The Montreal Canadiens lost 4-3 to the Boston Bruins on Saturday, dropping a 2nd 4-point game in a row against a divisional rival, thanks to 2 late goals in a matter of 15 seconds during the 3rd period. Despite the loss, Cole Caufield scored a hat trick on the night, but nobody else was able to beat Swayman on the night. This may go down as a game the Habs will look at in the case that they miss the playoffs, because they had control until late in the 3rd period.
The #Habs fall to the #Bruins 4–3, as giving up two goals in 15 seconds late in the third period proved costly.
Thoughts?
Les Canadiens de Montréal s’inclinent 4–3 face aux Bruins.
Prochain match : #Habs vs #GoldenKnights
27 jan à 19 h#GoHabsGo #thesickpodcast @TonyMarinaro pic.twitter.com/SV3KRdJuFq
— The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) January 25, 2026
The real story of the night was the battle between power plays, as the Habs scored on 2 of their 3-man advantages, while the Bruins went 3-for-4 on the night. For the most part, both teams’ power plays dominated the penalty killers, and that extra man advantage for the Bruins seemed to be the difference. Both teams only had 1 goal each at even strength on Saturday.
Even if the power plays were difference makers for both teams, that can’t excuse the play of Samuel Montembeault, who just hasn’t been good enough ever since Jacob Fowler was sent back to the Laval Rocket last week. The Habs won’t be able to win many games when your goalie stops only 83.1% of the shots he’s faced over his last 3 games. The only reason he even had a win during that time is that the Ottawa Senators’ goaltender was even worse than him last Saturday. Montembeault played a good game for most of the night but failed to make the big saves when his team needed them late in the 3rd period. The Habs need Montembeault to be consistent for a full 60 minutes.
Montembeault showed a lot of character and resilience to get his game back last month, but his last three starts have thrown a wrench in his comeback.
He had this game on Saturday until it slipped out of his glove and went through his five-hole…👇🏻 https://t.co/SzD2kat6eI
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) January 25, 2026
Going forward, something needs to change because the Habs are only losing pace in the Atlantic Division, where every team seems to have gotten hot, and dropping two consecutive games in regulation has really hurt the Habs.
The Habs players outside of Caufield also didn’t do enough offensively, which was another issue that contributed to the loss. Players like Zack Bolduc’s snakebitten shots need to start going in soon, as the Habs will need some depth scoring to win these big games.
When in doubt, give it to Cole Caufield 🤩
📺: @Sportsnet & @TVASports ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/p7rGfCj3Dp
— NHL (@NHL) January 25, 2026
Caufield opened the scoring 6:36 into the opening frame thanks to Mike Matheson, who carried the puck all the way from the Habs’ end into the offensive zone, where he snuck a pass into the slot to Caufield, who made no mistake beating Swayman glove side. With this goal, Caufield extended his goal streak to 5 games.
The Habs probably: “Kirby, you just got back from injury again, be careful out there.”
Kirby Dach: “Hold my beer”
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) January 25, 2026
Before the end of the first period, Kirby Dach would end up getting into a fight with Bruins defenseman Jonathan Aspirot after the two players got tied up in front of the net. Dach looked good getting the best of Aspirot in the fight, but unfortunately, he would cut up his finger and would need repairs afterwards. Despite it only being a cut, Dach missed most of the 2nd period before he returned to the game. For a while, it led many fans to worry that he had injured himself yet again. As great as it was to see Dach get the best of a Bruin in a fight, given his injury history, it feels too risky for him to do that. Luckily, he wasn’t as injured as it seemed for the majority of the 2nd period.
Viktor Arvidsson buries one in front to even the scoring 🔥 pic.twitter.com/hVW5Ath8a3
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 25, 2026
After the Habs took an early penalty to start the 2nd period, the Bruins would tie the game just 1:45 into the middle frame. Fraser Minten would feed Victor Arvidson with a cross-crease pass that Montembeault would stop initially. However, Arvidsson would immediately get a rebound and push it past Montembeault to tie the game up.
Seven goals in five games.
Cole Caufield is really good. 😳
📺: @Sportsnet & @TVASports ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/jKFMH8l7BZ
— NHL (@NHL) January 25, 2026
The Habs would get the lead back thanks to a power play of their own. Nick Suzuki and Caufield would pass it around between the two of them for a few seconds before Caufield would blast a one-timer past Swayman from the far end of the left faceoff circle for his 2nd of the game to give the Habs a 2-1 lead.
