power play.
Second period, 9:23, 2-0 Canadiens: With the game now past its halfway point, the Bruins continue to own the puck in the offensive zone for much of the time. Yet Montreal has really locked down the shooting and passing lanes whenever Boston has the puck, and it’s been really impressive. The result has been a lack of quality scoring chances, despite that extended zone time.
The Canadiens have that 2-0 lead because they’ve simply capitalized on two of their relatively scarce opportunities. The Bruins are 0-for-2 on their real high-quality chances thus far (Krug in front, Krejci on the semi-breakaway).
Second period,16:22, 2-0 Canadiens: All that pressure got the Bruins exactly nothing.
Rene Bourque led a 3-on-1 rush against Boychuk, and after Boychuk took out the passing lane, Bourque fired to Rask’s blocker side and beat him cleanly. It’s 2-0 Montreal, and the home fans are not happy.
Second period, 17:38, 1-0 Canadiens: The puck has spent the entirety of this period in the Montreal end, and David Krejci had a golden opportunity on a partial breakaway. He slipped his backhand just wide though.
Still, good pressure from Boston to start the period.
Second period, 20:00, 1-0 Canadiens: The second period is underway. Lars Eller won the opening draw, and these two teams are back at it.
End of first period, 1-0 Candiens: The Habs take that 1-0 lead into the locker room at the end of 20.
Torey Krug had a golden chance in front, after he took a feed from Milan Lucic while coming down the slot. Yet Krug took an extra couple of seconds to fire, and Price never blinked, eventually making the pad save.
The Bruins lead in shots, 13-10, and shot attempts, 20-16, but the Canadiens have that lead.
It’s definitely a lot quieter in here, but if the Bruins can use this intermission to settle things down, they should be OK.
One thing’s clear though, and that is that this is no longer the Detroit series. The Canadiens are worlds better, particularly in the neutral zone. The Bruins have had trouble setting up in the offensive zone thanks to that neutral-zone work.
First period, 3:27, 1-0 Canadiens: With the first period heading to its final commercial break, I think the Bruins are a little rattled. Rather than making the calm, simple pass out of their own zone, they’ve taken to just whacking or chipping it up the boards, thereby setting up Montreal to enter the zone and put the pressure on the Bruins.
Now, by rattled, I don’t think they’re in trouble. But that Canadiens’ first punch of this series definitely landed.
First period, 8:37, 1-0 Canadiens: The man who is booed every time he touches the puck just earned himself from more boos.
Tuukka Rask withstood a flurry of Montreal shots on the power play, yet a Subban wrister from the right point weaved its way through traffic and beat Rask high to the blocker side. It’s 1-0 Habs.
First period, 9:55, 0-0: The officiating figures to play a prominent role in this series, and it’s Montreal that will get the first power play.
Matt Bartkowski goes off for tripping in the neutral zone, a play that probably could have been avoided as he took a big whack on Dale Weise, the puck carrier.
First period, 12:02, 0-0: Credit the fourth line of Paille-Campbell-Thornton for again sustaining heavy pressure and generating a pair of scoring chances. Both shots — one by Thornton, one by Campbell — deflected over the net, but those were real-time chances from the Merlot line.
Also of note: Marchand crashed the net as Price gloved a backhand, and as the whistle blew, Marchand put his head down and skated away. No extracurriculars from him, which is likely what the Bruins want right now.
First period, 14:00, 0-0: Forget about a feeling-out period. These two teams, as expected, hit the ground running in this series. Heavy hits, strong defensive efforts, and hard work in the neutral zone are the story thus far. Shots are even at 3-3.
First period, 17:19, 0-0: Daniel Paille is officially, as he and the fourth line generated a shot and an offensive zone faceoff in his first shift back.
First period, 19:39, 0-0: We’re not even 30 seconds in, and we already have a Lucic body check on Emelin and mocking “CAR-EY” chants.
First period, 20:00: The puck has been dropped, and this series is officially underway.
7:35 p.m.: Here are your Bruins starters tonight:
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Jarome Iginla
Matt Bartkowski-Johnny Boychuk
Tuukka Rask
7:30 p.m.: We’re almost ready to go here. The giant Bruins flag is making its way around the lower bowl, as “Hells Bells” blares over the PA. The pregame video, which is about a four-minute journey through Bruins history, has begun. We’re inching closer to go time.
7 p.m.: The Bruins just hit the ice for pregame warmups, and Brad Marchand is participating. He missed the morning skate this morning, leading to at least a little bit of questioning of his status for the game tonight. But he’s on the ice, which is a solid indication he’ll be playing tonight.
Daniel Paille is also on the ice for warmups. All indications are pointing to him playing tonight. Jordan Caron, however, is on the ice as well, meaning Paille is truly a game-time decision.
6:40 p.m.: We are locked and loaded here at TD Garden, and we’re within an hour of this one getting underway.
There was quite a bit of energy out on the streets surrounding the Garden, and I think you’re going to see plenty of that energy carry over into this building.
One early thing that stands out is that there are loads of bleu, blanc et rouge sweaters out there, as Canadiens fans always do seem to travel well. They’ll be plenty loud tonight as well.
The teams will hit the ice for warmups in about 20-25 minutes, and I’ll update with any news that comes from there.
The TD Garden awaits the start of the Bruins-Canadiens series. (Photo by Michael Hurley/CBS Boston)
5:30 p.m.: Yes indeed, the time has come. The Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens will take the ice here at the TD Garden in just two hours, kicking off what should be a memorable and exciting series.
With almost a week’s worth of build-up and hype, you’ve surely read everything there is to read, watched everything there is to watch and thought about all there is to ponder. We’re now ready to actually see some hockey.
How this one goes is anyone’s guess, but it’s probably safe to assume that it won’t take too long for things to get heated. These two teams do not like each other, and considering the Canadiens have been stuck doing nothing but practicing and playing fake games against their AHL team to keep busy for the past nine days. They’re going to have some pent-up energy, and you can bet that the Bruins will hit the ice flying in front of a jacked-up home crowd.
As close as we are, we still have some time to kill. In the event that you haven’t yet read everything out there, here are some offerings to help get you ready:
Bruins-Canadiens Predictions
Bruins-Canadiens: What To Watch For
Lucic Hates Montreal: ‘It’s Just Natural For Me’
Hurley: Bruins-Canadiens Guaranteed To Get Ugly
Kalman: Still Underrated Krejci Ready To Erupt Against Canadiens
Bruins Vs. Canadiens: How They Stack Up
Kalman: Canadiens Have Been Rask’s Worst Nightmare
Reilly Smith: A Lot Of Passion, Bragging Rights On Line vs. Canadiens
I’ll have every update from pregame warmups, and stick with the live blog from the opening puck drop until the final second ticks off the clock.
Read more from Michael Hurley by clicking here, or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
MORE BRUINS COVERAGE FROM CBS BOSTON
Bruins Live Blog: Torey Krug Blast Ties Game At 2-2 In Third
Neely On Felger & Mazz: Slumping Marchand Helps In Ways That Doesn’t Show Up On Stat Sheet
Kalman On Felger & Mazz: Key For Bruins Is Not To Do Anything Stupid
Jimmy Murphy On Gresh & Zo: Habs Fans Feel Like Canadiens Are Playing With House Money
