BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – NOVEMBER 18: Charlie McAvoy #73 of the Boston Bruins celebrates with Brad Marchand #63 after scoring against the Montreal Canadiens during the first period at TD Garden on November 18, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Trent Frederic scored two goals, Brad Marchand collected his 500th career assist and the Boston Bruins cruised past longtime rivals the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 on Saturday night.
Facing the Canadiens for the second time in eight days, Boston got some payback for a 3-2 overtime loss in Montreal last Saturday.
Pavel Zacha, Charlie McAvoy and James van Riemsdyk also scored for the Bruins (13-1-2). Boston posted NHL records for wins (65) and points (135) last season.
On a night when members of the 1970 and ’72 Stanley Cup-winning teams — led by Hall of Famers Bobby Orr and Johnny Bucyk — raised a banner to the rafters, the Bruins jumped out fast in the 759th regular-season meeting between the Original Six clubs.
“When you bring a lot of people in town and there's a ceremony, you never know how the team is going to come out,” Marchand said. “I thought we had a great game. We kind of owed it to those guys. They're the ones that built the foundation that we try to uphold today. It's great that we were able to put a game like that in front of them.”
Juraj Slafkovsky and Johnathan Kovacevic scored for the Canadiens, who lost a fourth straight.
The Bruins are 11-0-1 in their last 12 games against Montreal. Jeremy Swayman, who took the OT loss last weekend, improved to 7-0-1 and made 20 saves.
“I would love to be in their shoes doing the same thing one day,” Swayman said about the Cup winners.
With Boston skating on a two-man, power-play advantage, McAvoy one-timed Marchand’s pass into the top left corner of the net from the right circle 7:11 into the opening period. Marchand picked up his milestone assist on the goal.
“We were definitely more aggressive last week,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “We definitely initiated a lot more things, a lot more control. We forced them last week to be uncomfortable. They forced us tonight to be uncomfortable. They brought some heaviness.”
Frederic’s first goal came with 40 seconds left in the opening period when he redirected Brandon Carlo’s shot past goalie Jake Allen.
Zacha’s wrister from the slot deflected off the stick of a Canadiens’ player in front and trickled past Allen’s right skate, making it 3-0 at 5:18 of the second period.
Frederic’s second goal came on a wrister with 4:30 left in the second, giving Boston a 4-1 edge.
After they went up 5-1 in the third, the TD Garden fans started chanting and mocking the Canadiens with “Ole! Ole!” — a chant used when they play well in Montreal.
“I thought we played the right way for 60 minutes — the way we want to play,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said.
Bruins star David Pastrnak missed a good amount of the opening period but returned to the bench late in the period.
The Bruins said Milan Lucic is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team after he was involved in an undisclosed incident Friday night.
UP NEXT
Canadiens: At the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, the second of a five-game trip.
Bruins: At the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, their first of five straight away from TD Garden.
