Just one week after squandering a pair of two-goal leads in a 7-6 shootout loss in Buffalo, the Bruins came within 2:22 of shutting out the hated Habs in Montreal on Saturday. They were less than 48 seconds away from escaping with a win.
But they weren't able to close it out, as yet another less-than-complete performance led to a complete collapse, with the Canadiens shocking the Bruins with two goals in the final minutes of the third period, then another in overtime to move into a tie atop the Northeast Division with a 3-2 win.
The Bruins technically still sit in first place because they have two games in hand on Montreal, but the Canadiens also have two more wins and have now defeated Boston in all three head-to-head matchups so far this season.
"[It was] just a couple turnovers in the third and we started scrambling a little bit and panicking for no reason," Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron said. "Obviously it's definitely not the way we wanted to end the game. It's a tough way to lose a point against Montreal, who we're battling with for that first spot."
Actually, there was plenty of reason for panic. After turning in two strong periods and building a 2-0 lead on the strength of a pair of Bergeron goals, the Bruins played tentative in the third. They offered little resistance as Montreal dominated play in the final period, outshooting Boston 18-8 in the third and 5-0 in overtime.
It took until the closing minutes for the Canadiens to finally get anything past Tim Thomas (39 saves), but long before Scott Gomez scored their first goal, the Habs had taken control of the game and the Bruins were just hoping to escape with the win.
They got lucky when Mathieu Darche's goal midway through the third was waved off for being batted in with a high stick, but there would be plenty more pucks to go in legitimately before this one was over.
Gomez opened the floodgates with a harmless enough looking low shot from the left boards that appeared to tip off Zdeno Chara's skate and slip through Thomas' legs.
"They were looking for momentum and they found it with that first goal," Thomas said. "It hit off a couple skates and bounced sideways as it was on its way to me and my mind couldn't catch up with it. That's a save I should have."
It was also a win the Bruins should have had, though Thomas added, "I think we played a real good game for the majority of the game."
Those sentiments were echoed by coach Claude Julien, who also somehow managed to find positives in his club's strong start, despite the fact that it was followed by such a horrific collapse.
"I think we had a better first period in this building and I think that was important for us," Julien said. "We built a 2-0 lead. Now it's just a matter of staying composed, and I thought we did a decent job in the third. But again, you can't take those penalties at those times, and it gave them the momentum that they needed."
The Bruins didn't look very composed in the third as Montreal launched rush after rush into Boston's zone, peppering Thomas with shots. Things weren't much better on the few occasions when the Bruins managed to make it down to Montreal's end.
Michael Ryder committed a tripping penalty on James Wisniewski at the Montreal blue line at 16:32, setting the stage for Gomez's power-play goal. Blake Wheeler then put Boston in another hole when he took down Wisniewski with a hook in the left corner of the Montreal zone just 10 seconds into overtime.
The Canadiens didn't convert the ensuing 4-on-3 power play, but they scored soon after when Max Pacioretty ended the game with a rush at 3:43 of the extra session.
Pacioretty's ensuing celebration and a shove at Chara finally pushed the captain over the edge, sparking a postgame scrum as Chara tried to get at Pacioretty. Hal Gill tried to restrain him, but tempers flared again when Gomez threw another shot at Chara, triggering more shoving before officials got everything under control.
"I didn't see it so I can't really talk about it," Bergeron said when asked about Chara's eruption. "If Z didn't like it, they must have done something. Z doesn't just do things like that just for no reason."
Seeing some emotion from the big guy could be a good thing if the Bruins can carry it over to their next matchup, which could be just as contentious when they take on Matt Cooke and the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Monday.
But it would have been even better to see that emotion when the game was still going on and could have helped halt Montreal's momentum before it was too late.
