Talking Points: Bertuzzi Scores First Bruins Goal in Win

BOSTON – Here are the Talking Points from the Boston Bruins 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden on Thursday night.

GOLD STAR: Tyler Bertuzzi has fit right in with the Boston Bruins since arriving in Boston and scored his first goal in Black and Gold as part of a first period attack that put the B’s in the driver’s seat. Bertuzzi finished with a goal and two points along with four shot attempts in 15:54 of ice time and was a plus-2 on a strong overall evening. The goal was the perfect kind of crash-and-bang goal as Bertuzzi fought off Chris Wideman looking to eliminate him from the play, and then he threw a puck at the backside of Jake Allen that took a few bounces before ending up in the back of the net. Those are the kinds of goals that will be scored once it gets to Stanley Cup playoff time.

BLACK EYE: The Montreal Canadiens don’t have anything to hang their head about in a solid effort against the Bruins, but the Rem Pitlick hit on Patrice Bergeron put the B’s in a salty mood early in the game. The puck was nowhere near Bergeron when Pitlick clipped the B’s captain in the head with high contact, and Brad Marchand wasted zero time jumping the Canadiens skater and tackling him in the crease. Both players ended up in the penalty box for roughing and the Bruins attempted several times to get Pitlick to answer for a very late hit against their captain, but Pitlick never truly answered the bell for his transgressions. Also, he finished a minus-2 with no shots on net for the game, so it was a night to forget all around for the Montreal center.

Nobody treats Patrice Bergeron this way in his own house pic.twitter.com/tuKegvUxSu

— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) March 23, 2023

TURNING POINT: The Boston Bruins were holding a slim 3-2 lead after the first 40 minutes of play and were actually getting outshot by a wide margin by Montreal. So the B’s were playing with fire leaving Montreal hanging around in the game, but they stepped it up a notch in the third period after relying quite a bit on Jeremy Swayman for the first two periods. Then halfway through the third they got their insurance goal with David Krejci scoring after a Connor Clifton point shot created a loose puck situation in front. Once the B’s were up 4-2 midway through the third, the game was over.

HONORABLE MENTION: It’s got to be Jeremy Swayman in a game where the Boston Bruins were outshot by a 31-21 margin and the Bruins goaltender had to be at his best making 23 saves in the first two periods while the B’s were loose with the puck. His best stop was probably a leg pad save at the post on Rafael Harvey-Pinard in the second period that was followed by Swayman gloving down the loose puck after it floated behind him during the ensuing scrum at the net. It was a miraculous couple of saves and showed that Swayman continues to be just as locked in as Linus Ullmark right now.

BY THE NUMBERS: 49 – a career high in goals for David Pastrnak after he scored in the second period to give the Boston Bruins a two-goal cushion.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “You don’t hit our captain late. That was a 3-second late hit.” –Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery, on the sketchy Rem Pitlick hit on Patrice Bergeron in the first period.