The Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens couldn’t figure out how to score on Monday, so they tried breaking each other instead.
NHL scores 2016: Canadiens and Bruins walk right up to the line in a rivalry grudge match
Goals were hard to come by. The bruises were not.
Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
Maybe we should’ve expected this. With Carey Price and Tuukka Rask in net, goals would be at an absolute premium. And it’s Habs-Brooins, yanno? Good ‘ole hockey fun. The rivalry that leaves everyone bruised and angry afterwards.
They brought a vicious level of violence on Monday.
Alexei Emelin set the tone, Torey Krug rubber-stamped it ...
.. and every hit after that meant something. They lingered, with a force behind them that let the recipient know their intent to hurt (if not injure) was clear as day.
We’ll get into the highlights (lowlights?) later, but the renewed edge to the rivalry is really welcomed. Hockey is better when the Habs and Bruins hate each other. But we’ve seen the dark places the Hans-Bruins rivalry can go when the edge gets too fine. They walked right up to it and left one foot hovering over the chasm on Monday.
Right there’s just fine, fellas.
Scores
Penguins 7, Coyotes 0
Bruins 2, Canadiens 1 (OT)
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Four Things We Learned
1. The Penguins played another NHL team on Monday
Allegedly. A raven arrived from Pennsylvania this morning bearing the news. We have yet to confirm the veracity of the source.
2. Sidney Crosby practices this stuff
Former teammate and current Sportsnet analyst Colby Armstrong said so on Monday, and who are we to second-guess him?
3. The other team the Penguins played was the Coyotes
We deduced this from the white, red and black uniforms worn by the opposing team in that GIF. It might be the Red Wings, though.
No, they’re just white and red.
Oh, it might be the Flames! But we’re still not sure. We’ll have to wait for them to score a goal or make a save to confirm. Please hold.
...
(I kid because I love, Coyotes fans.)
Impact Moment
The Canadiens and Bruins littered the ice with impact moments. Three of them stand out. The first is the ridiculous overtime.
There are some on Twitter who will tell you this was a good hockey hit. There are some who will tell you it was unavoidable. They also might happen to be prominent NHL media members.
I am here to respectfully disagree with them and tell you they’re embarrassingly wrong.
This is not a good hit.
Neither was this, honestly. Shaw came back, which was good in the sense that he was OK. It was bad in the sense that retribution like this was unavoidable.
Seem familiar? It should. That’s what I meant when I said the Habs and Bruins walked right up to the line on Monday. Krug crossed it, no doubt. Shaw tried his best to cross it. The night could’ve been worse.
Stat of the Night
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