Bruins-Candiens Rivalry Renewed With Two Fights In Opening Period
The Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens first met in 1924. They have played every year since and met Tuesday night for the 943rd time. No two teams in the NHL have played each other more.
The league’s most storied rivalry was given new life in a testy opening 20 minutes.
Bruins forward Tanner Jeannot set the tone off the game’s opening draw, dropping the gloves and squaring off with Candiens winger Josh Anderson.
The nearly 30-second fight ended with a heavy right hand from Jeannot sending Anderson to his knees on the Bruins logo at center ice, with the TD Garden crowd erupting.
Less than nine minutes later, tempers flared once more as Bruins tough guy Nikita Zadorov escorted the Candiens’ young brawler Arber Xhekaj back to center ice for another tilt.
The 6-foot-7 defenseman threw a flurry of hard rights before wrestling the 24-year-old Xhekaj to the ice in front of his own bench.
In the end, it was the visiting Candiens who got the last laugh, besting the Bruins by a score of 6-2 and handing Boston its fourth straight loss.
Zadorov told reporters that it was disappointing to let the fans down after he and Jeannot stepped up to set the tone early.
“Yeah, it’s a disappointment to lose four in a row at home,” Zadorov said. “It’s not what we want to show our fans. We have a three-day break; we have to get it together. We are still there; it’s tight standings in the East.”
The Bruins are back in action on December 27th.