Canadiens Postgame

Montreal Canadiens Push Rival Boston Bruins To The Limit

Published

8 months ago

March 14, 2024

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Boston Bruins on Thursday night, a game between two teams that have different goals this season.

The Bruins are attempting to avenge their disappointing playoff run from 2023-24, whereas the Canadiens are approaching the midway point of their rebuild with an eye on their upcoming Draft Lottery odds.

Of course, when it comes to the Bruins or Canadiens, the standings matter very little. There’s always an extra element of motivation when two of the biggest sports rivals come together for a game.

Joel Armia had a particularly strong outing, displaying solid play while on the penalty kill as well as during 5v5 action.

It was a hard-fought, low-event game that necessitated overtime to settle things, where Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk combined their talents during a 2v1 to score the game-winning goal.

Let’s dive into those highlights!

Captain Responds

The Bruins dominated the majority of the first period. It resulted in a well-deserved 1-0 lead for the visiting team when Danton Heinen, who loves playing against the Canadiens, scored his 12th goal of the year.

Fortunately for Martin St-Louis’ team, Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki decide to take matters into their own hands with a little over 5 minutes left in the frame.

A very nice pass by Slafkovsky found Suzuki near the far side of the net, where he had all the time and space needed to score his 26th goal of the year.

We can’t ignore Slafkovsky’s great playmaking, but we do have to note that Suzuki tied a career-high by scoring his 26th goal. With 16 games left on the docket this season it’s safe to say Suzuki will be finishing the 2023-24 campaign with career-highs in most offensive statistics.

What a pass from Juraj Slafkovsky to Nick Suzuki for the Habs opening goal! pic.twitter.com/zCGsH4YL9i

— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) March 14, 2024

Brad Goes Bad

Most hockey fans raised an eyebrow when the Bruins named Brad Marchand as their captain following Patrice Bergeron’s retirement. It was a rather significant downgrade when you evaluate how both players are perceived in the NHL.

That being said, Marchand has done a pretty good job avoiding petty plays and questionable hits, at least relative to what most would expect from a player of his ilk.

However, we also have to remember that at his core, Marchand will always be one of those players who drive you up the wall with his theatrics.

I hope Brad Marchand is okay after getting touched by Kaiden Guhle pic.twitter.com/YxQMXJeOLI

— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) March 14, 2024

Segment 3

The Canadiens can be proud of their effort, especially when we consider they were facing one of the best teams in the league. The Bruins emerged with an overtime win, but you can be certain the Canadiens will rest easy knowing they did all they could to push Boston to the limit.