BUFFALO, N.Y. – After a lackluster first outing Friday night in the rookie tournament, the Montreal Canadiens bounced back against the hopeful Boston Bruins with a 4-1 win to improve their record to one win against a defeat.
After scoring the day before, Quebec’s Joshua Roy stood out again against Boston, this time with a goal and an assist. After contributing to the offensive revival with CH’s second goal, scored by Jan Mysak, Roy shined the light in the third period to give Montreal a more comfortable cushion. Cedrick Guindon also scored for the Canadiens, while Ty Smilanic completed the scoring into an empty net. Trevor Kuntar scored the Bruins’ only goal.
The Bruins won their first game of the tournament on Friday, by a score of 4-2 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Bruins’ young prospects were the first to sign up. After just over five minutes of play in the first period, Trevor Kuntar surprised Quentin Miller with a backhand shot as he turned around in the faceoff circle to open the scoring.
Miller had a solid game, stopping 26 shots. He also took advantage of the lack of opportunism of the Bruins players, who often missed point-blank opportunities.
The Canadians’ hopes responded a little later, in the middle of the game, on the power play. With heavy traffic in front of the opposing cage, Cedrick Guindon recovered a loose puck in the slot before pushing it into the back of the net to create a 1-1 tie.
After a tougher game the day before, defenseman Logan Mailloux came close to shining offensively late in the period. Mailloux managed to escape in front of goalie Samuel St. Hilaire, but he lost control of the puck on a fake and was unable to make a good shot.
Blueline teammate Jayden Struble, who did not play against the Sabers due to a limitation that delayed his arrival in Buffalo, also did relatively well. He made good restarts and wasn’t afraid to get physically involved on the ramp.
Returning from the locker room for the second half, Montreal wasted no time before imposing its rhythm. During a two-on-one fast break, Jan Mysak fired a shot that found the back of the net and put the Canadians in the driver’s seat for the first time in the game. Mysak notably benefited from a great recovery under pressure from Logan Mailloux against Joshua Roy in the sequence.
The Canadians continued to generate scoring opportunities in the third period. Roy first made a magnificent fake between his legs before putting it back in front of the net, but Jared Davidson couldn’t capitalize. Moments later, Roy accepted Christopher Ortiz’s pass entering the zone and scored with an accurate shot to double Montreal’s lead.
The Canadiens prospects will benefit from a day of rest on Sunday before taking on the Ottawa Senators rookies on Monday at 1:30 p.m. This meeting will be broadcast on RDS.ca.
