Bruins defeat Canadiens 9–4 with a first-hat trick from Heinen.
Danton Heinen recorded his first career hat trick, Brad Marchand set a club record with his 20th goal of the season, and the Boston Bruins won their fourth straight game on Saturday, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 9–4.
Pavel Zacha scored his 100th goal of his career, David Pastrnak added his team-high thirty goals, and the Bruins defeated their venerable opponents for the twelfth time in thirteen encounters. In addition, defenseman Brandon Carlo scored in his first game back after missing almost two weeks due to what he described as a “little concussion.” Charlie Coyle and Jake DeBrusk also scored.
Marchand ended a tie with Patrice Bergeron and Hall of Famer Johnny Bucyk, who both had 20 goals in ten consecutive games. Linus Ullmark made 17 saves in his first game back after missing a game on January 9 due to an injury that was not immediately apparent. Boston has now improved to 9-1-3 in its previous 13 games.
For Montreal, which has dropped five of its past seven games, the scorers are Brendan Gallagher, Cole Caufield, Joel Armia, and Mike Matheson. Ten minutes and forty-six seconds into the second period, Heinen broke the stalemate with a wrister inside the far post after skating down the right wing and scoring his second goal.
Less than a minute later, Coyle made it 5-3 after tipping Pastrnak’s ball into the net. Before Pastrnak scored on a partial breakaway early in the last session, just over three minutes before Marchand’s historic goal, Gallagher’s goal had cut the score to 5-4.
The Original Six rivals have faced off three times, with Boston having won two of them. The season series finale will take place in Montreal on March 14. During the morning skate, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery remarked, “It’s weird but I am thankful that we get to play the Canadiens four times this year, last year we only got to play them three times.” It’s a competition game. It is irrelevant. There is a long and deep history between the Bruins and Montreal.
Prior to the match, the Bruins celebrated their fourth Centennial Era Night, which honored the years 1986–2000—a time they referred to as the “New Blood, New Beginnings” years. The high point came in 1988 when they ended an 18-series playoff losing skid to the Canadiens.
When a video tribute opened with the Canadiens skating with the Stanley Cup, the TD Garden crowd booed for a little while, but then cheered when the tribute showed the team winning against their rivals. Along with a few former teammates, Hall of Famers Ray Bourque and Cam Neely held a banner that said, “Broke the Jinx.” The return of veterans Carlo and Derek Forbort, who missed 20 games due to an unknown lower-body injury, strengthened Boston’s defense.