On March 23, 2023, the Boston Bruins welcomed their longtime rivals the Montreal Canadiens into town. In typical Bruins versus Canadiens fashion, it was a chippy game but, in the end, Boston pulled out a 4-2 win to get their 55th win of the season.

The Bruins got off to a quick start just 4:34 into the first period when trade deadline acquisition Tyler Bertuzzi deflected a shot off of a Montreal defenseman to score his first as a Bruin and fifth of the year. Boston kept the momentum going when Jake Debrusk split two Montreal defenders and scored on a breakaway to extend his scoring streak to four games and give Boston a 2-0 lead with 6:22 left in the first. The Canadiens would not go quietly though as with just 18.3 seconds left in the period Montreal’s captain Nick Suzuki scored on the power play to send the game into the first intermission with Boston leading 2-1.

The Bruins came out fast in the second period and just 2:36 into the period David Pastrnak scored from the slot for his 49th goal of the year to give Boston a 3-1 lead. Montreal worked hard to come back and their efforts started to pay off when they got another powerplay late in the period. Forward Kirby Dach deflected a shot from defenseman Mike Matheson into the back of the net for his 14th goal of the year and to cut Boston’s lead in half. The game went into the second intermission with the Bruins leading 3-2.

Both teams battled back and forth in the third period, but Boston prevailed first when David Krecji scored his 16th goal of the year in front of the net off a pass from Connor Clifton to give Boston a 4-2 lead. The two-goal lead was too much for Montreal to overcome as the game ended with Boston on top of their biggest rivals by a score of 4-2.

The win was Boston’s 55th of the year and they are just eight wins away from the NHL wins record of 62 with just 11 games left. The Bruins will continue to chase NHL history when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.