Bruins – Canadiens

Magical words for so many years, but rare in this era is the opportunity to engage hockey’s greatest rivalry when for over 10 years there hasn’t been a playoff series between the Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins. The balanced regular-season schedule may guarantee an annual appearance by the Edmonton Oilers (and possibly Connor McDavid), but it does rivalries no favors.

At the end of a poor, five-game homestand, the Bruins desperately need a second win to go with a 1-2-1 stretch that has caused massive deflation in their playoff prospects following some gutsy, resilient road games.

FIRST PERIOD

Bruins Coach Marco Sturm said his team would be ready, and Tanner Jeannot and Josh Anderson engage in a heavyweight tilt off the opening faceoff – time of the majors is three seconds into the game.

Hampus Lindholm is then called for holding at 29 seconds, and the Canadiens go to the powerplay.

Lane Hutson had a free swing at it from the slot but chose to pass to Nick Suzuki, who did not connect just right, the puck skirting off the side of the net. It looked like Jeremy Swayman was well positioned to intercept a better shot, especially if it stayed low.

The Canadiens, 5-3-2 in their last 10, are also feeling butterflies in tonight’s playoff-like atmosphere.

Swayman save, and the Bruins get the kill.

New Bruin Vladislav Kolyachonok, acquired off the waiver wire in the past week, blocks a shot from Alexandre Texier in his first shift as a Bruin. A left-shot defenseman, Kolyachonok is seeing his first action at the expense of right-shooting Victor Soderstrom.

Alert sprint by Charlie McAvoy to intercept a slow pass intended for aging stalwart Brendan Gallagher.

The Bruins have three shots – make that four – on Jacob Fowler, the former Boston College star in the Montreal net.

Morgan Geekie has a lane on the off wing, his scoring place, but he passes to a partially covered David Pastrnak, whose tip opportunity is too tight to the net, allowing Fowler to close off the bid.

The Canadiens come back, and Swayman stops Cole Caulfield’s shot from the left circle. Things get testy around the right post after a follow-up attempt by Montreal.

Nikita Zadorov and Arber Xhekaj drop the gloves, good fight, both land… Zadorov goes for the takedown when he realizes Xhekaj is quite a professional with his fists.

The Bruins get their first powerplay when Juraj Slafkovsky goes to the penalty box for interfering with Jeannot.

Habs get the kill. Both teams are overthinking it offensively.

Sammy Blais, the once-heralded power forward who blew out his knee, sending a promising career off the rails, scores off of Swayman from below the goal line. Blais (pronounced BLAY), began the Habs’ possession with a big hit on Mason Lohrei. Lohrei blocked a shot in the sequence, but Montreal defensemen Hutson and Noah Dobson recovered the puck and Blais eventually made a perfect shot for a 1-0 Montreal lead at 11:08 of the first period.

Great response by Boston, as Fowler needs to turn away a bid by Sean Kuraly, but then Lohrei makes a nice move off the left point and sets up Marat Khustnudinov with the tying goal at 12:25.

The Bruins come back again, but Pavel Zacha’s backhand sails wide of the wide of the left post.

Xhekaj roughs up Casey Mittelstadt behind the net, no penalty there, but Gallagher is going to the box for slashing Kolyachonok at 13:41.

Viktor Arvidsson, back in action after an injury, took a slashing penalty with 4:04 left in the period. The Bruins had momentum, had just hit a post, and a Montreal player was without a stick, extending the effects of Boston’s expiring powerplay.

Now the Bruins have to kill a penalty before the teams regroup at first intermission.

Boston gets the kill, and Montreal’s Ivan Demidov goes to the box for hooking with 2:02 left in the period.

Alex Steeves, whose game had struggle some leading to a healthy scratch, scores from the right circle on the second-unit powerplay with 17.9 seconds left in the period to push the Bruins ahead, 2-1, going into first intermission.

Shots were 17-8 Boston, and more importantly the Bruins did not give up Grade A chances over the game’s opening three shifts.

SECOND PERIOD

Montreal, short-handed, gains early pressure, but the Bruins come back and Arvidsson, and Fraser Minten spring Jeannot alone, but Fowler seals off the bid at the right post.

The Bruins mess up a possession at center ice while going for a line change, and Demidov flies through, collecting the gift and beating Swayman to tie the game at 1:58.

Elias Lindholm let Carrier off the hook, holding the puck with a forward inside the Boston zone about 30 feet. The result was the Canadiens got the puck in, the Bruins iced, the Canadiens got another O-zone faceoff, which is where we are right now.

This is the most-troubling aspect of Lindholm’s game. Sometimes, the game calls for sudden carpe-diem measures, and Lindholm never seems to step into those opportunities.

Rink Rap hates it when Lindholm’s performances are measured against some arbitrary sense of what a team should get for $7.75 million per year, but to be a top-six player of impact, regardless of salary, a player needs to enter the fray and make the hits that are there.

