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[Boston Bruins]

Bruins @ Canadiens PREVIEW: Comédie Noire

Natalie Reid-Imagn Images

While very much out of a playoff spot, The Boston Bruins have the chance to do something VERY funny.

Just the Facts​

• The Time: 6pm ET
• The Place: Centre Bell, Montreal, QC
• Place to Watch: NESN, SportsNet, RDS
• Place to Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub
• An Opposing Viewpoint: Eyes on the Prize

Know Your Enemy​

• The Montreal Canadiens have a record of 35-30-9 through 74 games, and 79 points in the standings. That’s good for the 2nd wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference, and a very tenuous 8th in the Eastern Conference.
• Nick Suzuki was drafted by the Golden Knights and for that I will never forgive them for effectively gifting our rival a #1 Center. And for what...a Stanley Cup eventually? What a pittance. Anyway Suzuki has 79 points in 74 games and leads the Habs in points.
• Cole Caufield is a stark reminder that it really does not matter how big you are if you’re just good at hockey; he’s got a team-leading 34 goals in 74 games.
• Patrik Laine is still here; and he’s a weapon on the power play...and almost nowhere else. He leads the Habs in power play goals scored, with 15 of his 19 tallies coming on the man-advantage.
• Lane Hutson has been a revelation for the Habs; being a major force multiplier for their offense in the form of 57 assists in 74 games.
• The Goaltending of Montreal is not what it used to be whatsoever; with Sam Montembeault, newcomer Jakub Dobeš, and man forever in waiting Cayden Primeau all being sub-.900 in SV%. Montembeault has the most starts with 54, Dobeš has 13, Primeau has 7.

Game Preview​

Okay. So.

The Bruins are playing some real bad hockey, to the point that they have at long last fallen through the hell-basement the Sabres have set up permanent residence in and have become the worst team in the Eastern Conference. This is the goal. If they cannot catch the Blackhawks, Sharks, and Preds...then maybe they can permanently overtake Seattle. As of right now, if the odds held, Boston would have a 9.5% chance at the first overall pick. The Habs meanwhile, have been in that four team dogfight for the final Eastern Conference wildcard spots, and as of right now currently hold the 2nd position. Their many many years of gathering young players and letting them play has at long last found something resembling a step forward.

By all accounts, this should be a major emotional win for the Habs, and give Boston Sports Radio that only engages with the Red Sox/Patriots something to talk about for the next couple of days. You ought to do yourself the favor now and just hurl your radio out of your car as hard and as fast as you can.

However, there is an alternative; the Boston Bruins could win this game.

I know! I know! This team is absolutely awful and plays down to the very bleak standard it sets for itself! It would even be good for the Bruins to the lose this game, as it gives them valuable ability to stay with some of the very worst in the league as they wander the desert looking for hope in the Draft. It should be the right thing to do.

My counterpoint is a very simple one.

It would be funny, though.

The Canadiens are clinging quite precariously to their spot in the Eastern Wildcard; having traded places with the Rangers and Blue Jackets multiple times over the last two weeks. While they’ve put together two very solid wins over the Florida Panthers in the last week or so, they needed those wins badly; they had come off of a gruesome five game losing streak against a number of decent teams...but a lot more that they probably should’ve beaten; namely Philly and the Islanders.

Further, if there is an unambiguous weakpoint of the Habs these days; it’s in net. Both Sam Montembeault and Jakub Dobeš are not great, and in any given game; they can make that abundantly clear with the issues in defensive depth that Montreal has otherwise continued to fail to address. Further, while Boston is not a great possession team by any stretch of the imagination; Montreal is quite a bit worse and has been so throughout the season. If there is any team that the Bruins could find a way to break this miserably necessary losing streak against for one night and then go right back to being as bad as they’d ever want to be, not only could it be Montreal, it should be Montreal.

I know that other, better things await us once the playoffs begin and the draft lottery balls are selected. I know that Michael Misa or Jimmy Hagen or Matthew Schaefer or Porter Martone are twinkling in our eyes, but that can wait for one day.

Even with this rivalry as cold as the playing surface, I still see a magnificent chance to make a bunch of Habs’ fans very miserable for a few hours. I think there’s a chance they could win this and scare the living daylights out of Quebecois hockey fandom. If they can’t even beat the Bruins...what does that mean when the games matter?

I think the Bruins should do everything in their power to make that happen for no other reason than it would be hilarious.

Source: https://www.stanleycupofchowder.com...hl-hockey-tv-radio-times-game-suzuki-pastrnak

 

[Boston Bruins]

Bruins @ Canadiens GAMETHREAD

Photo by Brian Fluharty/Getty Images

Welcome back to the battle of all time.

Here we are, 420 minutes left in regulation for the season. By the end of it, we will only have 360 minutes left. I make no guarantees about overtime, but the home stretch is still very much in effect.

