MONTREAL (AP) — David Pastrnak's goal midway through the third period was the winner and the Boston Bruins closed out their record-setting regular season with a 5-4 comeback win over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.
Dmitry Orlov had a goal and an assist. Trent Frederic, Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle also scored for Boston (65-12-5). Jeremy Swayman made 30 saves.
The Bruins closed their Presidents Trophy-winning season by establishing records for wins (65) and points (135) in a season.
“We took five minutes and celebrated it and we moved on,” said Jeremy Swayman, who was awarded the William Jennings trophy along with teammate Linus Ullmark. “We know that there’s a bigger goal in mind. … And we’re going to take that confidence into the playoffs.”
Boston broke the NHL points record with a 5-2 victory over Washington on Tuesday. With that win, the Bruins pushed their points total to 133, one more than the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens and added to it on Thursday. Those Canadiens played in an era without overtime and shootouts. The Bruins' extra points for shootout wins and overtime wins were unavailable to Canadiens when they set the record.
The Bruins also set the NHL victory record with 63 on Sunday at Philadelphia, breaking a tie with the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning.
“I think we appreciate what we’ve accomplished,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “But the beauty of sports is you have to have a short memory because two days later, the next day, we’ve got to move on. Three days from now, we start Game One.”
The Bruins will face the Florida Panthers, last season’s Presidents Trophy winners. in the first round of the playoffs.
“They’re a really good team, very dangerous team and we’re gonna have to be at the top of our game if we want to have success,” Montgomery said of the Panthers.
Lucas Condotta scored in his NHL debut, and Michael Pezzetta added a goal and an assist for the Canadiens. Nick Suzuki and Justin Barron also scored as Montreal closed the season at 31-45-6. Starting on back-to-back nights, Sam Montembeault made 16 saves.
“It was loud, it was nice to hear,” Condotta said of the crowd cheering as his name was called. “To be honest, some of the best fans in the world. I grew up in Toronto and it beat that, times two.”
Condotta put Montreal in front early when he moved into the crease and batted the puck in 3:27 into the first period. Joel Teasdale earned his first NHL point with an assist.
Boston tied the game 9:19 into the period when Frederic redirected Connor Clifton’s shot from the right faceoff circle.
DeBrusk gave the Bruins their first lead at 14:40, beating Montembeault with a shot from a tight angle.
Joel Edmundson intercepted a clearing pass along the boards and took a shot from the point that Suzuki tipped in 7:16 into the second period. He tied Cole Caufield’s team-best mark of 26 goals.
Montreal regained the lead just over a minute later when Rem Pitlick outraced Swayman for the puck and sent a pass to Pezzetta, who tapped in his seventh goal of the season into an empty net.
Orlov fired a shot just under the crossbar, tying the game at 3 for Boston at 13:58 of the second.
Barron scored on a loose puck in the slot for a short-handed goal, giving Montreal its third lead of the game 1:09 into the third period.
Coyle knotted the score for Boston, beating Montembeault with a wrist shot at 8:48.
Just over two minutes later, Orlov connected with Pastrnak on a cross-crease pass. Pastrnak's 61st goal of the season was the winner.
INJURY REPORT
Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson left the game early in the second period after getting tangled up with Coyle in the neutral zone and falling onto the ice. The team announced during the second period that Matheson had suffered a lower-body injury and would not return.
UP NEXT
Bruins: Face the Florida Panthers in a first-round playoff series.
Canadiens: Season over.
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The Associated Press
