When the Boston Bruins turned up at the Bell Centre to face the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night, only seven of their dressed players were with the team at the end of the last season. No more Brad Marchand, no Charlie McAvoy (due to injury), and no more Linus Ullmark who was traded to Ottawa last offseason. It’s been a tough season in Boston, but before this final tilt, the Bs had managed to win their first two games against the Canadiens this year.

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The actors of past memorable battles may not be there, but as long as those two teams face each other, there will be extracurricular activities after the whistle, as sure as the sky is blue. In the first frame, 23 hits were thrown, 13 by Boston and 10 by Montreal.

Juraj Slafkovsky had some words with David Pastrnak, and it looked like the Czech was asking him to dance, but nothing came of it. Still, shortly after that, the former first-overall pick had to handle a punishing hit from Nikita Zadorov. As the Canadiens led 2-0 in the middle frame, the youngster was enjoying poking fun at several Bruins, the Slovak isn’t scared to poke the sleeping bear apparently.

As for Josh Anderson, he was his usual wrecking ball self, throwing three hits, second only to Emil Heineman, who had four in the first frame. He was tied with Zadorov for the most hits across both teams. Anderson and Heineman finished the game with five hits each while Michael Pezzetta, who played 7:47 recorded seven hits.

By the end of the game, the Canadiens had 33 hits and the Bruins 29, which was the only aspect in which the Bruins weren’t manhandled.

In the first frame, the Canadiens didn’t look like they were playing a team that had lost its last six games in regulation and nine in a row; they looked like they were playing down to the competition. They looked nervous, and couldn't execute properly in the offensive zone. Someone must have said something during the break because the Habs dominated the middle frame.

Boston struggled to get out of its own end and could only muster three shots on net in that frame—full marks to Samuel Montembeault for not falling asleep out there.

The Tricolore had complete control of the puck in Boston’s territory and took 18 shots on goal. Had it not been for Swayman, it could have been 5-0 for the Canadiens after 40 minutes. We’ve seen this team dominate in the past but struggle to separate itself from the opponent, but on Thursday night, the goals were there.

While some may not have noticed, the third line formed by Brendan Gallagher, Christian Dvorak, and Anderson has a goal in nine of the last 10 games, including five goals for the pivot. Asked for his thoughts about that line, Martin St-Louis said:

Gallagher was named the game's first star thanks to a goal and an assist, and he received a big ovation. There’s no doubt these fans are right there with the Canadiens’ biggest warrior as he navigates through the pain of losing his mother.

The Canadiens won the game 4-1 in the end and remain in the second wild card spot with seven games to go. It was a big night for Nick Suzuki, who reached the 80-point mark, the first Canadiens player to do so since Alex Kovalev. As for Cole Caufield, he recorded his 35th goal of the season. While the 40-goal mark is in sight, it may be out of reach for this season, but it feels like he will get there sooner rather than later.

You can see the excitement in the coach's eye in his post-game pressers, St-Louis the player was a competitor and the coach wants to be as well:

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