Also, just wanna reiterate here Bruins; there are plenty of teams left on your schedule where it’s no real issue if you lose to them. Carolina’s good, so is New Jersey. Plenty of “no shame” losses to get.

So let’s say this is your cheat game. Go on ahead. Gorge upon a victory tonight.

It’ll be so funny.

Anyway, what’s on tap?

Source: https://www.stanleycupofchowder.com/2025/4/3/24400181/bruins-canadiens-gamethread

 

[Boston Bruins]

Bruins @ Canadiens RECAP: Boston’s losing streak reaches 10 in 4-1 LOSS

Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

Boston drops yet another lifeless game. So it goes.

No funny “ha ha”s for us. Only suffering.

1st Period​

No real scoring happened in this period, which is largely due to the work of Jeremy Swayman. Onto the next period.

2nd Period​

The Habs got on the board first early on in the period after a Christian Dvorak missile that was the third chance in about ten seconds that the Bruins couldn’t pick up in the confusion of defending their goaltender. 1-0 Habs.

The rest of the period would effectively be Jeremy Swayman under siege, as he made save after save after save with little help from his skaters, including one of the most ridiculous saves I’ve seen in a hot minute.

Heck of a save from Jeremy Swayman

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero.bsky.social) 2025-04-04T00:17:17.962Z

Then, Cole Koepke fought Kaiden Guhle.

Unfortunately, the Bruins could not even things up, and off of a Geekie mishandling of the puck, the Habs sprung off in a two on one to set up Cole Caufield for his 35th of the year. 2-0 Habs.

Not exactly a winning formula.

On to the final period.

3rd Period​

The Habs continued their unabated deathmarch with another goal; this time from an enormously unlucky bounce putting Brendan Gallagher in a perfect position to hammer the puck home. 3-0 Habs.

Then, it was time for the pre-requisite David Pastrnak/Morgan Geekie points, and the recipient of their hard work this time was Elias Lindholm, who now has his 14th goal of the season. 3-1 Habs.

Man, it is crazy that Pasta and Geekie seem to be the only guys who seem to be able to go hard to the net with any frequency.

Anyway, do the Habs have an answer for this?

Yeah, that’s what I figured.

Bruins lose 4-1.

Game Notes​

• Your TOI Leader was Nikita Zadorov, who played 21:27 tonight.
• The Bruins in this exciting time of being godawful find new and exciting ways to break your heart entirely. After a pretty solid 1st period where they showed plenty of effort, it was like the 2nd period was an extended release of air from a balloon. Just another blunt reminder that contending is now a very distant memory of an idea, and the Bruins seem perfectly willing to smash their own worst losing streak if it means a quality player falling into their laps.
• It’s getting pretty painfully obvious the only way Boston is ever going to win a game right now is if David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie both trade hat tricks with one another, because the rest of this squad just is not helping. The honeymoon period is over, and while I like individual aspects of certain players, it’s clear they need an actual top six to keep them honest with themselves. They got out-chanced by the Habs, man. There is just no juice for this team right now. Even when they fight they can’t generate it.
• Don’t believe the save-% at this end of this point; Jeremy Swayman did what he could to keep the Bruins in this game, and made one of the wildest saves I have gone and ever seen in a good long while. This would’ve been an otherwise perfectly noteworthy performance had he had any help whatsoever in front of him. His .903 SV% was well-earned in a game that the Bruins didn’t feel like participating much on defense.
• Elias Lindholm didn’t mince words whatsoever about how he felt these games have gone; stating to the media that the Bruins “always find a way to beat ourselves” over this stretch, which I feel like is a fair criticism. He seems to get it at least; I don’t know if he’s going to avoid the slings and arrows of fans, but he’s definitely aware that things have gone pear-shaped and that a lot of it can be self-inflicted.
• At this point, if the Bruins are gonna fight, pretty much the whole team is gonna have to pick a partner and start swinging. They don’t need momentary injections of adrenaline, they need an IV to even start to make it worth it. You’re just embarrassing yourselves at this point.
• The Bruins only need to lose two more games to tie their very worst stretch of games ever, and given how they’re playing lately I really think they could do it. The lack of anything at either end of the ice is just mesmerizing.
• If everything held and the Draft Lottery changed nothing, the Bruins are projected to make the 4th overall pick in the NHL draft. Here’s who Elite Prospects believes would be a good pick at 4th overall: Brampton’s Porter Martone from the OHL.

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The Bruins take a day off, and then return to TD Garden to play the Carolina Hurricanes at 7pm EST.

We’ll see you there.

360 minutes left, everybody. You can do this.

Source: https://www.stanleycupofchowder.com...p-nhl-hockey-dvorak-lindholm-zadorov-caufield