Bruins roll over the Canadiens for a 5-2 win in Boston | Canada News Media
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Bruins roll over the Canadiens for a 5-2 win in Boston

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The Bruins haven’t missed a beat after the retirement of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, while the Habs suffered their fourth straight loss.

The Boston Bruins just keep rolling along.

The Canadiens, on the other hand, are showing how much more work is needed on their rebuild.

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The Bruins beat the Canadiens 5-2 Saturday night at Boston’s TD Garden, improving their record to 13-1-2. The win for the Bruins came seven days after they lost 3-2 in overtime to the Canadiens at the Bell Centre. Boston now has an 11-0-1 record against the Canadiens in their last 12 meetings dating back to 2019.

Trent Frederic scored twice for the Bruins, while Charlie McAvoy, Pavel Zacha and James van Riemsdyk added singles. David Pastrnak had three assists, giving him 11-16-27 totals in 16 games.

Juraj Slafkovsky and defenceman Johnathan Kovacevic scored for the Canadiens — the second goal of the season for both. It was Slafkovsky’s first goal in seven games, while Kovacevic scored in a second straight game. Slafkovsky assisted on Kovacevic’s goal, giving the 19-year-old forward 2-3-5 totals on the season.

The Bruins outshot the Canadiens 44-22 and went 2-for-5 on the power play, while the Canadiens were 0-for-2. Canadiens goalie Jake Allen saw his record fall to 3-4-1 with a 3.54 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.

“The Bruins were good tonight,” Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said on RDS after the game. “It’s not that we didn’t work, but we didn’t work well. I found that we were soft a bit, too.”

St. Louis added the Canadiens gave the Bruins too much respect when it came to one-on-one battles, bodychecks and battles for the puck.

After 16 games, the Bruins have the same number of points they did at this point last season when they were 14-2-0 en route to finishing with a 65-12-5 record for an NHL-record 135 points. Boston is doing it this season without former captain Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, two veteran centres who retired after the Bruins were upset by the Florida Panthers in the first round of last season’s playoffs.

 

Bergeron (27) and Krejci (16) combined for 43 goals and 114 points last season with Bergeron winning the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s top defensive forward for the second straight season and the sixth time in his 19-year career.

The Bruins haven’t missed a beat without them.

For the Canadiens, this was their fourth straight loss — all in regulation time while being outscored 18-10 — as their record fell to 7-9-2. Last year, in the first full season of their rebuild, the Canadiens had a 9-8-1 record after 18 games. The longest regulation-time losing streak they had last season was six games.

For the second straight game, the Canadiens’ dads were in attendance in Boston on a fathers’ trip, after watching their sons lose 6-5 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday at the Bell Centre. Last season, when the Canadiens had a mothers’ trip, they also lost both games — 9-2 to the Capitals in Washington and 6-3 to the Predators in Nashville.

The Canadiens didn’t give their fathers much to cheer about Saturday night as they fell behind 2-0 in the first period, when they were outshot 18-8. McAvoy opened the scoring at 7:11 on a five-on-three power play after Jesse Ylönen was penalized for hooking at 6:11 and Kovacevic was sent off for tripping 13 seconds later.

Zacha made it 3-0 for the Bruins at 5:18 of the second period before Slafkovsky got the Canadiens on the board with a nice snapshot on a setup from behind the net by Nick Suzuki at 13:04. Frederic put the Bruins up 4-1 with his second of the game at 15:30 of the second period, 12 seconds after a Canadiens power play had ended.

After van Riemsdyk made it 5-1 at 5:39 of the third period on a power play, some fans at TD Garden started singing “Olé! Olé! Olé!” like fans at the Bell Centre do when the Canadiens are winning. Kovacevic wrapped up the scoring with 4:31 left on the clock.

After splitting them up for the previous five games, St. Louis started the game with Suzuki and Cole Caufield back together on the No. 1 line with Alex Newhook.

Caufield was held pointless with three shots and he has only one goal in the last 11 games. Only one of Caufield’s five goals this season has come at five-on-five. He has one power-play goal and three OT goals. In the first season of his eight-year, US$62.8-million contract with a salary-cap hit of US$7.85 million, Caufield is on pace to finish the season with 23 goals after scoring 26 in 46 games last season before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury that required surgery.

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The Canadiens’ Josh Anderson had only one shot on goal against the Bruins and is still looking for his first goal after 18 games and 307 minutes of total ice time. The Canadiens rank 23rd in the NHL in offence, scoring an average of 2.83 goals per game. Suzuki leads the Canadiens in scoring with 6-10-16 totals, which ranked him 51st in the NHL after Saturday’s games. The Canadiens rank 26th in defence, allowing an average of 3.56 goals per game.

The Canadiens took six minor penalties against the Bruins and lead the NHL in that category with 88 this season — an average of 4.89 per game. The fact they rank 23rd in the NHL in penalty-killing at 74.4 per cent makes the problem worse.

“I know that preparation, effort-wise, I know I can look every guy in the eye and know that they were ready to go to war tonight,” Kovacevic, who took three minor penalties, told RDS after the game. “I’ll have to rewatch, but I still think we were hitting, we were blocking shots. But some execution was off early and then the emotions kind of got the better of us and it snowballed. We got to learn how to put the brakes on that snowball and climb uphill a little bit until we find our A game again.”

