With 12 games remaining in the regular season, the Bruins (54-11-5) trail the NHL record for wins by eight and the points record by 19. And they still have to go through the Canadiens twice — at home Thursday night and in the season finale at Montreal April 13.
Unlike the old-time Canadiens, this Montreal team is struggling in last place in the Atlantic Division at 28-37-6. And unlike ancien temps, the Canadiens aren’t making their first visit of the season to Boston until spring. The Bruins took a 4-2 victory in the teams’ first matchup this season Jan. 24.
“It is definitely something that is strange,” Bruins center Patrice Bergeron said Wednesday. “Probably a first, I could be mistaken, for myself and my career. But I think it is a first that it is this late, and as we all know, it’s always our biggest rivals and always a lot of fun to play against them.”
Scheduling exigencies etc. apparently prevented early-season matchups between the Bruins and Canadiens, whose rivalry dates to the 1924-25 season, the Bruins’ first in the NHL. In their first meeting, the Bruins sent three goals past Georges Vezina in the first two periods, but the Canadiens rallied for a 4-3 victory at Boston Arena on Dec. 8, 1924.
“Lots of history on both sides,” Bergeron said. “And so you’d like to see a little bit more of those games. But I do understand that’s the way the schedule has been written. It’s not easy to make 32 different schedules, but it is strange and we’re all looking forward to it.”
For the record, the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning share the league record for victories at 62 and the 1976-77 Canadiens hold the points mark at 132.
Bergeron is sticking with the Bruins’ mantra of focusing on the present.
“I think we like where we’re at,” Bergeron said. “I think there’s things, parts of our game, we want to improve, get better at, especially with those 12 games left before playoffs. We want to make sure we rectify things and obviously we’re happy where we’re at with the team.
“It’s a long season. Now you’re getting down to the wire, you can see the end, I guess is how I should put it. We’re really trying to concentrate and make sure we’re working on some of the things that might’ve slipped in our game. And we want to stay on top of it — all over the ice, really.
“So we’re going to take it a game at a time. That’s what we’ve done all year. That’s something we’ve tried to do all year. It’s been successful for us. We don’t want to change that.
“And sticking to our process. The most important part for us is our details and our process and we feel like the result usually takes care of it. You’re result-driven, usually that’s when it can slip away from you.”
Coach Jim Montgomery also is attempting to keep the Bruins’ expectations intact regarding records.
“Would we like to do it? Yes,” Montgomery said. “Are we going to go chase it? We’re not going to go chase it. We believe in playing the right way. If we play the right way and believe in our process and our details that we think matter the most, we think those things will happen.”
As for the fact that neither of the teams that share the record for wins captured the Stanley Cup?
“I also know that the highest percentage of teams that won the Stanley Cup have won the Presidents’ Cup, too,” Montgomery said.
Every team goes through ups and downs over the course of a long NHL season.
The Boston Bruins, who host the Montreal Canadiens for the only time this season on Thursday night, have just experienced far fewer downs in between the ups.
Boston (54-11-5, 113 points) has strung together four consecutive wins since dropping back-to-back games in regulation for the first time a week ago Sunday and Tuesday in Detroit and Chicago, respectively.
"The energy levels will go up and we'll be feeling really good about ourselves and guys will have tons of energy, and then you'll have cycles where the energy isn't," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "That's what happened to us for a little while. We couldn't make 15-foot passes. That isn't common for us."
Boston's recent streak has coincided with the power play starting to click again.
Tuesday's 2-1 win over Ottawa marked the third straight game in which the Bruins have scored a man-up goal. They tallied just one over a previous six-game stretch.
Brad Marchand has logged points (six in total, all assists) across all three of those games, including an incredible cross-ice pass to set up Jake DeBrusk's game-winning goal.
DeBrusk has netted goals in three straight, joining Marchand with six points over that span.
"I think it was just great passes from my linemates (that led to scoring), honestly," DeBrusk said. "Just trying to get to the net."
Although Marchand said he still has not returned to 100 percent after undergoing offseason hip surgery, Montgomery believes he looks closer than he has this season.
"I think he's found his groove here and he's making a lot of plays again, which is great to see," Montgomery said. "Just the way he's attacking defensemen's feet, pulling up, reading off of their joints. If their ankles or knees are turned one way, he's going the other way."
Continuing a straight goaltending rotation, Linus Ullmark made 40 saves -- including 21 in the second period -- on the way to his 10th win in 11 starts.
Jeremy Swayman, who has pitched back-to-back shutouts for the first time in his NHL career, is in line to start against Montreal.
The Canadiens (28-37-6, 62 points) are coming off just their second win in 11 games (2-7-2), a 3-2 Tuesday triumph over Tampa Bay, one of Boston's closest Atlantic Division competitors.
The game was the second in a home-and-home set with the Lightning.
"I liked our game," Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. "It's fun because you played the same team last game so you have a lot of examples. You can really show the things you need to improve and the way you want to show up against them, the things you want to do."
Conversely, the lone meeting with Boston was on Jan. 24, a 4-2 Bruins win in Montreal.
Brendan Gallagher and Kirby Dach returned for the second Tampa Bay game after missing 32 and 16 games, respectively, with lower-body injuries.
Dach, who had not played since Feb. 14, scored a goal.
"A lot of times when you're coming back from injury you're in the (locker) room working out, but I was in a (cast) so you're not able to do that," Gallagher said. "You see the game a lot different from up top. If you use that, it can be helpful."
Among the list of nine injured players as of Tuesday, forward Jake Evans and defenseman Jordan Harris appear close to returning. Both traded in non-contact jerseys and participated in Wednesday's practice.
A Massachusetts native and former Northeastern University captain, Harris has been ruled out due to a lower-body injury. Evans could play.
Forward Josh Anderson (ankle) will not travel after being injured on Tuesday.
Last edited:
