The Boston Bruins edged out the Montreal Canadiens with a tight 3-2 victory, and fans on both sides are buzzing — is the legendary Habs vs Bruins rivalry officially back? In this PuckTalk Post-Game breakdown, we recap every major moment from this heated matchup, including the physical battles, clutch goals, and momentum-shifting plays that defined the night.
We analyze standout performances from Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky, along with big efforts from David Pastrnak, Pavle Zacha, and the Bruins’ aggressive forecheck. The intensity, emotion, and tension felt like classic rivalry hockey — and we’re diving into what sparked it.
Was this the Canadiens’ best effort in weeks? Did the Bruins expose key weaknesses? And what does this game reveal about where both teams stand in the Eastern Conference?
If you’re a Montreal Canadiens fan, Boston Bruins fan, or passionate NHL hockey fan, this post-game recap delivers expert analysis, reactions, and insight you won’t want to miss.
0:00 – Show Start
1:15 – Game Highlights – Not Too Many Good Thinsg Happened For The Habs
5:27 – Game Analysis – Faceoffs & Power Less Power Play Are A Big Reason For Struggles
11:47 – Having 2 Defencemen In The Sin Bin Early For Fighting Wasn’t Smart
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In every episode, Kosta Papoulias takes a deep dive into the latest Montreal Canadiens news involving Ivan Demidov, Patrik Laine, Juraj Slafkovsky, Josh Anderson, Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Joe Veleno, Jake Evans, Zach Bolduc, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Newhook, Oliver Kapanen, Habs Defencemen, Arber Xhekaj, Kaiden Guhle, Sam Montembeault, Lane Hutson, Jayden Struble, Alex Carrier, Mike Matheson, Noah Dobson, Jakub Dobes, Jacob Fowler, Kent Hughes, Martin St Louis.
Dans chaque épisode, Kosta Papoulias analyse en profondeur les dernières nouvelles des Canadiens de Montréal concernant Ivan Demidov, Patrik Laine, Juraj Slafkovsky, Josh Anderson, Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, Joe Veleno, Jake Evans, Zach Bolduc, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Newhook, Oliver Kapanen, Habs Defencemen, Arber Xhekaj, Kaiden Guhle, Sam Montembeault, Lane Hutson, Jayden Struble, Alex Carrier, Mike Matheson, Noah Dobson, Jakub Dobes, Jacob Fowler, Kent Hughes et Martin St Louis.
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25 Comments
Coach K… thanks for sending the show out tonight – I was waiting to see if you saw the same things I did between Bruins and Habs… it was a good game but you could tell the boys are struggling … timing is off a tad and the boys don’t look like they’re having as much fun as they used to just a couple of weeks ago…
I was disappointed in a sub par performance of Monty… he was ok but…
PP was very sad and like you said they weren’t crashing the inside front of net… off
Arber didn’t have fight in him…
But they played better than L A game … great show!!!
The Refereeing tonight looked more like a handicapper trying to even up a horse race!
Loved Davidson, 4 shots on goal in his first game, Veleno’s got 9 total this season.
Coach has JdeM resumed calling the shots for the Canadiens? These personnel moves are reeking of politics AGAIN!
Over 3 minutes of 5 on 3 and we decide to play hot potato. And yes coach you re absolutely right, It’s mainly Demidov refusing to shoot the damn puck. And Hutsons below average point shot ain’t far behind. And for Gods sake can Slaf do his job and get in front of the net? Or get Boldy back in there. Growing pains. I believe in this team I do. I’m still here for the ride but the dressing room has to put the work in. But yeah …we got a game tonight so there’s that. Get to work now boys. Breathe….focus. WORK! And put it behind you. Tell em Coach! GHG!
No disrespect coach; but on the first goal by Monty, isn't moving such out and lateral a vulnerable position? How was that not the goalies fault? How could any defender block that> wide open net….
😂 I must be getting old because I can't remember a time when the Montreal penalty kill out scored 7 PP some being a 5 on 3 situation 😂.
Monty only let one softy by him and kept the team in the game without folding like a cheap suit. I was surprised he played as well as he did.
Just like you have pointed out in previous games, the players on the power play were content in playing …patty-cake, patty-cake trying to impress the Boston Bruins that they can be better at the Boston Penalty kill than the Bruins were at it.
Gally and the new call-up Davidson took 1/3 of all the Habs shots on Saturday despite the limited ice time they had.
I will guess that Monty will be given the next start against CBJ.
Marty needs help behind that bench because it's obvious he doesn't know how to convince the team to shoot the puck on the PP.
I really enjoy seeing the game through your eyes and the solutions you come ip with to fix the team problems.
Maybe Marty might come down with the flu and someone else can step in to right the ship while he's getting better.
Watching Suzuki play on Saturday makes me believe he is hurt.
The Canadiens have figured out how to turn a 5-on-3 power play into 3-on-3 hockey. Just put 2 forwards BEHIND the net where they pose no risk to their opponent and completely nullify the Habs 2-man advantage. Pure idiocy. 😮
the elephant in the room tells me its our lack of leadership that is our problem… 3 gosh darn years ive been telling you youtubers that we have no leadership & you see the answer to our struggling PP is to take our best PP man off of pp1 … it took marty two months last year to figure out hutson should be on pp1… now marty want to ruin hutson!!! he ruined dobes , arber is now not throwing punches when he fights & he is getting his ass kicked ruined by msl last year when he wouldn’t put arber in at the same time as tom wilson . that move made arber totally unless & the boys know it… i told you kosta that your buddie marty could loose this team three weeks ago by his lack of being a leader & it’s happening . marty made arber a puzzle… this team sucking has your buddies finger prints all over it ….. they r going to be unwatchable soon… kosta you aint calling out the elephant in the room… same on you. because i think you know who at fault but your being kind to your french buddy & that itself is frog media like!!!
