The Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens weren’t trading Christmas cards in the first period of Tuesday’s showdown at TD Garden.
Instead, the second 2025-26 showdown began in a similar fashion as their November showdown up in Montreal, as the Bruins and Habs dropped the gloves for two fights in the opening period of play.
The fun between the teams began just three seconds into this one, too, as the Bruins’ Tanner Jeannot and Montreal’s Josh Anderson decided to drop the gloves right off the opening faceoff.
This marked the second straight Boston-Montreal head-to-head that began with a fight on the opening faceoff, as it was Nikita Zadorov and Jayden Struble who decided to go at it the last time around. And given the importance of this game, as well as the importance of the rivalry, you just knew the sides weren’t done.
Sure enough, they were not, as it was Zadorov and the Canadiens’ Arber Xhekaj who decided to drop the minutes with over 11 minutes left in the frame.
This was a big-time heavyweight bout — Zadorov at 6-foot-7 and 255 pounds and Xhekaj at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds — and it lived up to the billing. At one point, you could clearly tell that a Zadorov uppercut had Xhekaj reeling.
The fights were not the only highlight of the period for the Bruins, as the club rallied for two straight goals to close out the frame, the first coming from Marat Khusnutdinov while an Alex Steeves marker gave the club the lead through 20.