FOXBOROUGH — In most cases, the hometown favorites are wearing the red, white and blue shirts at Gillette Stadium.
In the NHL’s Winter Classic on Friday afternoon, the visiting Montreal Canadiens donned their bleu, blanc and rouge and, in dispatching the Boston Bruins, 5-1, looked as dominant as the New England Patriots normally do in this Foxborough setting.
Habs forward Brian Flynn, who grew up in Lynnfield playing regularly at many rinks across the North Shore, relished in the outdoor experience in front of 67,246 fans.
“It was fun. It was a cool experience and one that was tough to describe,” Flynn said.
“Even after whistles, to be quite honest, I was looking up and taking it all in. There were a lot of people here, and I’m really happy I had some family and friends there because they helped me get here.”
Flynn had an assist on Montreal’s second goal, which came 2:00 into the second period. His linemate, Paul Byron, scored a pair of goals and the Canadiens’ ability to possess the puck with all four of their lines seemed to cause Boston trouble throughout the afternoon.
The return from injury of Montreal forward Brendan Gallagher, who scored and later assisted on Max Pacioretty’s tally, had a domino effect on the Canadiens forwards, lifting them up while Boston limped without injured front-liner David Krejci and suspended Brad Marchand.
“Brendan plays hard and a lot of guys follow him. Getting his line back together was good for us; it seemed to get everyone going,” said Flynn, who is in his second season with Montreal after being traded from Buffalo last March.
David Desharnais put Montreal ahead early in the first and Byron’s goal early in the second took the wind out of the sails for Boston, which was being outshot 16-5 at that point. Production from each line was big for the Canadiens.
“It’s easy to give the usual guys credit, but I’m really proud of the way all our guys played, the guys people might not know about,” said Pacioretty, the Canadiens captain from nearby Connecticut — admittedly, the portion that roots for the New York Yankees instead of the Boston teams. “It came from up and down the lineup today.”
Trailing 3-0 going into the third, Boston got a goal from Matt Beleskey to gain some life early in the last period. Pacioretty scored later in the period, then Byron’s second came with only 1:32 left. The Boston comeback was not to be.
“I just wanted to win the game,” said Flynn, on pace for career-highs in both goals and assists in his fourth season as a professional. “We started strong, and it felt like we took the crowd out of it a little bit. We were in control pretty much the whole way.”
Montreal goalie Mike Condon, who also is from Massachusetts and had a Patriots’ tribute on the back of his mask signed by coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, made 27 saves.
“I’m pretty sure anything that Tom Brady touches turns to gold, so I was pretty happy. Hopefully I got some mojo on my helmet there,” said Condon, whose best save came when he flashed his glove to deny Boston’s Ryan Spooner at the end of the second period.
“He made that one big save at the end of the second to keep it 3-0 and that really gave us a boost,” Flynn said of his netminder. “He made some timely saves.”
“That was one where I think everybody stayed after the period to make sure they gave him a pat on the pads,” Pacioretty said of Condon’s stop on Spooner.
The festive New Year’s Day atmosphere and the win made it a memorable day for the American Habs captain.
“It was the most fun I’ve ever had playing hockey. Everything was perfect.”
Flynn had an All-American career at the University of Maine and played for the Black Bears at Fenway Park in 2012. He had the game-winning goal in overtime against New Hampshire, another heated rivalry akin to Bruins-Canadiens on the Hockey East scale.
“I knew what to expect a little bit, though you don’t get to do this very often so you try to enjoy it,” 27-year-old Flynn said. “Just sitting on the bench, looking up at all the fans, the jets flying over and fireworks. … It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. It was fun out there … and it was a lot more fun because we won.”
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