Ryan: Bruins, Canadiens turn back the clock with vintage rivalry tilt in Montreal taken at Bell Centre (Bruins)

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Ryan: Bruins, Canadiens turn back the clock with vintage rivalry tilt in Montreal

By Conor Ryan

Nov 25, 2018 • 12:25 am

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MONTREAL — It wasn’t a lament by any means, but Bruce Cassidy was candid when talking about how today’s NHL — one that relies more on finesse and flair than scrums and open-ice shots — has knocked the long-standing Bruins/Canadiens rivalry down a peg.

Now, no one is expecting heavyweight bouts like Stan Jonathan vs. Pierre Bouchard out there in 2018. But that festering animosity that became a hallmark of the Habs/Bruins feud has largely failed to bubble to the surface recently — even with Claude Julien’s appointment as Montreal’s bench boss and the presence of some proven agitators on both rosters.  

"As a fan, you always miss a little bit of it. It's part of the rivalry, that's created the heated part of the rivalry,” Cassidy said ahead of Saturday’s game with Montreal. "The way the game has evolved now that the players that we drafted, the players that we line up, the players that are playing. There's less of that and it's more of a skill, skating game.

"You've just gotta keep up. I still think there's always little bit of fireworks with us and I know that (Andrew Shaw) or (Brendan) Gallagher have gotten into it. So who knows where it will lead. We still play each other enough that we create a little bit of that, but it's clearly not the 80s anymore."

The days of Jay Miller and John Kordic exchanging haymakers may be in the rearview mirror, but the vestiges of the once-heated rivalry were evident upon walking into Boston’s locker room following a gutsy 3-2 win on Saturday.



For David Backes, it was a busted lip — the result of a high stick by Habs forward Jonathan Drouin that miraculously kept every chiclet intact. For Kevan Miller, a particularly excruciating pain — one brought on by a spear between the legs off the stick of Montreal winger Brendan Gallagher.




Through all of the bumps and bruises, scoring chances and scrums, Boston at least earned the right to sit back and enjoy the two points that


And for Cassidy, with the win came the added satisfaction born from etching another entertaining chapter in a rivalry finally reignited on a chilly November evening at the Bell Centre.  


"Good old-fashioned Bruins-Habs hockey,” Cassidy said postgame — a departure from his sentiments just a few hours earlier. “Hockey Night In Canada, Saturday night. The temperature level went up. We rose to it. So did they. It looked like a rivalry out there today. Could have went either way. It’s physical, guys are bleeding.
Guys are chirping each other, great saves at each end, some nice goals. I thought it was a typical old, Habs-Bruins, games I grew up watching and hopefully, everyone got entertained. You always want to come out on the right side. We did.”


Go through the checklist — and this Bruins / Habs game had just about everything you’d want in a vintage tuneup between the Original Six foes.


A third-period rally? Check. Much to the chagrin of a stout 
Tuukka Rask
and a shorthanded B’s D corps.


A game-winning tally in crunch time? Check. With
John Moore
picking a good time to light the lamp for his first as a Bruin.


Plenty of company in the sin bin? Check. (30 combined penalty minutes)


Back-and-forth play? Check. I mean, you be the judge when looking at the ebbs and flows of the matchup.




(Stick tap to Natural Stat Trick)


Cassidy’s approval of Saturday’s entertaining bout was shared among the players as well, even by Rask
, who had to deal with 10 high-danger scoring bids generated down low by a desperate Habs club looking to snap a three-game winless skid.






Both clubs combined for 78 hits on the night — with the Habs holding a startling 51-27 edge in the loss. Most of those came courtesy of human wrecking ball
Charles Hudon,
who logged 13 in 9:09 TOI. Talk about efficiency.






On the blue line, Miller and
Torey Krug
logged five blocks apiece, while
Joakim Nordstrom
(four blocks) paid the price numerous times as a reliable option on Boston’s penalty kill.










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