The Montreal Canadiens quickly dispatched the Boston Bruins on Thursday night to claim first place in the Atlantic Division. The Canadiens chased Vezina Trophy candidate Jeremy Swayman for five goals in the first two periods and held on for a 5-2 victory. Despite a lackluster third period, they left no doubt about who the division's top team is.
Some are critical of the Bruins and feel their place in the standings this season is a bit of luck and that regression is coming their way, but that shouldn't diminish what the Canadiens did on Thursday. Boston is still one of the league's top teams with a +24 goal differential, and their stars will put them in a position to win games every night.
What was impressive about the Canadiens' win, and what makes them a Stanley Cup contender, is how they were able to handle those stars, and it shows that it is sustainable against any team they end up facing this season.
The Canadiens made Jeremy Swayman look human
Not many teams have been able to do that to Swayman this season, but the Canadiens capitalized on their chances and sent one of the Vezina front-runners to the locker room early. The Olympic gold medalist is one of the top goaltenders this season in goals saved above expected, which has masked Boston's defensive deficiencies, but Montreal exposed them.
Most questions about the Bruins this season are that they've had a softer strength of schedule, and people wondered how it would look when they faced a top offensive team. The Canadiens showed what could happen on Thursday.
Canadiens' team defense neutralized David Pastrnak
The Canadiens will need to face elite offensive players on their quest to the Stanley Cup, and few are more elite than David Pastrnak. Montreal made Pastrnak look pedestrian for much of the game, and Cole Caufield's defensive-zone strip on Boston's captain to head the other way for a breakaway goal was a microcosm of that.
Pastrnak's advanced statistics were below average on Thursday, which doesn't happen often. Maybe over a seven-game playoff series the best of the best find a way to take a couple of games off of the Canadiens, but if they can have performances like this more often than not, it'd be a great indicator of their place in the league.
Montreal's domination of Boston's top pair
A big reason for the Bruins' success this season has been the play of their top pair, Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm. They have been one of the best pairings in the league by both eye test and advanced numbers, and the Canadiens caved in to them in a 5-2 win.
Montreal outscored the pair 2-0, despite advanced numbers that suggested they were a bit better than that. Nevertheless, the main thing here is that Boston's top pair were outscored by two goals in a home game where they should've had the better matchups. How many pairs will the Canadiens face on the way to a Stanley Cup run that are better than the Bruins' top pair?
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