Finishing up their short home stand on Thursday night, the Montreal Canadiens had one of the toughest matchups possible in the Boston Bruins. Boston has been competing with the Panthers for top spot in the Eastern Conference, which appears to be an honour that will also mean top team in the entire NHL come season’s end. With the Habs still firmly in the bottom-10 of the league,
But that didn’t happen, as the Habs played an extremely tight game with the Bruins, and took it all the way to an extra frame with a surprisingly strong effort.
The tying goal from Nick Suzuki formed a major turning point in the game, as the Bruins had largely owned the puck for the first five minutes of the period. The Habs woke up after that, and the game remained tied at one all the way through the remainder of regulation, sending them to overtime. Of course, Mike Matheson and Cole Caufield got caught low in the Bruins zone very early in that overtime period, causing it to end rather abruptly, but it’s hard to be too upset given how well they had to play to get there in the first place.
The consolation point in the standings is one that the team could certainly do without, but how they got it should serve to placate even the biggest tank advocates in the fan base. They scratched and clawed their way to overtime in an extremely tightly checked game, against one of the best teams in the league, and against some suspect officiating to boot. As much as they don’t need to be accruing loser points at this stage of the season, knowing that they’re capable of a game like that, one could argue is worth the unnecessary point.
Seeing them play the Bruins that tightly, and how close they’ve been with some other top teams of late, has to make you wonder how much better they could be next season. At the very least, they appear to have the framework in place for a playoff team, and with the right tweaks, they could be challenging to realize that dream as early as next season. There is a lot of work to be done between now and then, but if they can make the right additions to the team around their improving young core, we may not be fretting in the slightest next season when they’re picking up points.
This team could have given up before the all-star break, but they’re continuing to treat each game as if it matters. While the points don’t, their development does, and they look like they’re on track for better days.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you typically get your podcasts. The Habs are heading for their final western road trip of the year now, and we’ll be back for the first game tomorrow night against the Calgary Flames.
