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Hyperbole is what keeps the world going. (Or keeps people clicking links, anyways.)
So let me jump ahead of this while I can: There is no such thing as a ‘must win’ game in December. They just don’t exist in the National Hockey League. (Seriously, remember where the Ottawa Senators were in December versus April? That’s what I mean. They’re bogus.) But there
is such a thing as a season-changing game for an NHL club. And the Boston Bruins may have found their 3-1 comeback win over the Montreal Canadiens at the forever unkind Bell Centre on Wednesday night.
The Bruins entered the Bell Centre with losses in three of their last four games (1-1-2) and an incredibly frustrating -- borderline mental breakdown worthy -- seven-game skid against the hated Habs. And this, of course, was Boston’s final head-to-head with the Habs before the 2016 Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium. The latter point is a mere footnote, I suppose, but still, you get what I’m saying.
When you say ‘season-changing’ in regards to the Black and Gold, most people quickly envision a fight-filled affair that saw B’s players stick up for their teammates with gloves and goals (think Nov. 2008 against Dallas, Dec. 2010 against Atlanta, or Mar. 2011 against Montreal). Wrong. Don’t get me wrong, the Bruins played
their game, yes, but it wasn’t the physical one you’ve come to expect.
It was a never-say-die attitude coupled with key plays when you needed them late in a game.
This has become a trend for the Bruins this year. They never appear
truly out of a game (unless you want to talk about their disastrous start to the year) and their best players, for the most part, have been their best players on a fairly consistent basis. That was
not the case a year ago.
Just take a look at how the win started for Boston.
The Bruins, already down 1-0 (which in the past may as well be 4-0 against the Habs in their building) early in the third period, were on the penalty kill against Montreal’s top unit. And d-man
Dennis Seidenberg, a player the Bruins rely on to shoulder the hard minutes that come with a penalty kill, was in the box. This was usually the scene in the movie where one of
Tomas Plekanec or
P.K. Subban put the knife in your throat with a power-play goal.
But somehow, someway,
Zdeno Chara straight-up slaps an intentionally wide Habs shot out of the air and up towards a streaking
Loui Eriksson. Eriksson retrieves the puck on a breakaway, and beats
Mike Condon for the game-tying goal.
Landon Ferraro puts the B’s up by a goal just 42 seconds later, and
Patrice Bergeron makes it three at the 13:42 mark.
And all of this, while goaltender
Tuukka Rask, the fair or unfair goat of the Boston-Montreal head-to-head, overcomes his Montreal demon with an utterly sensational 32-of-33 showing.
I don’t think it necessarily matters -- not to the Bruins, anyways -- that Condon was in for the injured
Carey Price or that
Brendan Gallagher remains out of action for the Canadiens. Their losses are obviously big ones for the Habs, and that goes without saying. But the Bruins are not going to cherry-pick which wins ‘count’ as legitimate positives when you’re talking about a Montreal team that’s beaten you with ease for almost three straight seasons now. Make no mistake about it,
this is something you can build on if you’re in that Bruins locker room. But now comes the next step.
When you take a look at the B’s week ahead, you have home tilts against the Florida Panthers, Edmonton Oilers, hit-or-miss Pittsburgh Penguins, and then a road swing in Pittsburgh. This is where you’d like to see the Bruins win, and win with authority. This should be the stage of the year -- at least after that win -- where the club doesn’t bend-and-break with a disastrous middle frame or late goal against. Such was the case after the then-believed-to-be-momentum-changing win over the New York Rangers on Black Friday. But the B’s are not out West. They’re home and squaring off with some middling competition. And this is where they’ll have to flex their muscles for the first time all year.
It would go a long way in believing that their next major tilt -- the aforementioned Jan. 1 showdown with the Canadiens in front of nearly 70,000 people at Foxboro’s Gillette Stadium -- will come with the showing of the Wednesday team that’s giving you reasons to watch in December with the hope of May.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Boston Chapter of the Pro Hockey Writers Association since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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