Arvidsson gets a partial breakaway, winds up, holds onto the puck, but Fowler reads it perfectly and catches his delayed shot.

Lindholm has an opportunity to spring a 2-on-1 but mistimes his pass. It seems like another one of those nights. (Fully bracing myself for a Lindholm goal now…)

Anderson is off for slashing, but once again Montreal is doing a great job disrupting the Bruins’ zone entries.

Phillip Danault, his stalling career given new life in his return to Montreal, has been edgy against the Bruins. No better way to endear yourself to your teammates than to be an abrasive (expletive deleted) against your most-hated rival.

Montreal gets another kill.

2-2 with 12:21 remaining in the second period.

Montreal gaining 5v5 momentum, as the Bruins have problems with zone exits and entries. This is the tough part of the hockey game for Boston, and making it extra daunting is the gifted goal for Demidov. The Bruins would feel more energy right now with a 2-1 lead, but they punted that away on the sloppy line-change fumble.

Kolyachonok gathered the puck and made a big rush the full length of the rink while Lohrei was picking himself up off the ice rather slowly at the Boston end. Hampus Lindholm couldn’t get over the boards soon enough.

A wrestling match along the boards leads to a delayed penalty against Boston on Steeves for high-sticking with 5:23 left in the second period. It’s a double-minor, so Swayman needs his best stuff right now to preserve a potential two points tonight.

Huge kill by the Bruins, with great work from several killers.

Pastrnak makes a nifty play to create a lane for himself but forces a pass, gets knocked down, and slides to the halfwall in frustration.

Elias Lindholm apparently scores with 4.7 seconds left, but a scrum ensues when Caulfield pushes against the celebrating Bruins. The goal is waived off for goalie interference. Sturm wants a discussion with the officials.

Matching minors to Zadorov and Slafkovsky.

The period ends, 2-2, to a chorus of boos from the frustrated home crowd at TD Garden.

Shots through two periods: 22-20 Boston.

THIRD PERIOD

The third period will open with 4v4 hockey pending further penalties.

We’re seeing the most-careful, structured hockey of the night until McAvoy is knocked down and can’t get away a shot in the slot, the puck coming back 2-on-1 with Demidov one-timing a pass back to Suzuki, the puck off the mark and Montreal’s chance also canceled.

Blais is set up in tight and scoops the puck over the net.

Zadorov’s stick snaps on a neutral-zone pass, and the Canadiens once again execute beautifully to capitalize. This one’s on puck luck, with Zachary Bolduc putting the Habs on top 3-2 at the 7:04 mark of the period. The Bruins are challenging for goalie interference on a cut-across by a Montreal skater outside the goal crease. Swayman was down and out on the goal shot. The Bruins lose the challenge and will now have to kill a penalty for delay of game. They thought they had a case.

Montreal powerplay: Kastelic hustles to a stray puck, save Fowler, Kuraly follow-up, save Fowler. … Jeannot made a good play to get the puck out but then took a penalty for knocking down Bolduc away from the puck – Jeannot made a diving gesture but goes to the box at 8:24, giving Montreal a 5-on-3 advantage in front of the goalies for the next 40 seconds.

Montreal coach Martin St. Louis uses his one and only timeout. Huge opportunity for the cooler-headed Canadiens to gain a cushion on the scoreboard.

Dobson’s stick breaks on the slapper from the slot, but the magical Demidov chessboards his way into Swayman’s skates and slips the puck in for a 4-2 lead.

Still 1:27 left on Jeannot’s penalty when Hampus Lindholm is called for tripping on a dump chase.

This is a longer 5-on-3 with a real chance of the game getting completely away from the undisciplined Bruins.

They’ve got effort and intensity tonight, but they haven’t been lucky or smart when it’s mattered most.

Suzuki bats a rebound out of the air – 5-2 Montreal – with time still left on Jeannot’s PIM (16 seconds) – meaning 50 more seconds of powerplay time with Hampus Lindholm in the box.

Zadorov makes a nice stop at the left point to keep the puck in, and the Bruins work it in front to a pinching Kolyachonok, but he semi-shanks the shot.

Swayman makes a nice save on a one-timer but makes a sloppy clearing pass, and two passes later Montreal scores from the same spot. 6-2, and fans begin exiting TD Garden.

This was really shaping up as a resolution game and, at least until the bad gift to Demidov in the second period, a potential “W.” Now the bottom has fallen out, and the Bruins will have to wait until after Christmas break to try and pick up the pieces on the upcoming road swing.

Down to the last five minutes.

The Bruins battled tonight.

Swayman stops Hutson point blank.

Thanks mainly to their powerplay time, the Canadiens have taken over the shots-on-goal advantage at 29-26 with four minutes remaining.

We’re going to shut it down for postgame access.

Please be careful on the roadways, which may get slippery tonight with the falling temperatures.