Post by 210 on Dec 16, 2003 16:24:32 GMT -5
GAME: Boston Bruins (13-6-7-4) at Montreal Canadiens (14-13-3-1).
TIME: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. EST.
The Boston Bruins finally snapped their longest winless streak of the season. They'll look to build on their recent victory when they close out a four-game road trip against the archrival Montreal Canadiens.
Boston won for the first time in five games Saturday night, 3-2 over the Ottawa Senators. Brian Rolston had a goal and an assist, and Joe Thornton scored with 9:03 left as the Bruins earned their first victory since Dec. 3 to end an 0-2-3 slump.
"We've been trying to step up," Rolston said. "We've had a lot of games that we've been tying, and we haven't played our best. It seems like we were going out there and working hard, but not necessarily smart."
The Bruins, though, played smart in the win over Ottawa by avoiding late penalties and protecting a one-goal lead over the final nine minutes. The last time Boston had a third-period lead was in its last victory.
"It's been a long time since we've had a lead with about five minutes left in the game," Thornton said. "When the red light went on, I just said, `Thank God! We're up 3-2 and now we've just got to put the dagger in.' It was a good feeling."
The Canadiens earned a much-needed 5-2 win over Tampa Bay on Saturday night, and are in search of consecutive victories for the first time since Oct. 20-23.
Yanic Perreault and Stephane Quintal scored 45 seconds apart late in the first period for the Canadiens, who rebounded after allowing three third-period goals in a 4-2 defeat at Florida on Friday night.
"(Friday) night was a poor effort by everybody, so we wanted to bounce back," said Jose Theodore, who made 35 saves. "We started out really slow the first 10 minutes -- I didn't like what I saw -- but then the guys bounced right back and showed a lot of character."
Perreault added an empty-netter for his third multi-goal game this season, and Niklas Sundstrom and Saku Koivu also scored as the Canadiens improved to 6-3-2 in their last 11.
Win %
BOS 0.617 (8)
MTL 0.516 (16)
Avg Goals For
BOS 2.7 (10)
MTL 2.258 (21)
Avg Goals Against
BOS 2.5 (17)
MTL 2.323 (10)
Power Play %
BOS 18.1 (8)
MTL 14.6 (20)
Penalty Kill %
BOS 77.1 (29)
MTL 80.8 (26)
BOS road win %: 67.6 (9-3-2-3)
MTL home win %: 53 (7-7-3-0)
Meetings This Year
Oct 28, 2003 Boston at Montreal 2 - 0
Oct 30, 2003 Montreal at Boston 1 - 0
Top Scorers
Player G A Pts +/- PIM
Boston
JOE THORNTON 7 23 30 10 39
GLEN MURRAY 10 16 26 6 12
MIKE KNUBLE 11 12 23 12 14
Montreal
MIKE RIBEIRO 5 14 19 4 10
YANIC PERREAULT 9 7 16 -3 20
SHELDON SOURAY 8 8 16 2 24
TIME: Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. EST.
The Boston Bruins finally snapped their longest winless streak of the season. They'll look to build on their recent victory when they close out a four-game road trip against the archrival Montreal Canadiens.
Boston won for the first time in five games Saturday night, 3-2 over the Ottawa Senators. Brian Rolston had a goal and an assist, and Joe Thornton scored with 9:03 left as the Bruins earned their first victory since Dec. 3 to end an 0-2-3 slump.
"We've been trying to step up," Rolston said. "We've had a lot of games that we've been tying, and we haven't played our best. It seems like we were going out there and working hard, but not necessarily smart."
The Bruins, though, played smart in the win over Ottawa by avoiding late penalties and protecting a one-goal lead over the final nine minutes. The last time Boston had a third-period lead was in its last victory.
"It's been a long time since we've had a lead with about five minutes left in the game," Thornton said. "When the red light went on, I just said, `Thank God! We're up 3-2 and now we've just got to put the dagger in.' It was a good feeling."
The Canadiens earned a much-needed 5-2 win over Tampa Bay on Saturday night, and are in search of consecutive victories for the first time since Oct. 20-23.
Yanic Perreault and Stephane Quintal scored 45 seconds apart late in the first period for the Canadiens, who rebounded after allowing three third-period goals in a 4-2 defeat at Florida on Friday night.
"(Friday) night was a poor effort by everybody, so we wanted to bounce back," said Jose Theodore, who made 35 saves. "We started out really slow the first 10 minutes -- I didn't like what I saw -- but then the guys bounced right back and showed a lot of character."
Perreault added an empty-netter for his third multi-goal game this season, and Niklas Sundstrom and Saku Koivu also scored as the Canadiens improved to 6-3-2 in their last 11.
Win %
BOS 0.617 (8)
MTL 0.516 (16)
Avg Goals For
BOS 2.7 (10)
MTL 2.258 (21)
Avg Goals Against
BOS 2.5 (17)
MTL 2.323 (10)
Power Play %
BOS 18.1 (8)
MTL 14.6 (20)
Penalty Kill %
BOS 77.1 (29)
MTL 80.8 (26)
BOS road win %: 67.6 (9-3-2-3)
MTL home win %: 53 (7-7-3-0)
Meetings This Year
Oct 28, 2003 Boston at Montreal 2 - 0
Oct 30, 2003 Montreal at Boston 1 - 0
Top Scorers
Player G A Pts +/- PIM
Boston
JOE THORNTON 7 23 30 10 39
GLEN MURRAY 10 16 26 6 12
MIKE KNUBLE 11 12 23 12 14
Montreal
MIKE RIBEIRO 5 14 19 4 10
YANIC PERREAULT 9 7 16 -3 20
SHELDON SOURAY 8 8 16 2 24