Things won’t get any easier for the Canadiens with their next four games, also on the road, including a three-game California trip that starts Wednesday against the Ducks in Anaheim (10 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

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French league’s legal board orders PSG to pay Kylian Mbappé 55 million euros of unpaid wages

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The French league’s legal commission has ordered Paris Saint-Germain to pay Kylian Mbappé the 55 million euros ($61 million) in unpaid wages that he claims he’s entitled to, the league said Thursday.

The league confirmed the decision to The Associated Press without more details, a day after the France superstar rejected a mediation offer by the commission in his dispute with his former club.

PSG officials and Mbappé’s representatives met in Paris on Wednesday after Mbappé asked the commission to get involved. Mbappé joined Real Madrid this summer on a free transfer.

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Reggie Bush was at his LA-area home when 3 male suspects attempted to break in

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former football star Reggie Bush was at his Encino home Tuesday night when three male suspects attempted to break in, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

“Everyone is safe,” Bush said in a text message to the newspaper.

The Los Angeles Police Dept. told the Times that a resident of the house reported hearing a window break and broken glass was found outside. Police said nothing was stolen and that three male suspects dressed in black were seen leaving the scene.

Bush starred at Southern California and in the NFL. The former running back was reinstated as the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner this year. He forfeited it in 2010 after USC was hit with sanctions partly related to Bush’s dealings with two aspiring sports marketers.

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B.C. Lions lean on versatile offence to continue win streak against Toronto Argonauts

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VANCOUVER – A fresh face has been gracing the B.C. Lions‘ highlight reels in recent weeks.

Midway through his second CFL campaign, wide receiver Ayden Eberhardt has contributed touchdowns in two consecutive games.

The 26-year-old wide receiver from Loveland, Colo., was the lone B.C. player to reel in a passing major in his team’s 37-23 victory over the league-leading Montreal Alouettes last Friday. The week before, he notched his first CFL touchdown in the Lions’ win over the Ottawa Redblacks.

“It’s been awesome. It’s been really good,” Eberhardt said of his recent play. “At the end of the day, the biggest stat to me is if we win. But who doesn’t love scoring?”

He’ll look to add to the tally Friday when the Leos (7-6) host the Toronto Argonauts.

Eberhardt signed with B.C. as a free agent in January 2023 and spent much of last season on the practice squad before cementing a role on the roster this year.

The six-foot-two, 195-pound University of Wyoming product has earned more opportunities in his second season, said Lions’ head coach and co-general manager Rick Campbell.

“He’s a super hard worker and very smart. He understands, has high football IQ, as we call it,” Campbell said.

The fact that Eberhardt can play virtually every receiving position helps.

“He could literally go into a game and we could throw him into a spot and he’d know exactly what he’s doing,” the coach said. “That allows him to play fast and earn the quarterback’s trust. And you see him making plays.”

Eberhardt credited his teammates, coaches and the rest of the Lions’ staff with helping him prepare for any situation he might face. They’ve all spent time teaching him the ins and outs of the Canadian game, or go over the playbook and run routes after practice, he said.

“I’ve played every single position on our offence in a game in the last two years, which is kind of crazy. But I love playing football,” he said. “I want to play any position that the team needs me to play.”

While B.C.’s lineup is studded with stars like running back William Stanback — who has a CFL-high 938 rushing yards — and wide receiver Justin McInnis — who leads the league in both receiving yards (1,074) and receiving TDs (seven) — versatility has been a critical part of the team’s back-to-back wins.

“I think we’ve got a lot of talented guys who deserve to get the ball and make big plays when they have the ball in their hands. So it’s really my job to get them the ball as much as possible,” said quarterback Nathan Rourke.

“I think that makes it easy when you can lean on those guys and, really, we’re in a situation where anyone can have a big game. And I think that’s a good place to be.”

Even with a talented lineup, the Lions face a tough test against an eager Argos side.

Toronto lost its second straight game Saturday when it dropped a 41-27 decision to Ottawa.

“We’ll have our hands full,” Rourke said. “We’ll have to adjust on the fly to whatever their game plan is. And no doubt, they’ll be ready to go so we’ll have to be as well.”

The two sides have already met once this season when the Argos handed the Lions a 35-27 loss in Toronto back on June 9.

A win on Friday would vault B.C. to the top of the West Division standings, over the 7-6 Winnipeg Blue Bombers who are on a bye week.

Collecting that victory isn’t assured, though, even with Toronto coming in on a two-game skid, Campbell said.

“They’ve hit a little bit of a rut, but they’re a really good team,” he said. “They’re very athletic. And you can really see (quarterback Chad Kelly’s) got zip on the ball. When you see him in there, he can make all the throws. So we’re expecting their best shot.”

TORONTO ARGONAUTS (6-6) AT B.C. LIONS (7-6)

Friday, B.C. Place

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: The Lions boast a 4-1 home record this season, including a 38-12 victory over the Redblacks at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria, B.C., on Aug. 31. The Argos have struggled outside of BMO Field and hold a 1-5 away record. Trips to the West Coast haven’t been easy for Toronto in recent years — since 2003, the club is 4-14 in road games against B.C.

CENTURION: B.C. defensive back Garry Peters is set to appear in his 100th consecutive game. The 32-year-old from Conyers, Ga., is a two-time CFL all-star who has amassed 381 defensive tackles, 19 special teams tackles and 16 interceptions over seven seasons. “Just being on the field with the guys every day, running around, talking trash back and forth, it keeps me young,” Peters said. “It makes me feel good, and my body doesn’t really feel it. I’ve been blessed to be able to play 100 straight.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

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