Longtime Boston Bruins fans will remember the glory days of the Bruins/Montreal Canadiens rivarly and the playoff battles the two heated rivals used to have. There were some memorable battles, but let's forget some heated regular-season games the two teams used to play.
On Thursday night, the two teams will meet in what is an early-season showdown that is a battle for first place in the Atlantic Division. Last season, Montreal took steps out of what seemed like a long rebuild and made it to the Eastern Conference Final, falling to the eventual Stanley Cup champion, the Carolina Hurricanes. Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy said following practice on Wednesday what NHL fans and fans of both teams know when a game with a lot of meaning at any point in the season pops up on the NHL schedule involving both clubs.
“We had some of those years where we were really good, and they were kind of rebuilding and trying to figure out what they are now,” said McAvoy, per BostonBruins.com. “The game is better, the rivalry is better, the NHL is better when both of us are great hockey teams, and that’s what we are now.”
Bruins Charlie McAvoy says what all NHL fans will agree with
McAvoy is correct; the NHL is better when the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens are great teams. The league needs both teams to be good and be playoff teams. Heck, the league won't admit it, but they would love a Bruins/Canadiens playoff series every spring. No disrespect to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but Bruins/Canadeins in a best-of-seven series just hits differently.
This will be the first of four matchups between the two iconic franchises. Truth be told, there needs to be more than four a year. Maybe there will be a playoff series in the spring; maybe there won't. However, after Thursday night, the two teams will meet again in January in Montreal; then they will have two matchups, 20 days apart in March. That's it.
You couldn't ask for better drama than what you're going to get on Thursday night in a mid-November showdown. Montreal is 7-0-3 in their last 10 games, and the Black and Gold are 7-2-1. However, as good as both teams have been, consider the following: Montreal's power play is ranked 30th and the Bruins ' is ranked 24th. Montreal's penalty kill is ranked 15th, and the Bruins are 17th. When the dust settles, something will have to give.
However, throw the numbers and records when the Bruins and Canadiens meet. Two franchises tha have no love loss for each other is great for the NHL, even in November.
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