The Bruins beat the host Montreal Canadiens, 5-4, to win their 65th hockey game on Thursday and finally found out who their first-round playoff opponent will be on Monday.
And, oh, Bruins fans have got another finger-crossing situation.
By virtue of their loss to the Hurricanes, the Florida Panthers will face the Bruins in the opening round that will start at TD Garden, presumably on Monday. The Cats own the distinction of being one of two teams to beat the Bruins twice this year with both wins coming down in Sunrise. The Bruins won both games in Boston.
Meanwhile, captain Patrice Bergeron — quite possibly playing his last game in his home province — left the game after the first period for what was club termed as “precautionary” reasons with an upper body injury. Maybe so, but that’s not exactly what Bruins fans were hoping to see in the last game of the season. Add the captain to the list that includes Linus Ullmark and David Krejci of important players nursing injuries that they hope won’t keep them from playing Game 1 on Monday.
For the first time all year, the Bruins spent stretches of the finale looking like they didn’t care whether they won or lost. They won anyway, scoring twice in the third period to take the glorified game of shinny, setting the new record for wins at 65.
If ever a Bruins-Canadiens game could be reduced to a glorified exhibition, it was Thursday’s regular-season finale. The Habs were heading home for the summer while the B’s were tuning up for what they hope will be a long playoff run.
After spotting the Canadiens the first goal — a tally from Umass-Lowell product Lucas Condotta on his first NHL shift — the Bruins bounced back with a pair of goals from Trent Frederic (17) and Jake DeBrusk, who matched his career-high with his 27th goal despite missing a month with a broken bone in his leg that he suffered in the Winter Classic.
But if there were any fears about this final meaningless, beyond an untimely injury, it was to have any bad habits setting in. After making some good strides on the power play in the last couple of weeks, they went 0 for 4 in the first period which included a full two-minute 5 on 3. A couple of errant Brad Marchand passes went for 2-on-1s the other way, but the Bruins back-checked well enough that a shot never made it to Jeremy Swayman on either occasion.
The Bruins found themselves down by a goal after Nick Suzuki tipped home a long shot in a 4-on-4 and a bad decision by Swayman led to the Habs’ go-ahead goal. With Rem Pitlick coming out of the penalty box, a puck bounced over David Pastrnak at the right point and skittered down to the Boston end. Swayman skated out to get it at the left boards, but Pitlick easily beat him to it. With a wide open net, Pitlick dished it to Michael Pezzetta for the gimme.
When the Bruins decided to play, they dominated the Habs, like they did on a shift later in the period. At the end of it, Dmitry Orlov took it deep and somehow slipped a shot over goalie Sam Montembeault’s shoulder and under the bar to tie it with a perfect shot.
But the sloppiness continued in the third for the Bruins. On a power play, they meandered back into their own zone as the Habs buzzed around before Justin Barron blasted a loose puck past Swayman.
The Bruins kept moving forward, however. Charlie Coyle, however, tied it again with a 11:12 remaining in the third, roofing a nifty shot over Montembeault.
Just 2:12 after the Coyle goal, Pastrnak scored his 61st on a tap-in. It held up as the game-winner.
