The Boston Bruins defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 5-4, to close their stellar regular season Thursday night at Bell Centre.
The Bruins finished their historic campaign at 65-12-5, while the Canadiens ended at 31-45-6.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Boston was the best team in hockey, from start to finish.
In the regular season finale, against a subpar Canadiens team with eyes set on the draft lottery, the Bruins didn’t have much to prove. They had already clinched the No. 1 seed. They’d already broken a stockpile of records, including the NHL’s all-time single-season wins record, but playing with a content demeanor isn’t Boston’s style. The Black and Gold gave it their all until the final buzzer of the campaign, allowing no room for Montreal to seize a freebie in front of its home crowd.
But as he’s done time and time again, David Pastrnak rose to the occasion, scoring what proved to be the game-winning goal to cap off the year in picture-perfect fashion. Who better, right?
Despite taking a precautionary approach, which included pulling team captain Patrice Bergeron early after 5:36 minutes on the ice, the B’s gave the Canadiens a run for their money, treating Game 82 like a postseason contest, which they’ve consistently done over the course of the year.