Morgan Geekie ends his scoring drought off a beautiful feed from David Pastrnak. pic.twitter.com/olQDNc9tbp
— Jamie Gatlin (@JamieGatlin17) January 25, 2026
Just 2:09 later, the Bruins would tie the game with their 2nd power play goal of the period. The play started after Mike Matheson attempted to go in all alone for a shorthanded breakaway, which would get poked away by a Bruins defender at the last second. This led to McAvoy making a cross-ice pass up ice to David Pastrnak, who would manage to get past Noah Dobson on a 1-on-1 by flipping the puck up and cutting to the middle, where he caught everyone off guard before passing it to Morgan Geekie, who was able to tap the puck into an open net at the other side of the net. On this goal, Pastrnak made everyone see why he’s such a great dual threat by putting that goal on a platter for Geekie to tie the game for the 2nd time of the period.
TOUR DU CHAPEAU, COLE CAUFIELD
IT’S A COLE CAUFIELD HAT TRICK#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/M86nPjhJtM
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 25, 2026
A few minutes later, Caufield would strike again for his hat-trick goal. The goal was once again scored on the power play, but instead of the one-timer, Caufield would flip the puck over Swayman’s shoulder and under the bar from another weird angle to give the Habs a 3-2 lead. Caufield now has 8 goals during his 5-game goal streak, showing Team USA that they may have made a mistake by not naming him to the Olympic team.
In the 3rd period, the Habs tried to score an insurance goal early on but couldn’t beat Swayman. The same could be said about the Bruins early in the period as Montembeault and the Habs’ defence stayed solid. However, that wouldn’t last the entire period for the Habs.
FRASER MINTEN WITH A BACKHAND BEAUTY TO TIE IT UP LATE 🚨 pic.twitter.com/674xueXvQl
— Spittin’ Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) January 25, 2026
Unfortunately, with 6:05 left in regulation, Minten would strike and tie the game at 3 for the Bruins. It was a goal that Montembeault likely would want back, but even worse, one that defenseman Alexandre Carrier definitely would have wanted back. Minten would come into the offensive zone and fire a puck off Carrier’s foot that would instantly go right back to him, and then he would trick Montembeault with a backhand that beat him right above his blocker. It was a tough goal for both Montembeault and Carrier, as the game was now tied thanks to them.
Geekie RIPPED it so hard it got lodged in the back of the net, BUT NO ONE KNEW HE SCORED BESIDES HIMSELF AT FIRST!!!! 😱🚨 pic.twitter.com/FtOvdx18df
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 25, 2026
To make things worse, Carrier would take a holding penalty right off the next faceoff that sent a red-hot Bruins team back to the power play. Off the faceoff, McAvoy would get the puck and send it to Geekie at the point, who would hammer the puck so hard that nobody saw the puck go into the net. At first, the refs thought the puck had gone out of play after getting kicked up. However, the Bruins pointed at the puck being in the back of the net. On the review, it was shown that the puck beat Montembeault cleanly, and the Bruins got their first lead of the night. In the matter of just 12 seconds, the Habs blew their lead and were now trailing.
The Habs attempted to tie the game with their goalie pulled but were not able to beat Swayman. Their best opportunity may have been Caufield trying to sneak a puck above Swayman’s shoulder again for his 4th goal of the night, but he had no success, and the Habs dropped an important 2 points against a divisional opponent for the 2nd game in a row.
All in all, the Habs need better and more consistent goaltending going forward if they don’t want to lose their playoff spot. The Canadiens also need secondary scoring to show up, as Caufield can’t do everything on his own to get the win.
Earlier on Saturday afternoon, the Buffalo Sabres passed the Habs for 3rd in the Atlantic Division with a win. The Bruins are also now just 1 point back of the Habs for the 1st Wild Card spot in the East. By losing their last 2 games, the Canadiens have managed to lose all the cushion that they had going into Thursday’s game against the Sabres.
A look at the Atlantic Division standings after the Canadiens lost 4-3 to the Bruins last night in Boston #Habs: pic.twitter.com/ienEtEwqVS
— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) January 25, 2026
With how great everyone in the Atlantic Division has been as of late, the Habs can’t afford to lose again on Tuesday against a Vegas Golden Knights team that is currently leading the Pacific Division, despite having fewer points than the Canadiens this season. After Montembeault lost the last 2 games, it is hard to believe he will get the start in that game, as Jakub Dobes deserves a shot to get the Habs back to the winning column on Tuesday night. On the other hand, Montembeault has had a lot of success against the Golden Knights, including one of his best performances of the season in a 4-1 victory at the end of November. However, his recent play is showing he doesn’t deserve that next game.
Who would you start against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night?