MONTREAL -- For the first time in a long time it actually felt like the old rivalry was back between the Bruins and Canadiens.
Or at least the modern-day version of the rivalry anyway.
There were players bloodied with high sticks, frustrated offensive players taking bad retaliation penalties after being the target of good, old-fashioned physicality, and the coup de grace: Brendan Gallagher spearing Kevan Miller in the family jewels while the two battled for position in front of the net at the end of the first period.
There was scoring, chances going back-and-forth at each end, some pretty great goaltending and a late third-period John Moore power-play goal that gave the Bruins a 3-2 win, so it was happy ending for the large contingent of folks wearing Black and Gold at the Bell Centre.
It was somewhat appropriate that it took a Jonathan Drouin high stick that bloodied the face of David Backes to provide the B’s with the power-play opening they needed for the two points. It was that kind of nastiness bubbling over on the ice, particularly during the third period when Montreal started getting desperate for a comeback down by a 2-0 score.
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Nobody chased each other back to the dressing rooms after the period was over or gave the middle-finger salute to the crowd in Montreal, but it sure felt like some of the nastiness was also back in a Bruins/Canadians game.
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“It was good, old-fashioned Bruins/Habs hockey. Hockey Night in Canada . . . Saturday night," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. "The temperature went up [during the game] and we rose to it, and so did they. It looked like a rivalry out there tonight. It could have gone either way. It was physical. Guys are bleeding. They’re chirping each other. Great saves at each end and some nice goals.
“I thought it was the typical old Habs/Bruins games that I grew up watching and hopefully everybody was entertained. You want to come out on the right side of it and we did, but I thought it was a good hockey game all-around.”
It was also pretty impressive for two hockey clubs that were playing the second game of back-to-back games on Saturday night as well.
For the veteran Bruins players, though, it was also a sweet taste of the way things used to be every time the two hated rivals play each other. And perhaps could be again now that Montreal has improved this season and has something to play for as well.
“There was a lot of scrapping, some hitting and a lot of slashing. It was . . . you know . . . good old-time hockey,” said Tuukka Rask. “That’s what people want to see. It was an entertaining game.”
That’s something that couldn’t be said after a limp 3-0 loss to the Canadiens in Boston back in late October, or the massive dud of a Winter Classic that the two teams played against each other at Gillette Stadium a couple of years ago. Those were a far cry from crazed Canadiens fans flooding the 911 emergency lines with calls after Zdeno Chara ran Max Pacioretty into a stanchion, or Georges Laraque chasing Milan Lucic all over the Bell Centre ice looking to battle after Lucic had destroyed Mike Komisarek in a fight.
The final step to full rivalry re-ignition will also probably require Boston and Montreal meet in the playoffs again for things to truly spark, as it did during Boston’s Stanley Cup Final years.
But Saturday night's nastiness was a good sign that it’s on its way back with a new cast of characters. It also served as a reminder to the fan bases and some of the veteran players as to what the rivalry can be when it’s at its best, and was a nice introduction to some of young players wondering what all the Bruins/Habs fuss is all about.
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