Canadiens dominate Winter Classic

A large worldwide television audience. After the 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Foxboro and a day off yesterday, the Bruins awakened to Eastern Conference standings that don’t look almost as good for them as they did just a few days ago.

Montreal beat the Boston Bruins 5-1 in the NHL Winter Classic before a crowd of 67,246 at Gillette Stadium, home of the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

“I mean, the way the night went, couldn’t really ask for anything more”, said Gallagher.

Despite having the advantage of the Boston faithful behind them, the Bruins came out of the gates flat in what was an extremely one-sided first period. Now fans will await the next two outdoor games in Minnesota and Colorado and remain anxious about who will get to host next year’s Winter Classic. “We want to make sure that we’re going to have good memories and build on that big win.”…

With the Bruins (20-13-4) going 14:50 between shots, Montreal, which had 27 shot attempts to the Bruins’ four in the first period, maintained control and took a 2-0 lead two minutes into the second.

The Canadiens played like a Stanley Cup contender early this season, overcoming the loss of goalie Carey Price. His energy fuels the Canadiens, and they were far more risky with him.

The NHL is hosting its eighth Winter Classic on Friday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. (1 p.m. ET, NBC).

Boston Bruins fans filed in prior to the start of the Winter Classic.

I was disappointed in the effort from the Black and Gold today, but Montreal came to win, not to take part in the Winter Classic.

Gallagher’s presence gives the Canadiens more prickliness. After practice, captain Max Pacioretty said the team was a bit more motivated to help Condon earn the win in his hometown. Obviously, there’s a lot of distractions and things going on. He’s very annoying to goalies.

During the Canadiens’ struggles, they weren’t often aggressive driving the net. Beleskey, who later scored his third goal in the last two games and fourth in the last four, appeared to be the one who poked the puck under Condon, but the whistle had already blown.

No team in the league started out better than the Canadiens. Smelling a game-clincher, the Canadiens followed with flurry, but Ferraro did a nice job supporting down low and clearing the puck from the frenzy of activity around the Boston net.

Maybe one day they’ll get to experience it in person. The Habs took a 1-0 lead a little over a minute into the contest on a tally from center David Desharnais, as Montreal outshot Boston 14-3 in the opening frame.

“I was anticipating that would happen”, Gallagher said after the game. He was seen after the game with his right thumb wrapped.

The Canadiens wore a white version of their familiar horizontally-striped, classic red home uniform with a much thicker blue stripe across. I hope that next year they give fans a way to watch the game, and let them have the spotlight for themselves.

As soon as the Habs stepped into the cold air, Byron said, “You could feel the intensity and rivalry right away”. Colin Miller can at least hold his head high knowing he was not tainted by the debacle at Gillette Stadium. The constant references to the New England Patriots throughout the game was nauseating.

So to have Mike Condon on the ice, with Ted Condon and many members of his family in the stands, serves as a point of inspiration for his Canadiens teammates. “So I was pretty happy”. “Hopefully got some of his mojo on my helmet there”.

He didn’t get to meet Brady.

“It’s unbelievable”, said Condon’s brother, Zach. I just recall being so excited to have that opportunity.