Boston Bruins
Pair Of Early Fights Help Reignite Bruins-Canadiens Rivalry
The Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens. It’s hockey’s most historic rivalry, and of the very best in all of sports.
But over the last number of years, it hasn’t necessarily felt that way.
Due to an over saturated NHL schedule, the Original Six franchises seldom meet as often as they used to. Even in the few matchups they have had, the animosity hasn’t been nearly as intense, since the two teams have rarely been in playoff contention at the same time over the last few years.
That all changed on Saturday night when the Bruins visited the Habs at Bell Centre, as a pair of fights in the game’s opening four minutes reignited the rivalry.
Fresh off the opening draw, Boston defenseman Nikita Zadorov dropped the gloves at center ice with Montreal’s Jayden Struble.
“It’s Saturday night in Bell Centre,” Zadorov said. “It’s a big rivalry–used to be a big rivalry. Maybe it’s new again. I was just trying to get the boys going.”
THE RIVALRY IS SO BACK 🥊
FOUR SECONDS IN AND THE GLOVES ARE OFF! pic.twitter.com/b5YLiJctI1
— NESN (@NESN) November 16, 2025
Minutes later, Tanner Jeannot squared off with Arber Xhekaj and dropped him with a heavy right hand.
Arber Xhekaj is one the toughest fighters in the entire league, and Tanner Jeannot just dropped him. pic.twitter.com/VLZOrWmuHz
— Andrew Fantucchio (@A_Fantucchio) November 16, 2025
There was nearly a third fight in the first period, but Canadiens forward Josh Anderson didn’t oblige when Mark Kastelic asked him to dance.
The atmosphere inside Bell Centre was already raucous even before the two bouts, as Boston and Montreal entered play neck and neck at the top of the Atlantic Division standings, with 22 points each.
In the end, though, it was the Bruins who walked out victorious by the final of 3-2. Marat Khusnutdinov, Mason Lohrei, and Viktor Arvidsson each had a goal in front of Jeremy Swayman, who made 28 saves on 30 shots in net, while Boston finished the night a perfect 7-7 on the penalty kill.
“Honestly, every divisional points and wins are huge,” said David Pastrnak. “Especially going into Montreal’s building. It’s not easy to come in here and play well when they have a good team that’s very skilled and has a very good power play. Credit to our kill and Sway for coming up big for us. It’s always fun to steal points from Bell Centre.”
Saturday was the first of four meetings between The Bruins and Canadiens this season. The teams will next meet on Dec. 23 at TD Garden in Boston and again on Jan. 24 before closing out the season series in Montreal on March 17.
