Whoever said that the Boston Bruins-Montreal Canadiens rivalry is dead may want to watch the first period of their game at TD Garden on Thursday night.
In a game that was physical from the start, Montreal Canadiens forward Rem Pitlick took it to another level with a textbook, dirty head shot on Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron just under eight minutes into the first period.
Boston Bruins alternate captain Brad Marchand immediately skated at Pitlick, jumped him and pounded away until Montreal Canadiens defenseman David Savard jumped in and pulled him off. Chaos ensued into mini-scrums, and it was clear that the Canadiens didn’t come to Boston to be a sacrificial lamb so the Bruins could clinch the Atlantic Division with a win and a Toronto Maple Leafs loss to the Florida Panthers in regulation. Marchand wound up with a double-minor for roughing and Pitlick went to the sin-bin for interference.
The rough stuff continued after that as the two bitter rivals combined for 15 minutes in penalties before the first period came to a close with the Boston Bruins leading the Canadiens 2-1. Two of those infractions were to Bruins winger (and Joliette, QC native), A.J. Greer. Obviously caught up in the emotion of the moment, Greer lost his cool and delivered a flagrant cross-check to the face of Canadiens winger Mike Hoffman. Greer received a five-minute major for cross-checking and a game misconduct.
This puck scribe expects a suspension for both Greer and Pitlick but with the way discipline is handed out in this league (like throwing darts), one never knows.
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