Fraser, Spooner Score As Bruins Fall To Canadiens 3-2 In Preseason Opener
MONTREAL (AP/CBS) -- Drayson Bowman scored with 48 seconds left to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night in the preseason opener for both clubs.
Christian Thomas set up the winner after scoring the tying goal late in the second period. Jiri Sekac had Montreal's other goal. Ryan Spooner and Matt Fraser scored for Boston.
Only 1:17 in, Spooner picked off a back pass from Nikita Scherbak's and went in alone to beat Montreal netminder Dustin Tokarski.
Box Score: Canadiens 3, Bruins 2
"I had some chances last year like that and I just pulled up, so I tried to take the puck to the net," Spooner said following the game, according to the Bruins website.
Spooner played 20 games with Boston last season, but did not net a goal.
"In Spoons' case, it was nice to see him score that goal," said Bruins Head Coach Claude Julien. "But if you watch the game, he's still a liability defensively - their guy gets a quality shot from the slot there, so he's got to keep working on that part of his game.
"I thought the goal he scored was one that we've asked him to do, take pucks to the net and he used his speed and took the puck to the net, so that's a step in the right direction for him," added Julien.
Fraser scored at 9:12 on a nice feed from David Krejci to put Boston up 2-0.
"Fraser competed hard and nice to see him play that way," said Julien. "That's basically our identity and we need to be a little harder up front as a team, so those are the kinds of things you like to see from young players."
But that lead would not last, as Sekac beat Niklas Svedberg with a shot off of David Krejci's stick at 19:52 in the first, and Thomas tied it at 16:49 in the second period.
Niklas Svedberg got the start in net for Boston and stopped 16 of 18 shots. Malcolm Subban played the third period and stopped eight of the nine shots he saw, but couldn't stop Bowman's game-winner in the final minute.
But despite the final score, Julien was pleased with the Boston's play in net.
"Both goalies played well," said the coach. "It's unfortunate it's a real bad bounce there at the end, it's a mistake off the draw, but a bad bounce off Casto's stick and right to their player and I guess Morrow didn't read that really well and I think took the same guy that Piesy had - so young players making mistakes early in the preseason and that's why we have opportunities to work with them and work on that part of our game."
Adam Jones Plus/Minus From B's Loss:
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