Canadiens Take Game Three 4-2
Wednesday, May 07, 2014
As exciting as the Bruins third period comebacks were in games one and two of their series with Montreal, the fact that they put themselves in position where they had to rally was a major concern.
That pattern played itself out again Tuesday night at the Bell Centre and this time, there would be no comeback. The Canadiens beat Boston 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semifinal.
Once again, it was the Habs who took the early lead on goals by Tomas Plekanec and PK Subban in the first period. It was Subban's third goal in three games as the Bruins continue to make the Montreal defenseman look like the second coming of Bobby Orr.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDale Weise put the Canadiens up 3-0 with just over 6 minutes to play in the second and the Bruins looked dead in the water.
But, Patrice Bergeron's tip-in of a Torey Krug shot gave the Bruins some life before the end of the second leaving many to wonder if yet another third period comeback was in the offing.
Not on this night.
The B's did come out and play a spirited third period once again, cutting the Montreal lead to 3-2 when they pulled Rask with just over 2 minutes left. Andrej Meszaros beat Price on a shot that looked like it may have been tipped by Jerome Iginla. Meszaros was credited with the goal.
But, that was all the B's could muster as Montreal would add an empty netter from Lars Eller in the final seconds to seal the victory.
As a result, Boston must now regroup and find a way to steal game 4 in Montreal Thursday night or else they would head back to Boston on the brink of elimination.
NOTES:
-It was not a big night for special teams in game 3. Both teams had only one power play opportunity and nether cashed in on the man advantage. In fact, this marked the first time in the series that Montreal outplayed Boston 5-on-5.
-One thing is for certain thus far in the series ans that is that Carey Price has outplayed Tuukka Rask. If the Bruins are to come back and win this series, they will need Rask to be better than he has in the first three games of the series.
-One of the biggest differences between the two teams in the this series has been the ability to finish off quality scoring chances. The Bruins have more quality scoring opportunities in the series but have failed to put the puck in the net.
-Much like Boston fans boo PK Subban every time he touches the puck at TD Garden, Montreal fans made it a point to boo Zdeno Chara everytime he touched the puck Tuesday night.
