Bruins Get Stunned By The Habs

This week, Habs fans experienced quite the emotional rollercoaster.

On Monday October 13^th, the most successful team in the NHL saw the collapse of their seeming invincibility following a whirlwind of disappointment, frustration, and anguish which left fans unsatisfied and disgruntled. That night, the past came back to haunt the Habs as the Tampa Bay Lightning reaped their vengeance following last season’s playoffs, where the Habs dominated the Lightning in the conference quarterfinals. The Lightning returned the favour with an agonizing 7-1 victory over the Habs. Lightning centre Steven Stamkos was on fire, and scored three goals. Brendan Gallagher scored the only goal for the Canadiens.

Then, on October 16^th, the Habs played their home opener against their archrivals in a game that was nearly 5 months in the waiting. Last spring, fire was added to what is undoubtedly the most explosive rivalry in the NHL when the Canadiens trumped the Bruins in seven games during the second round of the 2013-2014 playoffs. Animosity had been building up between the two rivals since then. On Thursday, that bitterness erupted on the ice in a big way. Gallagher and P.A. Parenteau were the true stars of the game, and each scored two goals against an overwhelmed Tuukka Rask. Both players were invaluable to the team, and aided the Habs in achieving a 6-4 victory over the Bruins. However, the defining moment of the game occurred near the end of the third period, when Milan Lucic was called for a boarding penalty against Alexei Emelin. Upon entering the penalty box, Lucic responded to the deafening cheering from the crowd with an obscene gesture which proved to be exceptionally costly, as it took the steam out of the Bruins, allowed the Habs to score an empty-net goal on the power play, and led to a $5,000 fine.

This week, you can catch the Habs as they take on fierce competitors like the Detroit Red Wings and the New York Rangers in Montreal at the Bell Centre. Will the team’s confidence falter like it did in Tampa Bay last week? Or will les Habitants rise to the occasion against their rivals, like when they faced the Bruins? Only time will tell. For now, however, it’s anybody’s game!