Watch: Bruins’ Zdeno Chara bats puck out of air for assist vs. Canadiens
Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara notched a pretty unique assist during Wednesday’s game against the Canadiens in helping the Bruins to their first goal of the game in Montreal.
Down 1–0 with just over 12 minutes left in regulation, Chara was able to bat the puck out of mid-air to send to teammate Loui Eriksson, who collected the unorthodox pass and skated in on a breakaway against Mike Condon.
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Despite Canadiens’ defenseman Jeff Petry putting pressure on Eriksson into the Habs’ defensive zone, Eriksson finished the play with a wristshot sent five-hole on Condon that tied the score. Eriksson's tally was his 11th of the season, with Chara's helper his 16th point.
The Bruins took the lead just :42 later thanks to forward Landon Ferraro tacking on another goal, and Patrice Bergeron added a third at 13:42 of the period to give the Boston a 3-1 win, their first in their last seven regular season tries against the Canadiens, and improve their road record to 10-2-2 on the season.
-- Beth Maiman