The day was May 14, 2014. The Montreal Canadiens were visiting the Boston Bruins for a game 7 showdown at the TD Garden. With 899 regular season games behind them and 33 playoff series already played out, the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry is considered one of the best in sports, and it would soon add another chapter to it’s historic book- but this one would write more than expected.
Late in the game, Canadiens forward Daniel Briere scored a goal that took a lucky bounce off Zdeno Chara that put Montreal up 3-1 in the game. The Garden fell to silence. Everybody at the rink and watching on TV knew it then; the small Montreal Canadiens took down the giant Boston Bruins. The President’s Trophy winners were down.
Meeting against five months later on October 16, the Canadiens jousted the B’s in Montreal’s home opener, winning 6-4. 5’9″ Brendan Gallagher beat Tuukka Rask twice while adding an assist against those “Big Bad Bruins.” Four weeks later, on November 13, the Bruins once again made the trip to Montreal, only to be dismantled by the Tricolore, 5-1.
Montreal pounced on the Bruins in that one and dominated them from start to finish. Dale Weise, the Bruins killer himself, finished with a “Gordie Howe” hat-trick, the first in his career, after a penalty-shot goal, an assist on a Max Pacioretty goal and a fight against Gregory Campbell.
Just nine days after that, the Canadiens marched into the TD Garden and walked away with a 2-0 victory, with Carey Price turning away 33 shots, and once again, the little, feisty Gallagher had two assists.
The nail in the coffin of Boston’s chances to win a game against the Habs came down on Sunday, February 8th when the Canadiens played their simple but efficient hockey in an anti-climactic game at the Garden. The game saw Weise cleverly score a back-door goal, then smartly set-up a Pacioretty breakaway goal. Montreal completed the season sweep over Boston with their 3-1 win.
Counting the playoff series between the two teams last May, the blue-white-and-red are on a six-game winning streak against the black-and-gold and have won 11 of the past 15 meetings.
Remember the days when the Bruins dominated the Canadiens? Those days were short-lived and now look to be over. From the 2008-2009 season, until the beginning of the 2013 season, the Bruins went 12-9-3 against Montreal (11-5-2 excluding the 2009-2010 season).
Of course, that isn’t the best record out there, but the Bruins accomplished a few more feats that were more important than winning regular season games against the Tricolore. They swept the Habs in the 2009 playoffs and won in game 7 overtime en route to winning a Stanley Cup. Three division championships were claimed by the Bruins, before making the trip back to the Stanley Cup final in 2013, which they lost to Chicago .
The Bruins were one of the most feared and one of the more powerful teams in the Eastern Conference during that stretch of about four to five seasons. They were often favourites to win the Cup, and they did, in 2011, when they won three series in seven games but prevailed physically and mentally to stomp over their opponents.
Until May 14, 2014, they were the Beast of the East. Once the David-like Habs took down the Goliath-like Bruins in the playoffs, it seemed as if a power shift was underway in the East- and the epicenter of it was the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry.
The giants were taken down and it finally showed other Eastern teams that the Bruins did have flaws, after all. Speed and skill are the Bruins kryptonite, and if used well, teams can beat Boston regularly.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Islanders and New York Rangers are all teams full of speed and also all teams ahead of the Bruins in the East thus far. Without a doubt, these teams have some big, tough players that contribute to their team’s success- Brian Boyle in Tampa, Matt Martin with the Islanders, Chris Kreider for the Rangers and Weise for Montreal.
Boston has a tradition of playing with players that fit the nitty-gritty description, like the aforementioned quartet. All would fit perfectly in the Bruins line-up.
But the Bolts, Isles, Rangers and Habs are unlike the Bruins in a way because they don’t just rely on aggressive players. Speed and skill are a necessity on a roster. Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Rick Nash and Pacioretty all provide that for their respective teams and it seems as if the Bruins are lacking a high-scoring forward that has the body and style of play of only a goal-scorer. Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand can score, but that’s not the role they devote 100% focus on. David Pastrnak is a goal-scorer to be, but Boston can’t be relying on an 18-year-old. Loui Eriksson‘s skill has been damped by injuries.
Don’t get me wrong here though, the Boston Bruins are still a very good hockey team. They are also an aging team and unfortunately for them, a team of power must eventually fall. Chara, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Eriksson aren’t getting any younger nor do they have the same skill from four years ago when Boston hoisted Lord Stanley’s grail.
Montreal exposed a weakness in the Bruins game last spring, and now, every other Eastern team has found it and is exploiting it.
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