PP-76 in the bumper, 20 net front screen…48 can't shoot from distance! 8 should be shooting,
93 had no shots…shoot or change his chair.
Stop 47 from fighting heavy weights, ridiculous.
72 needs to get fight training, he had 2" and 25Ibs on Jeannot and got rocked.
72 should get some PP time, as he gets penetration from the point.
49 looked good but with 90 and 11? for only 7 min….?
Bring up Beck for the 4th line, sit 90
Sit 47, and bring up Engstrom.
looks like the honeymoon is over gang
way too much passing way too many tymes ~
IDC laine had 14pp last year the PP has NEVER been good under MSL because he has done nothing to help ANY of the systems and problem areas al he did was copy cat the same PP setup other teams are using.SO we might as well just use THEIR coaches if MSL doesn't have his own brain to work with.
ALL zones are easy sauce for opposing teams we have no setup to pinch up because players just randomly skate wherever and spectate the puck instead of actually THINKING the game.
Sure we had one guy in front often it was Slaf ok fine but the other 4 were all on the perimeter and that late shot by Demidov is part of the lack of scoring IQ he too ka shot from an IMPOSSIBLE angle.Now if they actually had a plan to get pucks to the net then at least 3 others should have been moving to the net on that shot instead of spectating from the perimeter.
NOBODY seems able to work 1 on 1 they get scared throw the puck around the boards way too often and this is in BOTH ends in their end it causes more chaos if you have no visible play dump it out.
I been saying forever since MSL arrived and I EXPECTED the fix to happen quickly and that is a severe lack of shots from the point.This is also a 6problem becuase nobody is getting to the net so the point men feel like it is a waste of time well this is a TEAM problem that MSL 6has not fixed in his entire tenure idk maybe we can use th AGE excuse like is going on so often maybe MSL is a young coach needs time to LEARN..LMAO .
Wannabe hockey fans seem to think these guys never played hockey before they are 8 years old not capable of SEEING with their own eyes wtf is going on and what needs to change no more EXCUSES the players are dumb the coach is really dumb sure he was a great individual player but coaching is a TEAM concept.
Hello Mr. Coach Talk…I don't like the planned fight at the beginning of the game. If there is going to be a fight, I would rather see a reason, most commonly non-calls due to referee incompetence (willful incompetence or due to a lack of training or bad recruiting/retention). Moreover, I really don't want to see Struble fight unless he is really angry, esp. not with a nice pat on the back by Zadorov at the end. And it sounds like Jeannot outsmarted Xhekaj into aputting his team into a bad situation. Honestly, I don't want or need to see any fights unless something really bad happens. Even with the fights, it looked like a pantomime of Habs v. Boston in say 2004-2014. Fake: a cheap revelling opportunity for the barbarians, like "Big Bad Bruins" tough guy alpha-male wannabe fans and their stupid announcer.
Power play…Ya, with Hutson and Demidov, no one on power play is shooting and we need Slaf in the middle near the goal for the screen and the slop. The best example I saw was late last year's "hail Mary" goal vs. Panthers where Hutson got the puck poked away by Seth Jones, recovered and fired it off the goalie pad just before it was out of the zone, and it bounces to Suzuki who snuck in unobserved (because four Panthers was watching Hutson and Caufield on the left) to the side of the net and they score with a few seconds left to put in into OT. Maybe he needs to play with a little more desperate hunger and urgency once in a while, even if the situation doesn't necessarily call for it.
At least they played a game tight! I hope they can recover soon! No ask coach stuff from me this week. And, as always, beat them in the neutral zone. 🙂
I agree with everything you're saying…Slafkovsky is getting a little bit better last couple of games but he needs to go in front of the goalie
Could monty have a vision or depth perception, when it comes to the shots from the blue line?
bruins fan here dont care what u guys say that was a great game rivalry is back
Was I the only one yelling at my TV. SHOOT THE PUCK? GET SOMEONE IN FRONT OF THE NET.
At one point in the 5 on 3 power play they had two guys BEHIND THE NET who came up with that? Something they repeated several times with the man advantage 😮😮😮
FFS they are better than this.
Are they showcasing Montembeault for a trade?
This was actually the third 5on 3 in a row where the Habs did it score .
Hell even Gally wasn’t screening the goalie 😮
Thanks Coach. Question: with Dach injured, is there a scenario where you try Davidson on the second line. I have a good feeling about it.
0 for 7 power play 2 5 on three monteal just one line team
I definitely don't like their 5 on 3 powerplay formation, with 2 forwards behind the net, it's obviously not working. It pretty much renders those forwards useless. Seems like no one went to the front of the net, no one was screening Swayman's view. They definitely need to work on that powerplay structure. It's pretty frustrating to watch. Matheson was amazing to watch. How many great back-checking plays did he do? Monty played pretty well all things considered. Jake Evans was probably one of the best players on the ice.
Hey coach, not really a question, but perhaps you can do commentary on videos of other teams executing what the Habd need to do. For example, comparing PP footage btwn what’s happening and how other teams execute what ought to be done.