Call of the Wilde: Montreal Canadiens lose to Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime squeaker

Some of the darkest days in this franchise history were in January 2022. Yet only two months later, some of the biggest hopes in 20 years are on the horizon. Brian Wilde has more.

The game took a back seat to the trading deadline day in the NHL.

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Boston Bruins on March 21 after a terrific deadline period of rebuilding the franchise.

First to a quick wrap of the game with the Bruins winning 3-2 in overtime, before an extended look at the outstanding work by Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes at the deadline.

It was a rare low event game since Martin St. Louis took over as head coach. The Canadiens haven’t been chasing the game often in his almost 20 games, but this one was controlled by the Bruins for the first half and was kept close thanks to a — once again — solid Jake Allen.

Allen’s return has shown what consistent goaltending can bring. All he has done is make the odd amazing save, but, more importantly, not let in a soft goal.

Soft goals deflate a team much more than ones that a team feels doesn’t let them down.

David Savard returned to the lineup and he jumped right into the new look offence by scoring a rare goal. Savard had a gorgeous back hand into the top corner. It was a goal that one would expect from a star forward, not a stay-at-home defenceman.

In the third period, the Canadiens took the lead as Joel Armia led a two-man breakaway. He took the shot and it was a beauty into the top corner. Armia has taken a lot of heat this season, but his game has slowly been coming around.