Stoking rivalry may provide spark
Meeting with Canadiens comes at good time for Bruins
ESPN.com's Game of the Week: Habs vs. Bruins
Except for those who got an extra jolt of joy from the Bruins' win over Carolina on Oct. 3, the last time there was real cause for positive feelings around the Bruins came April 22 in Montreal, when the Bruins completed a four-game sweep of the Canadiens in an Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
The Bruins and Habs will meet Thursday (7 p.m., at TD Garden) for the first time in a meaningful game since that night in April, when the Bruins looked poised for a run at the Stanley Cup and the Habs were headed toward a summer of uncertainty with a laundry list of players headed for free agency.
Almost seven months later, after taking significantly different approaches in assembling their teams, both squads have come out of the gate at a snail's pace. While Boston fine-tuned, Montreal overhauled. The Canadiens lineup that will take the ice should be minus eight players who skated in that playoff defeat, because of either trade, free agency or injury. The star playmaker (Alex Kovalev), the captain (Saku Koivu) and the physical arch-nemesis (Mike Komisarek) are all calling other cities home. The No. 1 defenseman (Andrei Markov) is on the shelf.
So the Bruins will see players in Habs sweaters with such names on the back as Gionta, Gomez, Cammalleri, Spacek and Mara. If history teaches us anything, however, it's that this rivalry starts with the laundry. Put any two people on the ice, one in a Bruins jersey and one in a Canadiens jersey, and you might as well be putting two Dobermans in a cage with one piece of sirloin.
There's no love lost between the Bruins and Montreal forward Andrei Kostitsyn, whom goaltender Tim Thomas once had to level to prevent crease-crashing. Brian Gionta never fails to get under the Bruins' skin, and defenseman Zdeno Chara has often had to put his glove on the pesky winger's head to hold him back, as a brother would do to his younger sibling.
Expect some personal battles as well, as Bruins tough guy Steve Begin tries to prove the Habs wrong for trading him last winter and Montreal defenseman Paul Mara attempts to hurt the team that he grew up rooting for but traded him a couple of years ago.
The Bruins also are a drastically different club from last spring's edition, mostly because of injuries to Marc Savard and Milan Lucic and most recently David Krejci's H1N1 diagnosis. That means a few newcomers -- Brad Marchand, Vladimir Sobotka and Wednesday's emergency recall from Providence, Mikko Lehtonen -- should get fully immersed in the Boston-Montreal rivalry.
Even with both clubs sputtering with losing records, this game shouldn't be short on drama. There's sure to be plenty of fans from north of the border throughout the TD Garden stands making nuisances of themselves. Whether the Habs turn to Jaroslav Halak or Carey Price to defend their goal, the sight of the C-H sweater should give the Bruins' forwards some incentive to bust out of their recent scoring doldrums.
And you just know somewhere along the way, things are going to get physical. Both teams would like to make a statement, especially the Bruins, who are back on home ice after the road trip from hell. The Habs might be landing on Causeway Street just in time to distract the Bruins from their larger problems and keep them focused on doing whatever it takes to earn two points.
Matt Kalman is the Bruins blogger for ESPNBoston.com and runs TheBruinsBlog.net.
