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Rookie forward Gallagher lifts Canadiens past Bruins

Gallagher

It seemed like anytime there was a mention of the Boston Bruins Wednesday night, Jarome Iginla’s name was usually in the sentence. Reported blockbuster trades do that.

While all that was going on behind the scenes and on Twitter, Montreal Canadiens rookie forward Brendan Gallagher was playing a pivotal role in helping his team get past their arch rivals, the Bruins, in a shootout and back into top spot in the Northeast Division.

The 20-year-old Gallagher, who stands just 5'9" and 178 pounds, scored late in the third period to get the Canadiens within a goal before Andrei Markov tied the game with nine seconds remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime.

Gallagher then won it in the shootout, scoring the only goal between both teams in what was six-round skills competition, as the Habs completed a late comeback with a 6-5 victory.

Gallagher is now up to 10 goals and 19 points in 29 games. That puts him third in rookie scoring, behind Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers and Cory Conacher of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

And Gallagher seems undeterred by his size, or lack of.

“He shows a lot of character by going to the dirty places and competing,” Canadiens defenseman Josh Gorges told the Montreal Gazette.

“He gets hacked and he gets whacked and cross-checked and he’s still going to the front of the net.”
“I don’t know if there are many rookies who have the impact he has on our team.”

The Canadiens improved their record to 21-7-5. Their 47 points lead the Bruins by a single point for the division lead, however Boston does have a game in hand.