Flat Bruins lose to Montreal 2-1

Boston Bruins left wing Shawn Thornton, right, checks Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban in the third period of an NHL hockey game in Boston,Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

With a game built up by so many members of the media, mainly talking about Max Pacioretty's first game against Zdeno Chara and the Boston Bruins since he was injured last season from the Chara hit, this game was a total letdown. The Bruins took the play to Montreal in the first period, controlling the play but Carey Price made some great saves to keep Montreal in the game. After the first period it was all downhill for the Bruins as they looked slow, tired and without energy. I'm not sure how that happens when you haven't played a game since Saturday. The only Bruins players who played with some emotion and energy was Shawn Thornton, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Rich Peverley, Tyler Seguin, Tim Thomas and at times Milan Lucic. Zdeno Chara looked lost out there and afraid to hit anyone and have Montreal call the cops. He looked awful out there on the ice. The crowd wasn't into the game at all either, except during and after the Marchand-Subban fight.

In the first period, Patrice Bergeron was credited with his 2nd goal of the season, as Tomas Plekanec won the faceoff in the Montreal end and the puck went through Carey Price's legs and into the net. It was a power-play goal.

In the second period, Erik Cole scored to tie the game for Montreal. It always seems Cole scores when he plays against the Bruins. Also in the second period, Brad Marchand and P.K. Subban tried to fight each other twice but the linesmen kept breaking them up, so the third time they came out of the penalty box and dropped the gloves and the linesmen finally let them go. It was a spirited fight with not many punches landing and lots of ducking by Marchand to avoid Subban's wild rights. Looks like Subban finally learned how to keep his balance during fights.

P.K. Subban vs Brad Marchand

In the third period, Tomas Plekanec scored to make it 2-1.

Some Claude Julien quotes after the game

"Our team is not playing the way it should be or can (play) over the 60 minutes...the execution is not there."

"The inability to focus for 60 minutes is pretty obvious and apparent. You're either focused or you're not...if I had the answer, trust me, I'd correct it."
Source

Game notes
Montreal led the game in shots 35-30, hits 18-17 and blocked shots 21-7. The Bruins led the game in faceoff wins 30-29.

The Bruins went 1 for 6 on the power-play. Montreal went 0 for 1 on the power-play.

Tim Thomas played in net and made 33 saves on 35 shots. Thomas is now 3-4 with a 2.14 GAA and a .929 save percentage.

Adam McQuaid returned to the lineup and was -2 in his 14:52 of ice time. Steven Kampfer was scratched.

Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverley and Johnny Boychuk led the Bruins in shots with 4 apiece.

Milan Lucic led the Bruins in hits with 4.

Onto the next one
This was an ugly sloppy game for the Bruins. The good news is that it was only 2-1 and they play Montreal again in two days. Bad news is that Montreal is feeling that they're out of their slump now and Saturday's game is going to be big. Yes, the Bruins next game is on Saturday against these same Montreal Canadiens at 7pm ET in Montreal. We all know it's going to be crazy up there in Montreal with the return of Zdeno Chara so the Bruins got to be ready and wake up.