Can we really call it a rivalry when one of the two teams constantly dominates the opponent?
This is the question we are entitled to ask ourselves during the visit of the Boston Bruins on Saturday evening to the Bell Centre.
The Canadian-Bruins rivalry has indeed already been more heated. The two rivals have not met in the playoffs since 2014. In 2022-2023, the ridiculous NHL schedule meant that there were only three duels on the menu.
But above all, the Bruins have won the last 10 meetings between the two teams, by an aggregate score of 46-19. The Habs’ last victory against the Bruins dates back to November 5, 2019, a victory signed by Carey Price, thanks to goals from Victor Mete, Paul Byron, Ben Chiarot and Tomas Tatar. Two of the five guys no longer play, and the three others play elsewhere, just like the CH coaches at the time. The only survivors from this victory are Nick Suzuki, Brendan Gallagher and Joel Armia.
“I wasn’t aware of this sequence, but it gives us even more motivation to win,” said CH forward Alex Newhook, who will experience his first Canadian-Bruins.
In the opposing locker room, Brad Marchand also assured that he was not aware of the victorious series. The new captain of the Bruins wrapped it up like Marc Trestman knew how to do on the eve of a game against the Toronto Argonauts, at a time when the Argos were doing their best.
“Every match is competitive and if there are massacres, they are exceptions,” judged Marchand. You have a good evening, you enjoy lucky leaps. We don’t expect that, seeing how they play. They are capable of scoring four or five goals in a match. They are impressive and have very dangerous players. »
This is why Martin St-Louis admitted to seeing them as “dominant. This will not be an easy challenge, but it is an opportunity. It’s an organized team, which plays together,” summarized the Canadiens head coach, following the morning training at the Bell Centre.
For the occasion, St-Louis will count on the return of Rafaël Harvey-Pinard. The forward suffered a scare last week in Arizona, when he appeared to injure his leg. Here he is restored. He will replace Joel Armia in the squad.
Samuel Montembeault will defend the CH net.
Besides, it will be interesting to watch Cole Caufield. The overtime hero so far this season certainly has 13 points in 13 games, but he has especially taken advantage of the different phases of play to increase his record. Only one of his five goals came at 5v5. Last year, he scored 17 of his 26 goals in this situation.
“It’s important that he has a good 5-on-5 game too,” admitted St-Louis. But in Detroit, without the puck, it was one of his best games, so that’s encouraging. »
St-Louis confirmed that Caufield and Nick Suzuki will play on different lines again on Saturday. He split them up on Thursday, pairing Caufield with his good friend Christian Dvorak, who will now try to help No. 22 score at 5-on-5.
Dvorak is not wrong in this sense. Caufield is getting 10.98 shots per 60 minutes at 5v5 so far. Last year it was 9.96. Anyway, the shots are here; All that remains is to convert them.
What he will have to do on Saturday against Jeremy Swayman, the goaltender with the best efficiency (.952) in the NHL this season.
