Montreal Canadiens Playoffs Game 8 Home game 4 | Thursday May 8, 2014 | Second round series is tied 2-2 |
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Game Recap:It was a tight game with both teams playing defensive hockey. Shots were not scarce but they came mostly from the perimeter particularly by the Canadiens. There was only one line (Lars Eller) taking the puck to the net and traffic in front of Tuukka Rask was non existent giving him a busy, but non-threatening night. The Bruins did a good job in the neutral zone not letting the Habs generate speed. The winning goal came on botched defensive coverage and poor communication from Douglas Murray and Mike Weaver. Plus / Minus ▲ Carey Price, P.K. Subban, Lars Eller, Dale Weise, Tomas Plekanec, Alexei Emelin, Andrei Markov, Josh Gorges, Brian Gionta ▼ David Desharnais, Max Pacioretty, Daniel Briere, |
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Boxscore:
| FINAL | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT1 | – | T |
| Canadiens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 |
| Bruins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | – | 1 |
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Shots on Goal:
| FINAL | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT1 | – | T |
| Canadiens | 10 | 9 | 14 | 0 | – | 33 |
| Bruins | 13 | 12 | 7 | 3 | – | 35 |
| NHL Three Stars | ||
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| Post-game Press Conference |
- “That was a hard-nosed game played by two teams, well-prepared, and both goalies were phenomenal tonight, and we lost a battle in front of the net obviously on the winning goal, but I’m pleased with our team effort. The guys battled hard, and when you get to the overtime, it could go both ways, so both teams played really hard tonight.”
- “The second half I thought we played really well. The second half of the game we started skating well, we started moving the puck well. We started to push the pace. Tuukka Rask made some key saves for them. Both goalies played really well tonight. It was a real playoff game.”
- “We gotta move on. We wish we could have won that game. We are prepared for a long series. That was our goal to stretch it as long as we can. You never know what can happen the next few games. Never know.”
- On David Desharnais line: “They got better as they game went on. Obviously, you want your No. 1 line to be more productive but if they keep working, good things are going to happen.”
Goalie Carey Price
- “It bounced over my stick, and I lost it in the crowd of people in front of me. Somebody yelled ‘Over!’ so I looked over my left shoulder and obviously it wasn’t there, and somebody poked it in on the other side.”
Captain Brian Gionta
- “It’s the playoffs. You play. You reset and you get going again. It’s no different now. It’s the best-of-three going down the stretch and we’ll be good. It’s tough to lose. Obviously it’s a big swing game and I thought we deserved a better outcome. It’s bitter right now, but at the end of the day, it’s a tied series and it’s best-of-three now.”
Defenseman Josh Gorges
- “We weren’t sharp. For whatever reason, we were spread out, we were chaotic, we were scattered. We weren’t playing that tight game that we need to play. As the game went on, we progressed and got a little better, and we started playing more our style of game. But we gotta try and make life a little more difficult in front of Rask and in front of the net. If we want to score on him, it’s gotta be hard on him.”
- “It was a pretty tight game. It was a hard-fought game both ways, and it sure feels good when they go the right way. Fortunately we got that bounce, and it’s a big one, and now we want to go home and take advantage of having home ice again.“
Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron
- “I thought we did the job in the neutral and even in our zone. They’re a good team. They’re going to get their chances. It’s about not panicking and making sure we’re staying composed and compact in our zone. Disturbing their speed is something we need to do.”
Bruins forward Matt Fraser
- “Words can’t even describe that feeling. I don’t even want to begin to try to explain that. It’s something I wish every kid could feel. I wish I could remember it; it just happened like a blur. The puck got to the net and it was bobbling in front. I just tried to sniff it out and whack it in.”
- “It was bouncing around and I was just swatting it as hard as I could and hoping it would hit something. (Carey) Price is such a good goalie, he’s obviously a world-class goalie and he doesn’t give out a lot of rebounds. We might have got lucky there, but the puck wound up in the back of the net.”
Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask
- “I think the guys were relieved, relieved and really happy to get that win. Because it wasn’t easy. It hasn’t been easy. We really needed this win. We knew that. Montreal played a good game. We never really took it to them as we’d like. It seemed like we were a little nervous at times, squeezing our sticks and not really playing our game. Now, hopefully, this turns things around for us.”
- “For the most part we did a good job of clearing them out of there and letting me see the puck. There were a couple slap shots from the slot or off the wing that made me move a bit. Slap shots are never easy. But there weren’t any backdoor looks and stuff like that, so I think that’s positive.”
Bruins head coach Claude Julien
- “We’ve seen [Matt Fraser] this year and he’s been playing well lately in Providence, and he actually has been scoring some goals and playing some pretty good hockey, and he showed that tonight. I liked his game. He seemed to be strong on the puck, making some good decisions, wasn’t turning pucks over, and seemed to be skating well. The GM deserves the credit, he’s the one that called him up.”
- “The win was important, obviously, to get us back in the series. I don’t think that we’ve played our best hockey. That’s not to try to downplay this win. We played hard but I know that I’ve seen our team play better.”
- “[Tuukka Rask] was good, he was poised and we didn’t give up three breakaways so that helped.”
To look back at the full lineups for tonight’s game, check the Game Day preview.
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