Bruins drop second consecutive OT game in 3-2 loss to Canadiens

Steve Conroy, Boston Herald on Mar 17, 2026

Published in Hockey

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The Bruins got some of what they needed in Montreal on Tuesday, but certainly not all they wanted.

For the second consecutive night, the B’s lost in the final minute of overtime soon after one of their own great chances didn’t find the back of the net.

Cole Caufield scored the winner with 22 seconds left in OT, tapping in a great pass from Nick Suzuki for the 3-2 victory at the Bell Centre. That came soon after Pavel Zacha, who scored both Bruins goals, had a clean breakaway, but his shot went wide and high. Goalie Jakub Dobes may have gotten a piece of it.

The one point allowed the B’s to keep their noses ahead of the surging Columbus Blue Jackets, who beat Carolina, and put them into a points tie with the idle Detroit Red Wings. The B’s moved into the first wild-card spot because they have one more regulation win than Detroit. The Habs, meanwhile, created a two-point cushion between the B’s and them.

The teams traded goals in each of the first two periods before they played a scoreless third period.

The Habs had a chance for the go-ahead goal with 3:01 left in regulation when Jeremy Swayman was out of the net and the puck was loose in the crease. Andrew Peeke managed to stay on top of long enough for Swayman to scramble back in net to eventually and snare Kaiden Guhle’s shot. When the whistle finally blew, Swayman gave Peeke a big hug.

That play by Peeke earned the B’s the point and four out of a possible six points on the three-game road trip.

The Bruins got a break almost immediately when Alexandre Carrier took a double-minor high-sticking penalty just 25 seconds into the game. But considering their recent power-play history (4 for 35 since the Olympic break coming into the game), you had to wonder if it would be a booby prize. It certainly looked like it was when the B’s quickly allowed a clean short-handed breakaway to Josh Anderson but Swayman came up with a huge glove save.

The B’s settled down and, with the first penalty winding down, they took the first lead of the game. David Pastrnak landed a shot on Dobes that produced a rebound for Zacha, who lifted a backhander over the netminder for his 21st goal of the season 2:22 into the game.

The B’s nearly doubled the lead on the second penalty when Casey Mittelstadt hit a post. They could have used another goal.

Once the teams went back to full strength, the Habs controlled much of the play in the first period as Montreal exhibited superior speed.

Turnovers in bad areas of the ice cost the B’s a second point in New Jersey on Monday and another allowed the Canadiens to tie it at 10:31. With the B’s breaking the puck out, Peeke was stopped near the Boston blue line and he zipped a pass into Zacha’s skates. The Habs pounced. Juraj Slafkovsky sent it down to a wide open Nick Suzuki, who had time to throw a couple of moves at Swayman before beating him on an in-tight backhander.

The shots in the first were even at 13-13, but seven of the B’s shots came on the double minor.

While the game seemed to be going in the wrong direction, the B’s were able to retake the lead at 5:41 on Zacha’s second of the game and career-high 22nd of the season. Mittelstadt gained the zone with some speed, pulled up and sent it back up to Viktor Arvidsson at the top of the left circle. Arvidsson sifted a nice pass down low that Zacha deftly redirected past Dobes. That gave Zacha a career high with 22 goals.

The B’s could not capitalize on a power play and had a couple more chances, including an opportunity all alone in front for Jonathan Aspirot but couldn’t push the lead to two goals.

And then the Habs tied it at 13:15, thanks again to Bruin miscues. With the Habs pressuring, the B’s had multiple chances to clear the zone with the puck on their stick only to give it away. Eventually, Anderson tipped home a Lane Hutson shot to even it up.

The B’s got another PP late in the period when Philip Danault hacked Nikit Zadorov and they couldn’t even gain the zone, never mind a shot on net. The game went into the third deadlocked at 2-2.